I'm going to buy a roofbox. I'm going to get the biggest one I can find. So far the largest I can see available is a Thule one but it's pretty expensive at the thick end of £600.
It's for work, so the "company" will be paying. We do lots of trade shows which involves taking considerable amounts of kit with us to exhibitions and we currently either need to hire vans, send stuff ahead by courier, or take at least two estate cars.
This kind of works, but for example, when we do Irish or Italian trips it works out expensive taking two vehicles and sometimes the timings are so tight that the stuff we have used in say, Milan, might be needed in Ireland two days later and sending a van isn't always quick or reliable enough.
For example an upcoming trip will mean breaking down a trade stand in Italy on a Wednesday night after 5 days there, transporting its contents to London for the Friday, breaking that down again on the Saturday night, driving it to Belfast on the Sunday....Well, you get the idea...
So, I already have about the biggest estate car going and if you have to cross continents overnight, it's not a bad thing to sit in while doing so. The addition of the biggest roofbox I can find will just add to the versatility for those occasions.
Anyway, it was just to see if anyone has anything they would add to my thinking, or a good, bad or ugly experience with the things to caution against, or knows of a thumping great big one which doesn't cost six hundred quid or whatever other useful suggestions....?
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The £600 is presumably neither here nor there if it works - not taking a second car or hiring a van will give a reasonably quick payback.
How convenient will it be for loading/unloading? Better than a trailer? Light stuff I suppose?
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Make two pairs of shoes and take one pair to Italy and send the other pair to Ireland.
Have you tried Mercedes ? You might find they are competitive on price. I bought the biggest Volvo one available at the time about 500l, it was cheaper than a Thule one at Halfords.
You should also consider getting the lift and fitting it to your garage roof. Drive in, lift off, drive in, drop down to fit. Much easier than carrying 20kgs of coffin around on your head to fit onto/remove from the car.
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Yes exactly my thoughts re the costs, that'll pay back in no time.
Hadn't thought of checking whether Merc do one. Good call.
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Forgot to mention make sure you get one that opens from either side. Makes loading and unloading a lot easier.
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Is the roof box likely to be big enough? If it's not that big could you air freight it? We use DHL express all around the world they are pretty good.
Is it expensive this equipment? Could another set be bought, surely it save alot of time in people packing up and moving this kit?
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It's always new designs, limited editions etc. There aren't spares and they cost a small fortune to produce at that stage. Once they are tooled for bulk production the costs plummet of course.
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Move it by air? Ireland and Italy have plenty of carriers flying to the UK and back. If it happens often enough, would it pay to have a van leased? Not putting you off a roof box, just thinking of other options. Is a small trailer an option?
BTW how do you mainly get across the channel; Dover --> Calais or the tunnnel?
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Does the stuff weigh much? Because those boxes are a long way up and its not a good place to have a lot of weight.
On occasions I have used one, and once I did so without making sure all the heavy stuff was in the car and not in the box. It was very unstable, especially on wobbly roads and roundabouts.
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They're very aerodynamic these days and have little to no impact on fuel consumption believe it or not.
The Volvo one I've got which I believe is actually manufactured by Thule is good for 75kgs and rated up to 80MPH. I've not had it on my current car yet, trip in 2 weeks time, on the old S60 I returned 53MPG with it up there fully loaded driving at motorway speeds. The roof bars I have are also wing shaped rather than square tubes of metal and curve down onto the car rather than overhang at the edges.
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470 litres is the biggest I've seen for sale of late, but they're also limited to max 60kg with half of that to go between the roof bars. And most aren't exactly regular shape for loading bulky stuff.
I presume you want to avoid a trailer so as not to be restricted to lower speed limits.
Another option might be a load box on a towbar mounted carrier, if a regular shape box is more useful to you.
Of course, if you need to carry van-sized loads what you need is...
... a Ford Galaxy 2.2 auto with all the back seats folded down ;-)
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or...a V6 Renault Espace (thought I'd get that one in first).
Last edited by: gmac on Fri 27 Jun 14 at 19:11
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Don't mention the Espace again please. :-(
All good stuff thanks all. Plenty of food for thought.
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One last point is check what your car will actually take for weight on the roof. some say 75kgs some are 100kgs. You've then got to subtract the weight of the box (about 20kgs) from that.
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PAMPOOTIE OVERLOAD CAUSES CRASH ON M62
'Three tons' of rawhide footwear perched on roof of old Mercedes estate
... Police at the scene said: 'It was carnage. Rawhide pampooties all over the road for 100 yards. Three of my officers are in hospital with stubbed toes. We think it was Rumanians. What do these people think they can achieve like that?'
... A gentleman seen tiptoeing rapidly away from the wreckage wearing distinctive two-tone golf shoes was heard to cry 'Me no speaka da English', adding 'Want a bit of this do yez Jimmy?'
(The Times, tomorrow)
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It looks the same as the 520 I have, maybe a bit higher in profile:
tinyurl.com/lohqg28 - careful, link to Volvo website, if you have a webcam cardigan and trilby required or access not granted.
Scroll down to bottom of the page to see roof boxes.
