Hitch cargo carrier
Ledge XL Hitch Cargo Carrier
5.0 out of 5 stars 5.0 (22)
38" x 24" of powder-coated welded steel rated to 200 lb, with integrated side rails and the dual swing arm included.
$525.00 · With Dual Swing Arm
More Info →
ShopSave 10% on your first order
Haul, Prep, Cook in one place
Hitch-mounted cargo platforms rated to 200 lb that rotate 180° on a locking swing arm - so you can open the tailgate without unloading a thing.
Patented Dual-Swing Arm
Full tailgate access, loaded
2-Year Warranty
On all hardware
No Drilling
Mounts in the receiver you have
Based in Santa Cruz, CA
Designed and shipped from the USA
Every feature, at a glance
The dual arm rotates the platform up to 180° and locks there. Travel position tucks it tight to the bumper; camp position swings it clear of the tailgate. Both positions pin, so nothing drifts on washboard.
A fixed carrier makes you unload the tray and pull it out of the receiver before the tailgate opens. This one swings with the gear still strapped down — cooler, fuel cans, gear box and all.
200 lb is the Ledge XL. The Ledge Cargo Platform is rated to 100 lb and the Field Box to 125 lb.
Your hitch has its own tongue weight limit, and the carrier plus its load has to stay under it. Check the sticker on your receiver or your owner's manual before you load up.
38" × 24" outside, 34.75" × 19.35" usable inside the rails, 5.5" deep.
Room for a full-size cooler plus a gear bin, or a camp kitchen setup with space left to work.
Powder-coated welded steel frame with an expanded steel mesh deck. No plastic and no bolt-together tubing.
Any standard 2" Class III receiver — Tacoma, 4Runner, F-150, Bronco, Ram, Sprinter. A 1.25" receiver will not fit.
Vehicles that carry a spare on the back door usually need the 12" Hitch Extender so the platform clears the tire when it swings.
It mounts in the receiver you already have. Nothing is drilled, welded or permanently attached to the vehicle, and it comes back off when you do not need it.
5.5" rails run the perimeter with tie-down points built into the frame, so straps anchor to the carrier instead of over the top of your load.
The hitch lock draws the shank tight against the receiver walls. No rattle at speed, no play in the swing.
Two years against defects in materials and workmanship, on every HitchFire product — the carrier, the swing arm and the hardware.
On the hitch
Every shot is the actual hardware — platforms, the Field Box and the swing arm, loaded the way owners load them.
Two platform sizes, a locking box, and the swing arm that carries all three.
Hitch cargo carrier
5.0 out of 5 stars 5.0 (22)
38" x 24" of powder-coated welded steel rated to 200 lb, with integrated side rails and the dual swing arm included.
$525.00 · With Dual Swing Arm
More Info →
Hitch cargo carrier
4.9 out of 5 stars 4.9 (17)
31.5" x 17.5" stainless platform rated to 100 lb. The compact carrier for smaller receivers and lighter loads.
$450.00 · With Dual Swing Arm
More Info →
Locking cargo box
4.0 out of 5 stars 4.0 (1)
77 liters of keyed, weatherproof aluminum storage rated to 125 lb - a hitch cargo carrier that closes.
$959.00 · with Dual Swing Arm
More Info →
Hardware
4.6 out of 5 stars 4.6 (10)
The patented dual swing arm on its own, for a DIY cargo carrier build on a 2" receiver.
$299.00 · Dual Swing
More Info →A hitch cargo carrier is the cheapest way to add real capacity to a vehicle you already own. It drops into the 2-inch receiver at the back, carries the gear that will not fit inside, and costs you none of the fuel economy or garage clearance a roof rack does.
It also, on almost every carrier sold, blocks the back of your vehicle completely. Load the tray and the tailgate is done. Need the cooler at the bottom of the pile? Unload the tray, open the door, reload the tray.
Haul. Prep. Cook.
The same 38" × 24" deck that hauls your gear to the trailhead swings level at camp and turns into a full prep station. No second table, no extra rack - swing out and get to work.
01
On the road
Coolers, firewood, gear boxes - strapped to the deck and hauled without touching your trunk or back seat.
02
At camp
Swing it level and it is a full cook station - griddle, stove, cutting board, set up in seconds flat.
How it works
01
Arrive
Roll up to the trailhead, the tailgate, the campsite. The carrier rides tucked in tight to your hitch - ready the second you park.
02
Access
One motion swings the platform clear. The tailgate opens all the way - nothing to unload, nothing in the way.
03
Load in
Cinch your gear box, cooler or camp kitchen down tight to the rails. Locked, level and ready for the miles ahead.
The swing arm
Most hitch cargo carriers make you unload the whole tray to open the back of your vehicle. The patented HitchFire dual swing arm rotates up to 180° on a locking hinge, so the platform moves out of the way instead - with the gear still strapped to it.
Patented technology
One hinge, engineered into the carrier instead of bolted on behind it. That is the reason the platform moves while it is still loaded.
The engineered advantage
Patented dual pivot arm rotates up to 180°. Your tailgate opens. Your trunk opens. Load and unload with the deck still full.
A big, flat welded-steel platform rated to 200 lb - coolers, firewood, fuel, or a full camp kitchen setup.
Tacoma. 4Runner. F-150. Bronco. If it has a 2" Class III receiver, you are seconds from a fully loaded platform.
A fixed hitch cargo carrier is a tray on a shank. It is inexpensive and it works, right up until you need something out of the back.
The usual fix is a bolt-on swing-away adapter - a second piece of hardware stacked between the receiver and the tray. It adds cost, it adds a hinge that was never engineered for the specific tray you bolted to it, and most adapters reduce your usable load rating once you account for the extra leverage.
