Hey everyone. Just thought I would toss this idea out as a safety recommendation for those of you who have hitch cargo carriers and want to cover their a**es and protect their trucks and cargo racks from getting rearended. I just got a hitch cargo carrier a couple weeks ago and I was concerned that some drunk, stupid, blind or distracted driver (or all of the above and I apologize for any offensive remarks, but you get the idea) might rearend it and I was also concerned about liability for having the cargo rack sticking out and possibly being hard to see. So I found out that Harbor Freight tools (LED Trailer Light Kit - Complete with Wiring & LED Trailer Lights) has an LED trailer light setup on sale for $35 (Walmart wanted $50+) and that my rack that I bought (Autozone, $60) has holes to mount trailer lights. I got both at the same time so I wasn't driving without the lights on it. It did come with reflective tape strips, but that wouldn't do anything around blind corners or longer distance or fog.

I got the truck into the garage and set up the rack. It was in 2 halves and pretty easy to bolt together. I actually assembled it on the truck. It is as wide as the truck is (60") and adds about 2 feet to the total length of the truck. I do have concerns about the mesh that they used to make the deck since I could only stand on the metal plate in the center if I have to get into the trunk because the mesh bends too much.

I then set up the lights. The light kit was complete except for crimp connectors and plastic split loom, which I already had and used to complete the setup. The lights had 2 bolts per side and the rack only had one hole per side on the corners, so I bolted the lights to the corner of the rack. This kit came with marker lights, so I decided to use them to further enhance safety and I ziptied them to the front corners of the rack. The left stop light also has a license plate light and bracket, but I don't use it because of the ground clearance.

The wiring was alot of work, but simple. The way that I did it makes the wiring form a "W" in the sense that the marker lights are at the ends of the harness on each side and the end that connects to the trailer connector runs down the center. The marker lights are connected to the tail/stop/turn combo lights on the back and the wiring is in the split loom ziptied to the bottom of the rack. The wiring then meets at the center bar and there is a break in the split loom where I coiled the excess wiring (I used most of the wire, but I cut the harness in half before I started this). I made this so if I had to replace the rack if it got damaged, I can salvage 90% of the lighting setup (only exception being the crimp connectors and some of the wiring I would have to cut to remove the lights) and use it on another rack. The whole setup plugs in to the 4-way plug I put in under the bumper for just this type of thing. It also has a 7-way plug, but I only put that in for accessories that would use that wiring like when I rewire my reverse camera or if I make a cigarette lighter attachment with a 7-way plug. I don't tow at this time with this truck. When I finish college, I may get a U-Haul trailer for a weekend, but that would be it for towing.

The LEDs are bright and they reach alot farther than my normal taillights, so it might actually be safer to drive with the rack than without. I was concerned about power consumption, so I chose LED so I wouldn't fly my alternator along with the other electronic gear attached to it. The licence plate light actually helps because I can see it on the ground in the mirror and if I open the door, so I can see where the rack ends if I am parking or backing up

I normally run with a truck box strapped down to it for cargo most of the time, other times empty, but I have put alot more on it. The box, a plastic sled for carrying gear on snow and a small refrigerator for my apartment and I drove 300 miles through 2 states (NY, PA and only dozens of feet into NJ) with that cargo load at normal highway speeds with no problems whatsoever.

I am attaching photos in case anyone would like to do this to their cargo carriers or other hitch-mounted accessories.

I get approached by alot of people asking me about it and alot more stares, but for those of you who have seen this truck, there is a reason why I put the lights on there and I already explained it above. I even had a police officer look at it and say alot of good stuff about it and thought the lights came with the cargo rack because they were installed clean enough.


EDIT: In case anyone is concerned about security, the rack is secured to the hitch with a locking hitch pin with a pick and pry resistant lock and I secure any cargo with multiple cables and locks along with other hidden security measures I won't discuss on the open forum.



