Need More Storage??!!!

Like most of us that camp, we tend to bring more than we can carry, or even need.  My family and I have recently been living fulltime in our 5^th wheel and find that storage is a hot commodity.  With only 350 SQFT of living space for 6 and one outside storage compartment, it is very difficult to find room for the sewer hoses, water hoses, and other things that you wouldn’t want to store with your folding chairs and kids toys.  On our 5^th wheel we have a 2” trailer hitch receiver installed on the rear bumper.  This comes in handy to add storage to your rig without taking up extra space.  If you don’t have one of these nice receivers installed, any welding shop should be able to fasten one on for a fair price and as you will see, it is worth its weight in Gold.

There are many different style trailer hitch racks that can be purchased.  They make ones that fold up when not in use, have siding so you can strap cargo down, and ones that are completely flat with a metal mesh bottom like shown in the image above.  The kind that I purchased is the one like in the image above because I needed the ability to mount a cargo box to the rack.  This gives me the ability to have more covered weather proof storage. 

The cargo box that I recommend is one made of hard plastic with little or no metal parts.  This will keep the latches, etc. from rusting in the weather.  Once you find a box that you like, place the box on the rack where you would like it mounted and mark with a chalk on the bottom of the box where you will drill the holes.  Depending on the size of the box you may want to drill 6 – 8 mounting holes.  Once the holes are drilled, place back on the rack and use 2 washers (1 per side), a lag bolt, and 1 nylon nut to mount the box to the rack.  Once the box is mounted, find yourself a nice weather resistant lock and load it up with stuff that you will use to connect your RV at the campground, or other outside stuff.  This will help keep your basement and inside storage clean.