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Buying Right: Bodacious Rooftop Boxes Adding a cargo box to your roof rack is like building a new room on your car. All of the things that crowd your backseat when the trunk overfloweth–backpacks, ski boots, cooking grills–can be stored in what amounts to the attic. Then your passenger seats can again be occupied by passengers. All of the boxes I checked out were satisfactory in terms of weatherproofness, security (they’re all lockable), and adaptability (cargo boxes and racks don’t have to be of one brand to work together), so the only big decisions are format and cost. Some racks are long and narrow, for skis and sailboard masts; others are wider, to accommodate a larger amount of smaller gear. For $400, the Barrecrafters Sportlocker will add 13 cubic feet of carrying capacity to your vehicle, and it’s long (seven feet, five inches) and wide (one foot, eight inches) enough to handle six pairs of skis. It’s made of basic but durable ABS plastic and has gas struts to make opening the lid easier. The plastic Saris For a bit more cash, the 33-inch-wide, polyethylene (which is to say softish) Automaxi Spacebox ($569) will accommodate a dozen (!) pairs of skis. Unfortunately, it takes up so much of your rack that there isn’t room for much else. The five-foot-long Packasport System 90G ($545) isn’t appropriate for skis, but its Speaking of elegant, Excalibur’s Series I ($595) is fancy enough to be buried in. The hand-laid fiberglass box features cargo straps to keep the load from shifting and a carpet liner to prevent scratches. The squat, six-foot-long Series I will take on plenty of smaller stuff. High Gear’s Top Bunk ($1,799), on the other |
Buying Right: Bodacious Rooftop Boxes
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