HitchFire builds the swing into the carrier instead. The Ledge XL and Ledge Cargo Platform mount on a patented dual swing arm that rotates up to 180° and locks in both the travel and the camp position. The platform moves loaded. Nothing comes off first.
Everything you haul
Grab and go
The big flat deck holds a full-size cooler and food bins right at the tailgate - no digging through the trunk for lunch.
200 lb capacity
Haul the heavy stuff
Firewood, propane, water cans - off your interior and onto a welded steel deck built to take the weight and the trail.
38 × 24 inch deck
Prep station ready
The flat platform doubles as a prep and cook surface at camp. Swing it out, set up your stove, and get dinner going.
Flat prep deck
Locked down
Integrated side rails and tie-down points lock down gear boxes and duffels so nothing shifts on rough roads.
Side rails
Dial it in
Fitted cover, tie-down straps, locking hitch pin - everything you need to make the carrier exactly yours.
2" receiver
Ledge Cargo Platform - 100 lb. 31.5" x 17.5" of stainless steel with removable side rails. The right hitch cargo carrier for firewood, recovery gear, a couple of totes, or anything you want off the back seat. $450 with the dual swing arm.
Ledge XL Platform - 200 lb. 38" x 24" of powder-coated welded steel, 5.5" deep inside integrated rails. Twice the rating and enough deck for coolers, bins, fuel and a full camp load. $525 with the dual swing arm.
Field Box - 125 lb, and it locks. 77 liters inside a keyed aluminum enclosure, 39.75" x 17.5" x 11". A hitch cargo carrier with a lid and a lock, for gear you do not want to leave under a strap in a trailhead parking lot.
All three mount to the same standard 2" receiver, and all three ride on the same dual swing arm. If you already own the arm, every platform is also sold on its own. If you are building something of your own, the DIY Dual Swing Arm is sold separately.
| HitchFire Ledge XL | Typical fixed carrier | |
|---|---|---|
| Tailgate access | Swings up to 180°, fully loaded | Unload and pull the tray first |
| Swing hardware | Engineered into the carrier | Bolt-on adapter, bought separately |
| Deploy | Seconds, tool-free | Bolt-on, tools required |
| Side rails | Integrated, with tie-down points | Usually none |
| Deck | 38" × 24" welded steel | Smaller open mesh basket |
| Locking positions | Travel and camp | None |
| Interior space | Frees up your trunk and cabin | Gear still crammed inside |
| Finish | Powder-coated welded steel | Thin coating that rusts |
| Warranty | 2 years | Varies by brand |
Ledge XL shown. The Ledge Cargo Platform is 31.5" x 17.5" and rated to 100 lb; the Field Box is 39.75" x 17.5" x 11", 77 liters, rated to 125 lb. Fixed-carrier column describes the common bolt-on tray category, not any one product - many fixed trays carry more weight than a swing-away, and that trade is the point.
A hitch cargo carrier is a platform, tray or box that slides into your vehicle's trailer hitch receiver and carries gear outside the cabin. It adds capacity without the fuel-economy penalty, wind noise or height restriction of a roof rack, and without the lifting. Most fit a standard 2-inch receiver.
HitchFire platforms are rated to 100 lb (Ledge Cargo Platform), 125 lb (Field Box) and 200 lb (Ledge XL). The carrier's own rating is only half the answer, though - your vehicle's hitch has a tongue weight limit, and the carrier plus its load has to stay under it. Check the sticker on your receiver or your owner's manual before you load up.
A standard 2-inch Class III receiver. If your vehicle has a 1.25-inch receiver, a HitchFire cargo carrier will not fit it, and we would rather tell you that now than after it ships.
Yes - that is the point of the swing arm. The platform rotates up to 180° on a locking hinge and stays there, fully loaded, so the tailgate, rear doors or barn doors open normally. With a fixed hitch cargo carrier you would have to unload and remove the tray first.
Sometimes. Vehicles that carry a spare tire on the back door - Jeep Wrangler, Ford Bronco, some 4Runners - usually need the 12-inch Hitch Extender so the platform clears the tire when it swings. Rear-mounted ladders and bumper-mounted spares are the other common reason. Send us a photo of the back of your vehicle and we will tell you which you need.
Less than a roof rack does. A loaded roof rack sits in clean air above the vehicle and can cost meaningful fuel economy at highway speed; a hitch cargo carrier rides in the low-pressure wake behind it, where the aerodynamic penalty is much smaller. You are still adding weight, so expect some effect - just not the roof-rack kind.
It can, depending on your vehicle and how you load it. Most US states require the rear plate to be visible and legible, and rules on obstruction vary state to state - some are specific about cargo carriers, some are not. Check your own state's requirements, and if the plate ends up covered, relocate it to the carrier or add an auxiliary plate and light.
On the "With Dual Swing Arm" variant, yes - arm and platform ship together and are priced as one system. The "Platform Only" variants are for people who already own a HitchFire swing arm. The DIY Dual Swing Arm is also sold on its own for custom builds.
No. It mounts in the receiver you already have. Nothing is drilled, welded or permanently attached.
Every HitchFire product carries a 2-year manufacturer warranty against defects in materials and workmanship.
We ship direct within the US and Canada. Anywhere else, you can order to a US freight forwarder, or we'll quote the whole order for you. See how international orders work or request a quote.
The same 2-inch receiver and the same swing arm carry more than cargo. The Cook Station puts a burner and a sink on the platform, the Forge 15 and F-20 put a full grill back there, and the overland cargo setup shows how the pieces stack for longer trips. If you tow or travel in a rig, the RV and fifth wheel pages cover mounting on the trailer instead of the truck.
