Reliability
Performance
Ease Of Use
Installation
Cost-Benefit
Happy with product and company
MAANPA from Central Point, Oregon
Installed this on our Jeep Rubicon. Installion was a breeze as long as you follow the instruction. Be sure the wiring for you lights are on the bottom of the cargo frame. If not you will find out why real fast when trying to lock unit in place. My wife and I are very happy with the product. GREAT PRODUCT. Also doing business etrailer was very smooth and enjoyable. Getting ready to buy some other items we need from them now. Great Company. They would of got EXCELLENT, but I only give that to my family.
Reliability
Performance
Ease Of Use
Installation
Cost-Benefit
Will suit my needs
jhb from Boston, MA
I purchased the swing away model. Its bulk requires two people to move safely when empty, though I have moved it myself. There is no point to having the unit for extra space but not being able to get to the back ½ of the vehicle. Defeats the purpose!
The unit requires some assembly of the metal hitch mounted carrier to the plastic tray. The instructions recommend you mount the hitch into your car receiver and I echo that. During assembly, I ran into a problem. The washers that came with the unit were not correct. They sent eight ½ inch fender washers which could not be used. They sent four 3/8 inch washers which I actually needed 12 of. I had to purchase 8 more 3/8 washers to finish the assembly. Not a big deal, but inconvenient. It looks like they sent me a tilting hardware pack with the swing away model.
I also purchased the license plate kit. This involved drilling a 1” hole in the tray. I was not thrilled about drilling the hole in my new tray. The other problem is that drilling the hole is not trivial. A 1” twist drill is probably not in everyone’s tool kit. You can not use a wood spade bit as it will drill a hole through the 2nd wall of the shell before you get the hole drilled in the 1st wall. I used a hole saw with no center tap. I drilled a piece of wood and used that to guide the saw into the tray where I wanted it. Other than that, the installation was straightforward.
Upon opening the box I made the following observations. The shell of the pod seems adequate. I plan to use the pod for Ski trips and I hope that the plastic does not get to brittle in the cold weather. A cracked shell will render the unit worthless.
I would like to have seen a better attempt at waterproofing the lid. Also, the pod drain in the literature is essentially a hole drilled in the bottom of the unit and a small friction fit plug you fit into it. Just seems flimsy to me. If the plug pops out, water could enter the unit without warning.
The clips that hold the lid down and keep the pod in the tray look light to me. I have seen these types of brackets on my hardshell golf case and have had problems with them breaking. I suppose there is not a lot of stress on these but know from experience I will have to be careful in using them just the same. I especially feel that care will be needed when removing the pod from the tray. Be sure to close the clips on the pod bottom before putting the unit on the ground or you could break them. They hang down below the pod bottom. And don’t consider the clip’s locks as security locks. The locks will keep the clips from opening unexpectedly, but won’t keep a determined thief out for even one minute.
I initially thought the removable pod and tray might be an asset. I now feel it to be a liability. I doubt I will ever use the tray without the pod, and now have a potential point of failure between the pod and tray. It does help to be able to remove the pod when mounting the hitch bracket as it is heavy and awkward.
In all, I think this unit will meet all my needs. While I have some reservations about the Rola as noted, I seriously doubt I will have problems. Besides, it comes with a 5 year warranty! If I do have problems, then stay tuned as I will post back when I have more experience with the unit.
Rola Swinging Cargo Carrier Assembly - Video
Instructions
