Roof rack question

[Joe Isuzu]

With mucho thanks to Rowhard and Navistar for looking out for me, I finally have that elusive roof rack. So, I send an e-mail to yakima asking what accessories (namely cargo carriers) may be used for their setup. I got a response today stating the setup they made for the VX was meant only for skis, snowboards and bikes. Is this correct? I'm sure I've seen many people with cargo cages on their roof carrying spare tires and the like. I'm so confused

[CrnCnn]

I know there are several options for baskets. Also, some have to be slightly or heavily modified to fit. Eric (Etlsport) found the Coleman basket at Costco for 130 iirc. Bart (nfpgasmask) bought the same one and I will be as soon as I get a rack. The thing with that one is you have to make your own way to put a full size spare in it and stay in it. I think that you can get the Thule up there for a little more money but it does come with more attachments, such as spare and what not.

[Joe Isuzu]

Thanks for responding, I'm actually more interested in cargo carriers and not the baskets. Does anyone here use a cargo shell/carrier for their VX? The main point of getting the roof rack was to increase cargo capacity, we do bike so that will come in handy later and I'm sure when we go camping a cage will work nicely, but for the time being a cargo carrier is more in line of what I was needing.

[MSHardeman]

Joe,

I have a cargo carrier/ ski box (Thule) for my VX and it fits just fine. It uses wide "u-bolts" to connect it to the rack and they are just wide enough to fit around our aero cross bars. The mounting points also slide back and forth in slots in the bottom of the box so I can position them where I need them, and there is still enough play left over to slide the box back and forth by a couple of inches once everything is in place.

To get bike racks on, though, I have had to get some universal adapters that a "normal" cross bar mounts to (above the VX's cross bars) and then mount the bike racks to that. Some others have found some standard roof rack mounts that fit into our mounting points and they've used standard cross bars with those, but it negates our aero cross bars.

See pictures below for various set ups.

[Joe Isuzu]

Great, thanks for confirming what I was thinking MS Hardeman. If possible, could you let me know which thule cargo box you got, that seems to be exactly what I'm after. Thanks!!!

[MSHardeman]

Joe,

I have the box hanging from the ceiling in my garage right now so I'll check it when I get home tonight and let you know tomorrow.

I don't know where you park, but be aware of your clearance. The only reason mine is hanging from the ceiling and not on the VX (I would rather carry my boards in an enclosed box then in the ski racks) is that my garage door is about an inch and a half to low for the VX with the box on to fit under it.

Mark

[Joe Isuzu]

Thanks for the assist on this. Looking forward to your next post. I took mesurements tonight and printed out the dimensions of all the Thule cargo carriers, it seems there are only 2-3 that may work; one that definitely should and two that may if you are pushing it. Have zero experience with cargo carriers but height to me is not an issue. I assumed I would simply park the VX outside to unload it after a trip and then just take the cargo container off before entering the garage. I'm one of those people that can't really relax after a trip until the car is unloaded so this would be natural for me.

[MSHardeman]

Joe,

Sorry for the delay, but I had forgotten to take my camera home the other night, and I was out of the office snowboarding most of the day on Thursday (I know, I know..I lead such a hard life).

Anyway, took some pictures of the Thule cargo box last night (see below, and excuse the crummy VX in the background), and after a quick search of Thule's website it doesn't look like they make the Cascade XT anymore. It also looks like they have revised their mounting clamps. As you can see in the picture, my box has big metal u-bolts that feed up through holes in the bottom of the box into a clamping mechanism inside the box. The u-bolt and the clamping mechanism can slide back and forth in the slots that you can see in the pictures. I couldn't find any information on Thule's new mounting hardware, but I can only assume that it still slides back and forth some to accommodate different roof rack systems. You might be able to find an older version on Ebay.

Hope this helps.

[Joe Isuzu]

Thanks again for all the input MS Hardeman
I'll be shopping around locally to see what's out there now that I know at least one thing that will work

[MSHardeman]

Not a problem Joe. That's what the VX fam is for. Let me know if you need anything else.
Mark

[vt_maverick]

Joe,

When you talked to Yakima did you ask about using one of the bags instead? (see link)

http://www.yakima.com/racks/cargo/pr...etout-pro.aspx

It appears that the mounting system is strap-based instead of hardware-based, so maybe this would be a universal solution? Not as cool looking as an aero box, but would be lighter, cheaper, and easier to store...

Thoughts anybody?

Ashley

[PHO2GR4]

What about the Thule Expedition rack? Like this:

[Gussie2000]

With mucho thanks to Rowhard and Navistar for looking out for me, I finally have that elusive roof rack. So, I send an e-mail to yakima asking what accessories (namely cargo carriers) may be used for their setup. I got a response today stating the setup they made for the VX was meant only for skis, snowboards and bikes. Is this correct? I'm sure I've seen many people with cargo cages on their roof carrying spare tires and the like. I'm so confused

Well joe call your sell lucky man,i guess i should be the next finding an roof rack set for my VX soon,but still i've being searching on ebay & amazon.com for anyone that can fit with little mods.The Q towers looks to be my first chioce since they are likely the same

[VehiGAZ]

Hey Joe,

I use a Yakima Pro 16 cu ft on mine. Here's a couple of shots from my gallery to give you an idea of what it looks like...



That last shot is from moving out of our ski house at the end of the season a couple of years back - there are 2 snowboards, 3 sets of ski poles, at least four pairs of skis, and a few boots in the cargo box. It's great for camping too - all the light, bulky items (tent, tarps, sleeping bags, chairs, etc) go in there.

My Yakima box attaches with built-in clamps on the bottom of the box that fit our cross-bars perfectly and make mounting & dismounting a snap - I can do it without any helpers in a couple of minutes with no tools.

I think Yakima discontinued that model line and replaced it with the Skybox Pro line (the Pro line comes in silver to match my Astral VX).

[Joe Isuzu]

What about the Thule Expedition rack? Like this:

Is that like a basket? It's so thin I'm assuming it has to be. If it is like a basket, then it's not really what I'm considering. This is more of a luggage, clothes carrier type of thing is what I'm after.