Customer Reviews

Valley 90590 Deluxe Hitch Mount Cargo Basket

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I own a Jeep Wrangler. If you know anything about Wranglers, you would know that the trunk in a wrangler is just big enough to hold a pair of socks...if you fold them carefully.

I bought the Valley Deluxe Carrier about 9 camping trips ago and I couldn't be happier! The unit works like a charm. Unlike the last hitch carrier I had, this one has a nice "rise" feature built into it. This is very handy when going up or down steep driveways and roads. I also found that the "rise" feature helps keep your stuff cleaner in rainy/muddy conditions because it puts your items higher off of the ground and away from the tires. I have loaded it to the max and it works flawlessly.

The tall sides are a nice feature that set this unit apart from those of lesser quality.

If you buy this (or any brand) of carrier, be sure to get a nice set of 3 or 4 ratcheting straps to hold your gear in place. Ratcheting straps also hold my kids in place very well as I found that they always seemed to be able to wiggle out of the bungee cords :).

Okay, let's look at the product description:

* Black, weather-resistant powder coat finish

The powder coat finish looks good coming out of the box. However it was soon apparent that it's *just* weather resistant, not scratch resistant. By the time I'd assembled the basket on our driveway that much was clear.

* Fixed shank provides for extra ground clearance

Okay.

* Total weight of cargo and carrier should not exceed 500 pounds

We used this last weekend on the back of our CR-C to haul a bunch of camping gear up to the Sierras. I used two Rubbermaid storage boxes packed with gear and it fit with room to spare. Rubbermaid 1172 ActionPacker Storage Box, 24-Gallon

* Easy to install

Yeah, it wasn't bad. I recommend assembling the basket on a lawn though to help preserve the painted finish. Mounting it to the vehicle was easy, only made slightly more difficult by doing it solo and using this hitch pin: Softride 25219 QuietRide Hitch Pin See my review on that item to see what the pain was.

* Formed 2 inch square extension bar is reversible to be used in drop or rise position

I used this on our CR-V in the drop position, which was the only way the rear door would open. Ground clearance was a lot less in that position; we scraped the road a couple of times going in/out of driveways during fuel stops. (Only when my wife was driving...I would never do such a thing!) lol

One *IMPORTANT* note:

Last year we rented a cargo basket for our camp trip. It worked great, which prompted this purchase. The main difference between the rental basket and this one is the outer rail; this one is just a round bar, where the rental had a 8" solid metal lip all the way around.

It wasn't until we finished the 3-hour drive that I appreciated the difference. The open space of this basket's design allowed the hot exhaust to spew directly into the load...which melted a 6 inch hole into the Rubbermaid container directly behind the exhaust pipe. (By "directly" I mean 12-14 inches) We lost a ground tarp and two flashlights, all melted from the heat...and almost had fiery excitement along the highway since there were also two bottles of lantern fuel in that box! When I pulled them out they were hot to hold; a close call for sure - had they been packed on the other side of the box things could have gotten ugly. Maybe I should have noticed this, but between the rush of packing and the memory of the last cargo basket working so well it slipped by me. In any case, if you use this basket be aware of the location of your exhaust pipe versus the load.

The product description is accurate: --this is a Valley Hitch Mounted Basket Cargo Carrier which measures 60 long and 20 wide. It comes with an expanded steel mesh floor and 6 high sides to keep cargo secure and in place. It is designed to fit a 2 receiver hitch with a minimum Class III or Class IV rating. These cargo carriers are manufactured from heavy duty tubular steel and measure 5/8 in diameter. The installation is a very simple procedure of just bolting two pieces together. It has a formed 2in. square reversible extension bar to drop or raise position. Heavy-duty, all-steel 5/8in. diameter tubular construction. Weather-resistant black powder coat finish.--

The pictures shown for this item include both the basket itself, and the basket folded up against the back of a truck.

However, the picture of the basket folded up represents the Valley Folding Shank for use w/ Deluxe Hitch Mounted Basket Cargo Carrier # 90590 (ASIN B00078CK58,) which is sold separately.

This Cargo Carrier does not fold without the use of the separately sold Folding Shank.

The hitch worked great, easy to mount and put together. Be careful though, someone uploaded a picture that depicted the hitch being a fold up. You have to buy the folding shank separately for about $75.00. I was a little peeved because I thought it would be a fold up, but in the end I didn't need it to fold. If you plan on using it all the time, for a wheel chair for example, get the folding shank.

This is our second attempt to purchase the Valley 90590 Cargo Carrier. We first purchased the carrier in person at a brick-and-mortar store, but found the hardware was missing. One email to Valley Industries resulted in their offering to send us a hardware package at no charge. We decided instead to return the carrier to the store, and order the carrier from Amazon. I tell you that phase of our experience to say this: if you have problems, please use your internet to contact Valley Industries; they have great customer service, no questions asked.

Delivery from Amazon was perfect: on-time, and in perfect condition.

We previously used a car-top carrier, but decided we didn't want to use a 2-step ladder anymore to load on top of our SUV.

The Valley 90590 Deluxe Cargo Carrier is everything it claims to be. Assembly was easy, as is attaching to our Explorer. We assembled the carrier in the raised position, and couldn't be happier. We can still access the lift gate with the carrier attached and fully loaded. We had planned to take the carrier off when we got to the destination, and re-attach it for the drive home, but found this action was not necessary. We have come to appreciate the "shelf" that the empty carrier provides at the back of the vehicle; we put gear on it as a staging area for loading and unloading the vehicle without putting anything on the ground.

