Shovel Holder Mount for ARB Base Platform Racks

Video Transcript for ARB Base Platform Racks Shovel Holder Mount Review

Hey everyone, it's Evangeline here at Etrailer and today we have the ARB shovel holder that's designed to fit onto your ARB BASE rack. We're gonna take a look at its features as well as how to get installed on your rack, right here at Etrailer. With the way this holder clamps down, this is designed to work along your base rack, so whether you need to mount your shovel to the front or to the side, if you need to move it forward or backward, it's very easy to make those adjustments. It makes those adjustments easy because all you need to do is use a 13 millimeter wrench and loosen the bolts and then using the ARB dovetail system, you can slide these clamps along. So whether you're carrying a short shovel or a long shovel, or maybe you need to put the shovel on the back of your rack because you're carrying other cargo, you can make those adjustments super quickly. The diameter of shovel handles this can carry is from an inch and a quarter to an inch and five eighths in diameter.

I currently have a short overlanding shovel, but even with that in mind, this can still fit it. You put the shovel in, you fix the clamp over and then you tighten down. So from the short shovels to the long shovels, to the large shovels, this can fit around. With everything tightened down, you can see as I shake our shovel, I'm shaking the entire vehicle and that's why it's very important to know, what type of shovel you are carrying around. For example, if you have something that's a little too small in diameter, you may encounter some wobbling around.

So always double check that everything is secure and that you have a good fit before you drive. If you look underneath the mount, you'll see this hole and that lines up with our handle and is designed to use with padlocks. So if you want to, you can get a long shank padlock to secure your shovel while it's on the mount. True to other ARB accessories, the mount or the clamp is made of steel and it has that black powder coat finish so that it resists corrosion. Even our non-metal part, which is the holder for the shovel, well that's UV stable as well.

In that way if you are going run in those harsh environments where you do need a shovel and a spade, it's nice to know that everything works together so that what's holding your shovel will hold up. So to get this assembled, that's gonna be the first thing you do. You're gonna need to use a five millimeter Allen key and then a 10 millimeter wrench for the back. And then we are going to install this onto your BASE rack using a 13 millimeter wrench. So you only have to do that once, after that is just a matter of this nut right here that's gonna be loosened and tightened to take this on and off of your rack.

(metal clanging) What I do is I mostly tighten it down, but not all the way because that way I can still adjust this back and forth, according to the length of the shovel handle and also to make sure that I am clear from the door, my head, other cargo that might be in the way. So once you've figured out the best spot for your shovel holder, go ahead and tighten down both clamps completely and you can see they won't budge. Now you can bring your shovel up to the carrier. We're gonna fit these holders on over, see how this holder fits the handle, and then the knob fits over and then we tighten down on that knob. So tighten down both sides, until your shovel is secure. Overall, my impressions about this shovel holder is I like how small and how easy it is to move around, because I'm the type of person that for my adventures, I like to fully pack up the platform. And yes, you do get a smaller shovel holder, but not all holders can fit the smaller overlanding size. This is able to adjust smaller or wider and go around to wherever I needed to go. So maybe my recovery track boards need to go on one side while making those quick and easy adjustments, make it a lot easier to get back onto the road that much faster. Now this was the shovel holder. Whether you need that or a shovel or any other accessory for your ARB BASE rack, well we have them right here at Etrailer, but right here, right now, this was a look at the ARB shovel holder for your base rack. My name's Evangeline and I hope you enjoy the journey.