etrailer | Yakima EXO Swing Away Storage System w/ 2 Enclosed Cargo Carriers Feature Review

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Full transcript: https://www.etrailer.com/tv-review-ya...
Hi everyone, it's Evangeline here at etrailer. And today we'll be taking a look at this Yakima Exo System kit. So this is a great way to start with storage, with the Exo system. We have the two gear locker combination plus the top shelf, plus the swing base all kitted together, for a great experience. This is actually a pretty popular kit, because it provides all of the storage you might ever need. Now, you could get the kit that has a gear locker and the gear warrior if you wanna mix and match your options.

But this way you have two enclosed cargo carriers. Easy to remove off of the Exo system, easy to put back on, and easy to load up. So we'll talk about how it all works together. Now, with the ability to carry around a lot of cargo, you also have a lot of weight that you need to consider. So for that reason, when it comes to weight capacity, please make sure that your vehicle has the appropriate tongue weight capacity on your hitch.

So right off the bat, the number that I'm gonna say is 350 pounds tongue weight capacity. That should be a good minimum capacity to carry everything. This system weighs 157 pounds unloaded. So that's the weight of the two boxes, as well as the weight of your top shelf and the weight of your swing base. There's a lot of steel involved with this construction, to make sure it's strong and sturdy.

That's why it's very heavy, and that's why I recommend having your friend help you out, when you take off the boxes. Now, as for where the boxes are situated changes your individual capacity. If you have it on a top shelf, you're limited to 80 pounds of cargo. For the bottom shelf or a swing base, you are limited to a hundred pounds of cargo weight. So you have this strong and sturdy box.

We've had this bottom box down here for a while. And, even though there's slight scratches, it's held up really, really well for months of use. And when you open it up, you have a lot of space in here. You've got some strong hinges, and you have included anchor points and straps to help out with your cargo. Now this is gonna take up less space behind your hitch, compared to a trailer, but still a good amount of space you're gonna have to think about. So measuring from the center of your hitch pin hole to the end of the swing base, it sits at 35 and a half inches. So that's something to remember when backing into your garage, or trying to park into a really tight spot. Depending on your vehicle, it may get a little crowded behind your Exo system. So, for the distance from the center of hitch pin hole to where your top shelf back is, that's gonna be about eight inches. So if you have, let's say, a pretty far out bumper, or for some of your vehicles, like vans, you may wanna keep in mind that measurement there. So what I noticed with the Exo system is that the gear lockers are definitely the larger of the Exo accessories. They take up more space behind your vehicle, a lot of stuff moving around. Now, it also decreases your visibility. So living with this is a little different, compared to living with just a cargo carrier. Now let's take this onto the road, so I can show you what I mean. So my thoughts while driving around with this Exo system kit is that I was kind of bummed about how that backup camera was covered and how I had to just make extra, extra careful that the area was clear. But, as I was driving around, everything was secure. Yes, it did move a little bit, but pretty much everything does when you have it in your hitch. The boxes we're sturdy in those cleats, the track system was secure. Now there might be a little bit of movement of the entire system. That's because as you tighten it down, you just need to double check and make sure you're tightening it down properly. Because it's off balance, you're gonna have to support the system as you use the anti-rattle bolt to make sure it's even, and then it's secure. I also used the etrailer anti-rattle collar and that helps add more security to the whole system. To swing the whole system away, you start with this knob. Now you have to loosen that knob all the way until it detaches from the swing base, right there. And now you can pull this little knob and use the support triangle to push this whole thing out 90 degrees, before it catches in that corner. The perks to swinging this whole system away is now you have plenty of space and plenty of clearance to open up your hatch, swing open your doors, lower your tailgate. You can even set up your campsite right here with our tailgate awnings or