Hitch rack to use with Garvin Wilderness bumper

[AdventurePig]

Good morning, y’all.
My wife and i want to pickup a hitch cargo rack for local road trips and small cargo needs - budget is $250 ish or less (not considering a pakmule or anything $$$)

What size/model hitch rack would you recommend?

Should we consider a 12” hitch extension to get past out spare tire carrier. The ones we found are rated for 500/5000 lbs or 350/3500 lbs, seemingly more than we’d need, but i worry about the cantilever force on the bumper, i guess?

Rear setup pictured below.

Bumper tied into the frame very stoutly and has a 3500lb tow rating from Garvin.

 

[Gilaguy23]

IIRC, garvin is out of biz as of recent if you were looking for something from them.

 

[AdventurePig]

IIRC, garvin is out of biz as of recent if you were looking for something from them.

Thanks! We already have the Garvin setup pictured.

 

[WestCoastDan]

We routinely use a rack in our stock hitch mount w/ no issues.
Clearance for the spare is a potential issue if you plan on carrying large loads.
I found a few plastic tubs at Home Depot that fit nicely to help keep small items from falling through the rack as well as to keep the road grime off of things.

Your bumper setup appears plenty strong enough.

 

[Rubiconned]

Worked for me:

 

[AdventurePig]

Worked for me:

View attachment 572363View attachment 572364
View attachment 572365View attachment 572366

Thanks for posting! That’s the setup we’re envisioning. Just not 100% sure on Reese vs. Quadratec vs Harbor Frieght, etc.

Wondering about differences between $60-100 vs $200-250 models.
Also, trying to decide if it’s better to have a flat rack (can open the rear gate with it empty vs. one with a bump up or taller sides (prioritizing ground clearance and cargo securing, respectively)

We don’t really access the rear cargo area much but that’s where all our trail gear/battery jump box stuff is located.

Be a bummer to have to unload the rack AND remove to access certain things, i think? But maybe not a huge issue.

 

[red02tj]

Multiple trips with the HF rack. Personally I like the enclosed rack, helps make sure nothing goes sliding.

 

[AdventurePig]

Multiple trips with the HF rack. Personally I like the enclosed rack, helps make sure nothing goes sliding.

View attachment 572377

Nice! Is that the folding one or the rigid one?

 

[red02tj]

Nice! Is that the folding one or the rigid one?

Rigid

 

[AdventurePig]

Rigid

Yeah, we were thinking the fewer moving part's and the lower the complexity, the better. (K.I.S.S)

 

[WestCoastDan]

We bought our rack used on OfferUp for like $40.
I had only been used a couple times & was still in great shape.

 

[AdventurePig]

Ok, grabbed a 12” hitch extension and the 500lb HF rigid hitch rack that @red02tj shared a pic of.

The extension does a good job of putting the rack out past the 35” tire mounted on our garvin swing-away. I’ll take some pics in the morning.



Also, really pleased with the quality of the rack for the price. Thanks all!




Questions:
1. What’s the recommended way to take the slack out of the two assemblies? I grabbed two anti wobble brackets from HF, but is there a better way? (Put one on the extension and it seems like it’ll do the job, so unless there’s a better way, it should work ok)

https://www.harborfreight.com/anti-...MI_qTxldDdiQMVPNTCBB2N2TXAEAQYASABEgLmG_D_BwE


2. Can i re-drill a new set of holes on the rack tube or the extension to adjust how far out everything sticks?
Or is that a no-no?