Curt Manufacturing 18131 2 Piece Basket Cargo Carrier, Folding Shank
The quest of finding a car luggage carrier started a couple of months ago when my older brother and his wife decided to take their two children to a long vacation. The second after they’ve decided to embark on this journey, a question occurred: where are we going to pack all of the stuff we need to take along? Being a very optimistic person, he thought that I have an answer for this. Unfortunately, I had no idea about a rooftop luggage carrier or other types of products that offer additional storage.
Luckily for my brother, he had enough time to do a little bit of research to find the necessary item. He didn’t want to spend more than $150 so he was looking for something cheap yet of high quality. One day we sat in front of the notebook and started looking on Amazon because this is where he does most of his online shopping and after searching in the Automotive area we find this Curt Manufacturing 18131 2 Piece Basket Cargo Carrier, Folding Shank. The first thing we liked about it is was the name of the company as we’ve read some excellent reviews about their products.
Aside from this product, we’ve learned that there is a rich variety of luggage carriers for SUV because this is what he was looking for as he drives a 2010MY Ford Explorer. Anyway, regardless of the type of the product that you want to choose, you first have to first look at its dimensions. That product we’ve mentioned measures 60 x 20 x 6 so keep this in mind when you start the searching process.
Which One To Get?
Although some people like variety, others don’t enjoy choosing from lots of products. In our case of a car luggage carrier, there is a rich selection of products, available in different shapes and forms. Here are just a few types of products: car top carrier bag, car top basket, rooftop box and a car back carrier (the one we’ve mentioned). Let’s talk about each one of them.
Car Top Carrier Bag
If you are on the look for something that it easy to install, a car top carrier bag might be what you are looking for. All that you will have to do is attach the straps to the rack over the carrier and you’re ready to drive. Once you are done using it, you can fold it small so it won’t occupy a lot of space. Needless to say, such a product should be packed full so that the bag material will not flap in the wind. Probably the most important factor which you should take into consideration is the material of the product.
We highly recommend that you avoid buying the cheapest one you can find as most likely it is made out of a thin material while the zippers are flimsy. We do suggest that you spend a little bit more and get one that features polyester material as this one is UV resistant. Avoid purchasing a car top carrier bag made of nylon as it will most likely break down under the bright sun. If you are interested in a water-resistant product, you might want to check out a product that has a dual-layer material as well as a vinyl backing.
Car Top Baskets
This type of car top luggage carrier will offer you a sturdy structure for lifting your equipment off the rooftop of your car. These roof baskets are very easy to strap cargo nets and bags to, plus they also offer an excellent rigid base with sidewalls.
Rooftop Boxes
These would have to be quite easy to pack but you have to know that for such a product you need a luggage rack with crossbars. Generally speaking, these are the most expensive rooftop options you have. We would recommend the Curt Manufacturing 18131 2 Piece Basket Cargo Carrier, Folding Shank because you don’t have to spend a lot of money plus there aren’t additional products that you have to buy. Anyway, with a rooftop box you have to be careful when choosing it because it mustn’t extend over the front windshield to catch updraft.
Car Back Carrier
Out of the many cargo carriers for SUVs you can find, or for other types of cars as well, that product you can buy from Amazon is excellent. Me and my brother bought this one because it is made out of a durable powder coat finish and we’re quite sure that it will survive the test of time very well. We also wanted something that had a steel tubular construction as we have a friend that bought a similar product and never had any problems with it.
If you didn’t know, these car back carriers are relatively new in the business and such a large cargo bag will hang from the steel car hooks or the luggage rack on the back of your SUV, wagon or van. You’ll certainly like that your view will not be blocked at all since it will hang under the rear window. Another advantage relies in the fact that this is very easy to load and you will not have to do a lot of lifting.
In addition, you don’t have to worry about aerodynamic drag as there isn’t any. A great advantage of such a product would be that taking into consideration that it rides behind the vehicle, it will not be exposed to the extreme forces of nature, as opposed to the aforementioned rooftop carriers. However, a drawback would have to be that these don’t work with regular sedans with trunks. If you want to know the weight of a car back carrier, the Curt Manufacturing 18131 2 Piece Basket Cargo Carrier, Folding Shank for example weighs 60 pounds and it offers a 500-lb. capacity which should be more than enough for what you need.
How Much Should I Pay For One?
It generally depends upon the type of product that you choose and the available budget. For example, the one we’ve mentioned from Amazon costs $111.80 which is a great deal taking into consideration that you will get a discount of $152.40 (58%).
Feedback
We didn’t buy the Curt Manufacturing 18131 2 Piece Basket Cargo Carrier, Folding Shank without reading some reviews as although the price tag was very affordable, we still didn’t want to rush into anything. Most of the reviews posted have either four of five stars should this has to be a reliable product.
It Can’t Be Perfect. Or Is It?
Of course, nothing is perfect in this world and there were a few complaints regarding product. A buyer said that after an easy assembly, it seemed to be very unstable after he installed the pin. Maybe something went wrong when it was manufactured, we don’t know, but this doesn’t mean that you should rely your decision upon only a couple of negative reviews after reading dozens of good ones.
Where Can I Buy It?
You can get it right now from Amazon and you’ll benefit from that 58% discount so you’d better hurry up.
Reading More Reviews Of Curt Manufacturing 18131 2 Piece Basket Cargo Carrier, Folding Shank
If you want to read more reviews about this product, both good and bad, the best source for this would be Amazon. Click here to read more.
Post tags: Tags: car luggage carrier, car top luggage carrier, cargo carriers for suvs, luggage carriers for suv, rooftop luggage carrier
