THE TROOPY: CRUISER CO REAR BAR REVIEW

Yep, this rear bar is a step change - pun intended. We're mostly very pleased with our Cruiser Co rear bar...read on. 

WHAT WE LIKE

• This bar seems really solid, and best of all it's flat and wide to walk on when you're up there opening or closing the roof conversion, etc. We really don't want to risk breaking a bone by having a tumble. But also, we do all our cooking out the back of the vehicle, and after a good rub with a disinfectant wipe, this bar makes a great extra space for a kettle or similar.
• We like the fact that we could add the quarter hoops and get that bit of extra protection from stray animals or other vehicles.
• We really like the lights: they're bright and powerful, and our rear camera and parking sensors were easily integrated.
• Mostly, we really like that this bar works with a standard Toyota tow hitch and our rear rated recovery points.
• The swing away arms seem really solid and we've had no issues. And the team went to extra trouble to relocate our rego plate so we could fit wheel covers to both spares. Neat work.

NOT SO MUCH...

• There is always that annoyance at having to open way more things to get into the back of the vehicle, but that's the story with all the rear bars we know of.
• One of our latches failed quite early on: the team were very obliging and went to trouble to fix it, but it shook our confidence a bit - would they stand up to more wear and tear? So far, so good.
• The latch handles are quite sharp for our delicate little paws - another provider took pity on us and put heat shrink on them, but the replaced latch doesn't have it (but Cruiser Co came up with another solution). We reckon a comfort grip should be standard, and probably will be.
• This is a very enthusiastic and dedicated team, and once you're there, nothing is to much trouble. But getting hold of them can be a challenge. We really had to chase them sometimes just to get on their books. Hope they're not missing out on other customers because they deserve to succeed.

VERDICT

Thumbs up from us - good product overall, great team!

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