RadiantCycles

Hey everyone, I'm new here, but I've had my zdx for awhile. I've been having trouble finding a roof rack for the Zdx, so I decided to go with a hitch mounted carrier.

Incase anyone else out there is having issues with how small the trunk on the ZDX is, here is an easy way to carry extra cargo. I ordered some Yakima ski racks and they are on the way. I am planning to mount the racks to the top of the box.

I'm using a Curt 11023 class 1 hitch for the ZDX.
I welded a custom bracket and mounted a 50 gallon tote to the bracket.
Added red reflectors and 2 gas struts that lift and hold the lid up.
The box has a padlock to keep things inside safe.

I will update more pictures of the box once the ski racks are mounted and the box is painted to match the ZDX.

Sandro

interesting look with tinted middle taillights

RadiantCycles

I was going for the Zdx concept car look. I had the rear turn signals blacked out too, but I removed it because it was difficult to see at night.

Sandro

for turn signals you can put a powerful LED light and it will help

saba007

Like the strip in the tail. Curious, what's that car next to it? Looks like a kit car.

RadiantCycles

Thanks for the tip Sandro. I might go ahead and order some LED bulbs to see if they are bright enough.

Saba007, the car next to the zdx is a kitcar I started building back in 2002. It's nothing special, just a mx5/miata with a custom fiberglass body.

tonytdao

Is it still easy to access the back trunk area ..

RadiantCycles

The trunk is fully accessible, the box is only about 41 inches wide, so it's pretty easy to reach into the trunk from either side of the box. The lid to the cargo box can be left open and it does not interfere with the opening of the rear hatch. I will take better pictures once the box is painted. I can add pictures of this build if anyone is interested. The hardest part is making the bracket for the box to sit on.

Btw, the reason why I made this box is because it only weights 30lbs. That means I can load about 170 lbs before it reaches the 200 lbs hitch capacity. There are cargo boxes that are sold by thule, but they are about 80 lbs when empty and they look too big for the ZDX.

RadiantCycles

Update with ski racks mounted. It looks ugly with the ski racks, but I had to make aluminum brackets to raise the racks 5" off the box in order to carry 2 snowboards. I still need to paint the box and brackets black. Here are some pictures of the yakima racks.

Timmy18

I like what you did with the tinted taillights.