I am planning to fit a hitch-mount cargo rack (approx. 1.5m x 0.6m (5' x 2')) for hauling camping gear. Any experience or thoughts on how this will affect my departure angle on gnarly trails?

I'm less interested in the actual degrees I'll lose (I can guestimate this by visualizing the vehicle from the side), but more interested in the types of terrain I might limit myself to.

Now that I've got my new rig home & I'm looking through the owner's manual. It shows a departure angle of 32 degrees. Based on the 20" carrier I have, it appears like I may end up with a departure angle in the high teens once it's fitted. That's a definite compromise but not a whole lot worse than a long box pick-up truck would have.

Probably good enough for most twin-track trails you'd consider bringing a wife & kids down.

Here's the carrier now fitted up. Using a tape measure & some trigonometry, I calculate a departure angle of ~17 degrees. Not bad but certainly not capable of getting into anything too rough.

Click image to enlarge

Could you use a tow bar high mounted rack? And suspend the box from above instead of below

This making the box higher and departure angle more  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Interesting idea!

I'm also considering fabricating a dogleg into the spine of the carrier to give it another 2" (5cm) lift, resulting in an estimated extra degree or two of departure angle. The nice thing about the current set up however is that the tail gate just clears the top of the bins allowing full cargo access without removing the bins.

I think I'll just get out there and see if I even have an issue before speculating on a solution!

Never seen them.... What a good idea.

T Terran



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This UK based firm sells them for those interested. Please remove link if not allowed.

http://www.bak-rak.com/