Additional cargo capacity

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sseaman

sseaman

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Sep 26, 2006
Threads
125
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1,895
Location
Nashville, TN
We are planning trip in March and my parents will be coming along so we will be short on cargo space with 6 of us. I'm torn between a hitch rack and bag but have concerns about the exhaust melting the bag and there are limited racks that have a rise built in, the other option is a roof box, had a Thule years ago on our Sequoia and it didn't seem to affect mileage too much but was a pain to load and unload. I found a X-Cargo XL near by fairly cheap, it isn't as aero as the higher priced brands but would be large enough for the suitcases. It is also rear opening which wouldn't be too bad standing on the lower tailgate.

Any feedback or real world experience is appreciated.
 
With kids and dogs I have to use both a hitch box and roof box when we go camping for a few days. My preference is the roof box as its more storage and not in the way like anything on the hitch. Wife prefers hitch box due to ease of access so we keep things we need to access and move in and out in the hitch and one time load/unload on the roof.
Also if you are looking at roof boxes look up sportrack, owned by thule and many of their boxed are just thule ones with a different sticker at half the price. Mine even uses the same key as my thule hitch box and came with thule quick attach hardware for the box.

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I prefer roof boxes too. I've had several Thule brand that have served us well. Newer ones are much easier to install/remove, so we can quickly swap them between vehicles or put it into storage in the garage. This leaves the hitch available to either tow or use a bike rack.
 
Our family of 6 borrows our friend's 4x8 trailer when we go camping or for an week long trip. But we always have at least 4 bikes with us. I also have the largest Thule ski box and it won't fit all our bags if we are gone for more than a couple days. Also the weight of stuffing one of those full is a bit much for the roof rack and box.

I bet you could pick up a used utility trailer and sell it when done without losing any appreciable amount of money.

My mileage doesn't drop enough to offset the ease of loading/unloading and storage capacity.
 
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Thanks for the feedback, I have a small 3.5x5' trailer that I have debated using but then it adds an added potential for failure plus dropping and locking when we get where we are going.
 
I prefer a roof box as well. you can always rent one at REI if this is more of a 1-time thing
 
We use a roof box when we go anywhere. We do a couple week family road trip once a year and I like that I can lock the box (although it would be easy to bypass if someone wanted to) when we are in town and not have to worry about taking everything out. Figure if someone wants to get into it they will make somewhat of scene and hopefully someone would say something. Also like that for the most part ours (thule) is weather tight and doesn't allow water in so no need to worry about making sure everything is packed in water tight bags. Not a big fan of the hitch rack for couple of reasons. First they make parking on the street a little more difficult, not that it can't be done just need a bigger spot. When we travel we tend to stop and visit family and most live in a larger city so parallel parking on the street is a must. Second if you get into a little fender bender puts cargo at risk. I am a full time firefighter and have a freeway that is in my stations response area and I have seen people on the side of the road after minor fender bender trying to figure out how to get things into a vehicle after rack gets hit and either bends or breaks.
 
they rent camping and hiking gear and used to rent boxes. i think it depends on the store though. I dont recall price, I bought one, used it a few times and has been in my shed for 7 years. doh! maybe I need to sell it.....
 
Craig's list is a great place to find roof boxes too. Buy used, sell used if you don't need it any more and you usually break even.

Our vacations with the trailer usually end at a cabin or condo so we just unload and lock it up there. Not for everyone but an option. It's worked so well I'll be building a trailer this spring for our travels with built in bike racks and same size wheels as the cruiser.
 
I much prefer roof boxes and have a wide, short Thule that opens from the rear. Everything is reachable standing on the bumper and it holds all the stuff we don't need to access until we reach a destination.
 
Ali FJ80 said:
Also if you are looking at roof boxes look up sportrack, owned by thule and many of their boxed are just thule ones with a different sticker at half the price. Mine even uses the same key as my thule hitch box and came with thule quick attach hardware for the box.
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+1 on Sportrack roof box. Good value. As long as you don't need to constantly get in and out of it, a roof box is nice to have.
 
Like Ali, I go both. Who really worries about gas mileage in these things?

I bought a hitch doubler from HF for $15. That brought the rack up high enough that the exhaust isn't an issue.

 
We just finished a trip with my family of 5 and a large breed dog in my '01. Picked up a used Thule roof box for half price on Craigslist. I thought it would be difficult to load, but it really wasn't. Placed it off center towards the passenger side and just stood on the passenger floorboard to load and unload. Did not notice a major drop in gas mileage either.
 
We load up our Cruiser with 3rd row passengers several times per year. I've never had a roof box, but always thought it would be a pain to load/unload and also give more wind resistance (and maybe wind noise?) Anyways, I simply got a $50 Harbor Freight hitch platform like maxse01 shows above and have used it at least a half dozen times on the Cruiser since buying it, it's very handy I think. It also fits perfectly inside the cargo area for storage

The first few times we used it, there was the heat issue with the exhaust and I melted a strap on my duffel bag, so I started using a folded piece of cardboard as a baffle. Now I've upgraded to a "stacked receiver hitch adapter" from Harbor Freight - platform seems to clear exhaust just fine now and no issues. IIRC the tailgate still clears the platform when empty, but I'll have to double check that clearance.

If you go to HR remember to bring your 20% off and freebie item coupons.
 
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