Swartlkk: My apologies, I thought each post was limited to 5 photos.

 

Great idea!

 

yup i had to turn my head last night when i saw it =P

and yes i saw him last night but did not know it was him till he said he saw my truck =P

 

I like, I like alot.

 

Well it seems I might have messed up. Despite all of the split loom, tape and zip ties, 2 wires broke at one of the connectors and I lost the tail and marker lights on the left side. I think there was a short circuit also since the marker light would actually flash with the turn signal (not supposed to happen). I tested all of the lights with the jump starter and when all were connected they would appear okay. But one at a time was not working. I took apart the "Y" where the connections from the tail light meet the ones from the marker light and found 2 loose wires that broke completely when I took it apart. Probably where one of the wires makes a tight 180 was a stress point so that one wire I put into the other end of the connector. I retested all of the lights and all is fine, but I am waiting for that to happen to the other side.

 

Well this stinks. I was on campus earlier and someone backed into the rack and smashed the driver side taillight. I parked as far forward as possible and my truck was not sticking out at all into the wide aisle and some idiotic student backed into it. Judging by the damage, I would say it is possible that an S-10 sized vehicle did it since the top inch of the light was hit and it ripped it apart at the bolt that attaches it to the rack. I looked at the bumper height on this truck and it seems to match the height of the bumper that did the damage. As if another Blazer hit it. Funny thing is that it still worked. The rack was almost completely undamaged, but there is some peeling paint in the center probably caused by the rack flexing. I called the University Police and the nice officer (I say nice because there are a few officers in this town that are not completely polite and professional. This cop did everything by the book and was very polite) took photos and filed a report on his computer. Scanned my license and registration and typed it all up. Only took about 15 minutes. Did recommend removing the rack when I am not using it or do back in parking only on the side row where there is only one row. I would take it off if I had a place to put it, so I just do the back in parking. Funny thing is my parking permit number is 1313 and I asked several times for a new number without success. Last semester was bad in terms of repairs and I think 1313 was part of it. I ended up paying alot to get a single left side LED light for the same price I paid for the whole set elsewhere. I replaced it this afternoon. Basically I cut off the wires at the broken light and spliced in the new ones there with butt connectors and wrapped it with tape for now so it works. I will follow up with more tape and more plastic tube when I can get it.

 

it was me i was in town not to long ago <3 Joking but that sucks man =/

 

You have a lift, correct? Isn't your truck higher than mine? Plus you would have did damage to your big lights and additional damage to the rack if it was yours. So therefore you couldn't have done it so I have no reason to believe you did it. Plus you seem honest enough that if you did, you would have recognized my truck and emailed me and we could have worked something out.

It is unlikely that they will catch the person who did it since it is a hit and run, but I will just do back in parking only from now on when the rack is on there. I am surprised the rack itself isn't damage. It does rattle within the hitch and isn't level, which probably spared it and the hitch since it was able to move. The light was expensive but easy to replace. But not something I want to do again because of the stupidity of someone in a parking lot. At least I did the right thing and filed a report since there was damage. Not above $1000 obviously, but still warrants a report. Some people call the UPD for scratches on their car and expect real action which is nonsense. I understand the police won't go actively looking for whoever did it since there are much bigger crimes they are busy with, but at least if someone keeps backing into cars and there is a pattern, they can connect the dots and if they do find out who did it I can use legal options to pursue this and get reimbursed for the actual cost to replace that single light. I saved the receipt for that as well as the old light and pieces. The police took photos before all this so how it was before is preserved in the report.

 

yea my truck is lifted and i was just messing with ya

I was going to agway but they were closed =(
hope they catch those goons who hit your rack

 

I know. Just saying it didn't cross my mind that it might have been you.

When were you at Agway? I had 5 classes today and most likely you were a hundred feet away from my truck! LOL

I hope so too. Why should I be punished for caring about safety? Those lights are there for several reasons one of which is safety.