We have not had any discernible wobbling or rattling, using the hitch pin provided.

We use Rubbermaid Action Packers to keep our camping gear dry on the cargo carrier. One 48-gallon and one 32-gallon Action Packer fit perfectly side-by-side on the carrier. We really like the rails on all sides to secure the cargo to the carrier; we use extra strength bungees for tie-downs. We have not had any problem with heat from the tail pipe on our Explorer interfering with the cargo.

Unlike the car-top carrier, there is no difference in vehicle performance or driving with the cargo carrier than without it. We really like that there is no increase in wind resistance. We were concerned about extra space at the end of the SUV in parking areas, but we have no problems parking anywhere we go with the carrier. The extra length is still less than a super-large SUV or extended cab pick-up.

In every respect, this was a great buy. Our only regret is that we didn't get it sooner.

The carrier was easy to assemble and has two different mounting depths, one that is close to the bumper and one that adds some space in case you have a rear door mounted spare. It is light enough for one person to handle yet it appears to be constructed well. We used it with a Rola Expandable Cargo Bag, .Rola 59102 Expandable Hitch Tray Cargo Bag - 9.5-11.5 Cubic Feet to transport extra luggage to the Outer Banks and on the beach to carry coolers, beach chairs, etc. Works well and is highly recommended.

Don't let the picture fool you, these carriers look like a decent carrier in the pictures -but... --It's a complete waste of money--, in my opinion. It's extremely cheaply made, hit and miss and very poor welds and just overall a very *light duty and poor quality* carrier. The expanded wire mesh floor on it is waaayyyy too light and thin as is the upper and lower tube rails as well. One of the top rails had been bent in shippment and all that was required to straighten it was to grasp it with one hand and give it a yank. That's how light duty this thing is made!

It's rated at 500 lbs. and a person *might* be able to carry that amount w/out any problems if it was all equally weighted and evenly spaced stuff with no sharp areas against the expanded metal floor.

I would have been very nervous in putting anything other than a very small/light generator on it as an example... I think it would've tore through within a few short miles on anything other than very smooth pavement.

I completely re-made it using much heavier material as should've been used originally. The rebuild added another 20 or so pounds of weight to it but at least now I can carry my generator now and other misc. crap without any worries.

Unless you plan on carrying only light soft type of stuff..., spend a little more money and get something of higher quality.

D. Walker

I selected the Valley 90590 Deluxe Hitch Mounted Basket Cargo Carrier for two reasons: (First) I liked the 60" width compared to most others that were between 48 and 56 inches. This will allow for hauling my Rear Tine Tiller in the summer and other long items. Along with the width was the high 6" railing that will contain almost everything I would place or tie down onto the carrier. (Second) the price...I couldn't built any cheaper ($99.95 + Free Delivery) are you kidding me! The quality is great for the price. All the welds are nice and the paint (pretty sure its powder coated) should hold up well. I'll add some extra reflectors and maybe some miniature running a stoplamps to dress it out...Ok maybe not...but it would look pretty cool!

Assembly was like butter...if you cant thread together about a 10 bolts...uhhhh then learn how ... or just go to U-Haul and buy a cheezy one for like 3 times as much!

Installation: It weighs about 50+ pounds....and well, you gotta have some strength to put this puppy into the receiver. For those that might this is a heavy one..think again, it's about the lightest steel (60" wide) carrier you can get. If it's too heavy, then find something like and old milk create to prop up the back end and then lift the tougne end up and slide it into the hitch. This way you're only lifting a portion of the overall weight. The fit will always be a little loose so you may want use a locking bolt that pulls the tongue against the side of the receiver hole so the load doesn't bang back and forth.

I also picked up the cargo net for like $12 + (free shipping) just in case I have some loose stuff in the carrier.

Overall, a great Cargo Carrier for the price.

I'll be enjoying mine!

I purchased this carrier for a 500 mile road trip where we did not have enough room inside our SUV. As always did tons of research and read all of the reviews. I won't reiterate what others wrote so just a few brief points. The basket comes in two pieces that are supposed to slide together. After an hour of trying to make this fit, I had to resort to several wacks from a hammer bending the metal to make it fit. The instructions called for two bolts to be torqued to 10 ft. lbs. I used a torque wrench and one of the bolts snapped before reaching the 10 ft. lbs. click. I'm glad this happened at home and not on the road. I would plan on replacing the two 3" bolts with a heavier grade.

The unit is solid and fits well inside a 2" receiver. I used an after market locking hitch pin that also fit perfectly. No regrets on this purchase.

I opened the box up for the Valley 90590 Hitch Cargo Basket and I was a little disapointed in how light duty it is. Everything about it except for the 2 inch bar seems week. I also found that one of the Supports underneath the unit had only been Tack welded on and had broke loose I am going to take it to a Fab shop that I know and see if they can fix that, and maybe add some strength here and there. I just thought it would have been a stronger unit. Lets put it this way I would not try to stand on it accept maybe over the 2 inch tube but not on eather end I think it would just bend right down. We are taking it on our vacation and I hope we do not have any problems with it. I do not think I would buy from this Company again.