Last edited by: gmac on Fri 27 Jun 14 at 19:59
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Actually we have one of those, an older model I think but very similar, the same thing. Made of tough modern plastic, good stuff.
It was on the Chrysler when we were given it. Normally used for clobber for one very fortunate, well-equipped little girl. Her parents now have a Honda Jeep thing that seems not to need a roof box. Or perhaps she's big enough not to need so much clobber now. Something like that.
Naturally I took the damn thing off immediately and it is sitting in a niche between two sheds, getting slimy and full of insects.
You can have it for 50 quid Humph.
:o}
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Decent of you AC. Would you feel able to include the insects and slime in the price?
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Bought As Seen is the expression I believe?
I don't think it's damaged but I'm not sure where its clamps, little rubber feet and ghastly transverse tubes are. If they aren't inside it or still on the shed roof from earlier on it may be more trouble than it's worth, even with added slugs (we get a lot of those).
If you're actually interested I'll have a look tomorrow Humph. I don't suppose you are, but 200 quid for a floppy plastic box, I mean, and you a Scot too....
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If you go on a lot of ferries, you need to consider the overall height with a massive roof box fitted. It could be too tall for some crossings and/or attract a premium fare.
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>> If you go on a lot of ferries, you need to consider the overall height
>> with a massive roof box fitted. It could be too tall for some crossings and/or
>> attract a premium fare.
>>
Our mark 2 Berlingo with a large Halfords roof box was just within the 2.3m (?) limit for the car area on DFDS to Dunkerque. Any higher and we'd have been on lower deck with lorries and caravans but not sure if that was an extra cost.
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When I bought a roof-box, I too went for the biggest I could find (Thule), and very good it is too. However, if you have the regular need of such accommodation, I too would go the MPV/posh van route. Your LEC will have about 1900l of space, whereas our old C8 had 3,000l. Goodness only knows what the Transporter takes, and it is very relaxing driving across Europe with its twin turbo ... And you still put a box on that if you need to. Far more versatile than an LEC. It doesn't have to be an Espace ...
You just need to get over your fear of heights (behind the wheel).
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I do get where you are coming from with the posh van suggestion, but it's really only 2 months in the late summer/early autumn and again about 8 weeks in spring when the extra loadspace would be needed. To condemn myself to the rest of the year in a van.
I think the roofbox thing will work just about. As for additional ferry costs etc I guess not taking two vehicles will cover that.
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Tow bar and trailer an option?
Once the tow bars fitted you could get back to thinking about that caravan you've always wanted
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Wouldn't want to tow a trailer from Milan to London and on to Ireland on a tight schedule. Idea of the roofbox is that a reasonable average speed can be maintained.
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I bought a large Thule roof box, when we were transporting a newborn child, two dogs and all our stuff from London to Fort William regularly for family visits.
My thoughts are:
- Pay cheap, pay twice. Things are cheap for a reason, so go for Thule or better.
- The double sided loading is really good advice. You can get a lot more in, by sensible loading from both sides.
- I disagree with the above advice about the minimal change to fuel consumption. I noticed a major change. On a long hard thrash from southern England to the Scottish Highlands at significant motorway speeds, without the roof box, my wife's 2 litre diesel estate Jag X Type will do about 38mpg... with the roof box, the worst I got it was 28mpg.
- If you whizz along a bit in the twisties, make sure you do up the fittings on the roof bars tighter than a Jock's wallet, because after one journey through Loch Lomond up towards Crianlarich and Glen Coe, I found when I got there that the roofbox had moved from the middle of the car to the side!... and I'd done the damned things up what I thought was well tight (I know I had too much weight in it, but the car handled it fine and so will yours).
- The advice about storing it in a cradle is good, because although they're not really heavy, they are unwieldy and it therefore ideally takes two to put it on the car.
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Thanks WP. I'm used enough to weight and drag upstairs. There are normally 3 mountain bikes up there most weekends and certainly on holiday trips to France etc. They rip the mpg down from 50-ish to low 30s on a run.
Doesn't matter if you are just pottering about for a weekend, doesn't seem to affect mpg much at lower speeds but it does mean more stops to fill up on a long motorway journey.
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>> 200 quid for a floppy plastic box, I mean, and you a Scot too....
Good God! I mean 600 quid, really... 200 seems a lot to me.
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"Wouldn't want to tow a trailer from Milan to London and on to Ireland on a tight schedule. Idea of the roofbox is that a reasonable average speed can be maintained. "
Have you seen what goes on in France ? I've lost count of the number of times I've been overtaken by a car and trailer on the autoroutes. Note: this is when I've been driving at an indicated 140kph hoping I'm just a tiny / negligible bit above the 130kph limit. 140kph is around 87mph.
There is no speed restriction law on trailers pulled by a car in France.
I don't know about the rest of mainland Europe though.
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No idea about the decent ones, but my cheap one advised that you didn't drive over 60 ish with it mounted. Not sure if that was because it would self destruct at 70 or something
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>> No idea about the decent ones, but my cheap one advised that you didn't drive
>> over 60 ish with it mounted. Not sure if that was because it would self
>> destruct at 70 or something
Lot of force on a roof box and therefore on bars and fixings, at speed, drag coefficient matters a lot. Posh ones might be better designed in that respect.
