ky2auburn
Junior Member
Hey everyone,
I wanted to share some photos of the Yakima Whispbar crossbar system and Skybox 16 Pro installed. Camping season is coming up, so hopefully these photos help anyone else researching cargo boxes!
When researching cargo boxes on the forum, I saw a thread mentioning that the Skybox 16 fit on the factory crossbars with no issues, which got me excited about the prospect of saving money. However, when I tried to put the box on, the crossbars were so close to the roof that I couldn't get the C-clamps on the underside of the box onto the crossbars without dragging the clamp on the roof. (I have a couple of scratched spots now to prove it!)
Even when I did manage to get one clamp on a crossbar, the gap was so minimal (guessing about 1/4"?) that I would be concerned with the box rubbing when loaded and going over bumps.
Enter the Yakima Whispbar. I saw some YouTube crossbar comparison videos in front of a fan showing how they are virtually silent compared to all the competitors, and they got great reviews on Amazon. They're pricey, but they look the best (nice aluminum airfoil extrusion) and seemed to have the best shot at minimizing mileage impact. I went with the "through bar" (as opposed to their "flush bar") to give a little bit of crossbar extension past the mounting feet on the side rails, in the event that I need a good spot to catch a bungee strap in the future. For those interested, these are the S17 model bars, with the K328 fit kit. They provide much more room to get the box on without destroying the roof.
As far as the box itself, I went with the Skybox 16 Pro (as opposed to the cheaper Carbonite version) because, after doing a side-by-side comparison at REI, the lid seemed noticeably stiffer/flexed less on the Pro. I had seen one review on eTrailer that mentioned the Pro has a higher grade of plastic, and I confirmed that the marketing stickers on the floor units did have different language describing the materials. Looks pretty good on the truck:
For crossbar placement, my front crossbar was about 1/4" from the back edge of the front cap on the side rail, so it is quite a bit forward of the "ideal location" arrow sticker. This allowed the rear crossbar to be roughly at the arrow sticker, and have the back clear the hatch by about 1/2"-3/4":
Hope this helps someone out there avoid scuffing up their roof like I did!
I wanted to share some photos of the Yakima Whispbar crossbar system and Skybox 16 Pro installed. Camping season is coming up, so hopefully these photos help anyone else researching cargo boxes!
When researching cargo boxes on the forum, I saw a thread mentioning that the Skybox 16 fit on the factory crossbars with no issues, which got me excited about the prospect of saving money. However, when I tried to put the box on, the crossbars were so close to the roof that I couldn't get the C-clamps on the underside of the box onto the crossbars without dragging the clamp on the roof. (I have a couple of scratched spots now to prove it!)
Even when I did manage to get one clamp on a crossbar, the gap was so minimal (guessing about 1/4"?) that I would be concerned with the box rubbing when loaded and going over bumps.
Enter the Yakima Whispbar. I saw some YouTube crossbar comparison videos in front of a fan showing how they are virtually silent compared to all the competitors, and they got great reviews on Amazon. They're pricey, but they look the best (nice aluminum airfoil extrusion) and seemed to have the best shot at minimizing mileage impact. I went with the "through bar" (as opposed to their "flush bar") to give a little bit of crossbar extension past the mounting feet on the side rails, in the event that I need a good spot to catch a bungee strap in the future. For those interested, these are the S17 model bars, with the K328 fit kit. They provide much more room to get the box on without destroying the roof.
As far as the box itself, I went with the Skybox 16 Pro (as opposed to the cheaper Carbonite version) because, after doing a side-by-side comparison at REI, the lid seemed noticeably stiffer/flexed less on the Pro. I had seen one review on eTrailer that mentioned the Pro has a higher grade of plastic, and I confirmed that the marketing stickers on the floor units did have different language describing the materials. Looks pretty good on the truck:
For crossbar placement, my front crossbar was about 1/4" from the back edge of the front cap on the side rail, so it is quite a bit forward of the "ideal location" arrow sticker. This allowed the rear crossbar to be roughly at the arrow sticker, and have the back clear the hatch by about 1/2"-3/4":
Hope this helps someone out there avoid scuffing up their roof like I did!
