Quick hardware question: tool box to cargo carrier

Do you have a buddy with a welder? If so see if he will cut off what
you have and make you a new piece to replace the factory insert. That way you can choose just where you want it as far as distance between it and the truck

hornet28 wrote:
I would've thought you'd have heating problems with it that tight to the truck. Either motor or trans

nope, but like I said, the engine has the extra cooling with the plow package, and didn't seem to be an issue.

I did have an 8" hitch extender that I tried, but the receiver didn't allow the extender to go far enough into it to allow the holes to line up. May still use it next season if I drill a couple of new holes.

I would've thought you'd have heating problems with it that tight to the truck. Either motor or trans

here's the new setup, no problems after 3500 miles

Another followup to a thread this morning. We made the trip to Montana this summer with the cargo box as it appears in the photo above. Unfortunately that extended bar cargo carrier led to so much bounce over 5-6,000 miles that the aftermarket front hitch receiver bend downward over time and slightly bend the bumper on the truck.

The good news was that the truck place that installed the receiver replaced it free of charge under warranty, and the bumper damage was so slight I've just left it alone.

What I did do for our fall trip to Michigan, however, was to take the bent arm portion of the cargo carrier off and mounted the tray directly into the receiver. This only left about 2" (maybe a bit more) between the back of the box and the grill, but I monitored the coolant temp on the trip and it never rose much more than about 5-6 degrees from normal. No bouncing, no more bent receiver.

So something to consider for anyone reading this thread in the future and/or considering a similar set-up for a front-mounted cargo box.

Box was great by the way, for both trips. Really helpful to have a place to store the genny and all the outside campsite kind of stuff--chairs, Coleman stove, dog-related things, etc.

If I can dig out a picture of the new installation I'll try to add it as well.

4 bolts drilled thru bottom of box, guides attached, and anti rattle bracket installed on my Bodiak front hitch. Coolant temps have been fine some marginal oil temp increase though. Been using this set up for 3 years.

DWeikert wrote:
Looks good. Just a heads up, you're going to see a lot of wobble while driving down the road. To minimize that I ran a set of turnbuckles from the bottom corners of my box to the front tow hooks and snugged them down which helped. I also used a rattle stop (etrailer rattle stops) on the hitch to make that connection rigid.

Good point, I think I'll do that. I have anti-rattle hitch locks front and back, but this rack still has a lot of inherent wobble at the elbow where it's designed to fold up when not in use. thanks.

Looks good. Just a heads up, you're going to see a lot of wobble while driving down the road. To minimize that I ran a set of turnbuckles from the bottom corners of my box to the front tow hooks and snugged them down which helped. I also used a rattle stop (etrailer rattle stops) on the hitch to make that connection rigid.

Thanks to everyone for the advice, I used bits and pieces of everyone's input it seems like. here are the pics, the attachments inside are two small clevis pins with fender washers underneath in the factory holes (more for stability than anything else) and a square u-bracket right in the center over the main carrier frame element for strength and to actually anchor the box to the cargo rack. I think this will work out pretty well.

I use 4 clevis pins (one in each corner) with fender washers through the box and mesh.
I install them from bottom up into box, than put the spring cotter pins on inside the box. this way you need to open (unlock) box to remove pins.