Sometimes unforeseen consequences of airflow. A pal of mine had one of those glass pop-up sun roofs on a Citroen ZX. He had the roof up when driving at speed with his roof box on.
The back edge of the roof must have been quite close to the underside of the box, and the air ramming in between box and roof broke it. Result was a shower of glass coming into the car with a bang at about 80mph, which cured his constipation.
If you have a sun roof, keep it shut.
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Well, we bought one. It's a 600 and odd litre ( aka flipping huuuuuge ) 'Farad' model from Amazon, from an Italian seller free shipped to the UK for £275 or something like that. It's in the warehouse at work at present but we'll fit it at the end of this week prior to the car going to ( ironically ) Italy for a short week and then on to Ireland for a further week.
Goodness knows whether it will turn out to be a good purchase and what it'll do to the mpg but here goes nothing...
Any thoughts on roof bar spacing, positioning centrally or offset to one side or whatever? Not sure if it will make much difference given that it appears to be almost as big as the roof panel on the car !
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Definitely central, you wouldn't want asymmetric drag at speed would you?
Is it wedge shaped? If there are no default mount points on the box, I'd put the rear support 20% of the length from the back of the box, and the front 30% of the length from the front, with half the length of the box in between the bars.
Well you did ask. And don't tilt your sun roof, if you have one. Pal of mine did that with one of those frameless glass pop up things, and the airflow ramming into the gap caused the toughened glass to break explosively and shower into the car. Even if yours is steel, it wouldn't do much for the mechanism.
And check the fastenings when you stop for coffee.
Last edited by: Manatee on Mon 25 Aug 14 at 11:36
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>> Well, we bought one.
Caravan next.
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Well, not that a caravan is on the agenda but my caravanist brother in law was trying to persuade me that 'all Mercs have a hidden towbar as standard now mate'...
Didn't believe him and I'm not going to check in case I get some sort of mental abberation and buy something to tow with it.
Thanks Manatee. I'll start from your suggestions.
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Mon 25 Aug 14 at 11:59
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After seeing the damage caused by a car towing a large caravan on the M6 yesterday I'd steer clear. Happened not long before I got to the scene. Car was badly damaged and a section of the crash barrier had been taken out (i.e. not there anymore for maybe 15-20 feet!).... this isn't the thread to discuss.
Brave chap stopped the traffic and retrieved the worst of the debris - could see him doing it. I assumed he had some experience because stopping three lanes of traffic safely (which it did) was sort of impressive. And very foolish!
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You not planning on taking your bike too RDH? It would save you sitting in those jams once you've setup if you're in a northern Italian city.
I'd limit the overhang at the top of the windscreen or you'll go dizzy watching it bounce all the way to Italy. Also, check the rear overhang, you don't want the tailgate rubbing when you open it.
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Right well, back now.
Roof box proved very useful as suspected. Didn't severely damage mpg, maybe 10% worse. Not especially noisy either.
Took it off unaided tonight. Heavier and more awkward to do that than I imagined. ( it's huge, approx 2m x 1m x 0.5m )
Managed to drop it on my foot actually as it slid uncontrollably off the roof bars. Quite sore still but it missed the paint anyway.
Other than that it's a fine thing. In my shed for now. Bound to come in handy again. It would in fact make a passable auxiliary shed. Or two small pond liners. If ever two small ponds were required.
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How did you find the food in Ireland this time around?* IIRC you weren't much looking forward to it.
*And don't say "I walked into a restaurant and that's where I found it" :-)
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It was pretty full on work Gromit from early morning to very late evenings so food was mainly on the go style. Did have one night out with friends in Belfast though on the Lisburn Road at a gastro pub type place called the Albany. I and some other people had quite good seafood and others enjoyed steaks. Still a notable lack of green vegetables or salads on the plates unless you specially asked ! Lots of chips and other potato derivatives available though. I had a piece of grilled salmon on a bed of seafood risotto preceded by scallops both of which were very good.
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Happy to help...I have my own Motorhome....just pay my fuel and ferry crossings....I have now got a spare Duccato door mirror....just in case.
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Funny you should say that, a guy I know has a huge great big 500 hp motor cruiser boat thing and uses it for business meetings anywhere with a port.
Bit of a flash git though.
;-)
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>> Happy to help...I have my own Motorhome....just pay my fuel and ferry crossings....I have now
>> got a spare Duccato door mirror....just in case.
>>
Are you suggesting to Humph a man holiday?
I'm thinking of that sketch in 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' where John Candy says to Steve Martin "Where's your hand"? and the reply is "Under that pillow" and then there's the shriek "that ain't no pillow".
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Oh thanks WP ! I'm now almost certainly going to have a nightmare including a motor home with a broken wing mirror and being caught in a compromising situation by a retired West Country police officer with a naked John Candy with an unconvincing Welsh accent.
None of this is good.
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Roof boxes - Manatee
