roof cargo luggage

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I am thinking about getting a rooftop cargo holder for this year's summer vacation season. I still haven't decided between a hard-shell cargo box and a soft bag. Can anyone list the pros and cons?

I looked at the Rola Platypus, the Thule Quest, The KangaRoof Pouch and the Sherpak Elite. Right now I'm leaning toward the Rola and the Sherpak. Here is a link to a website that sells the Kanga and the Sherpak. The Kanga is less expensive. I have seen the Thule Quest on sale at Backcountry.com for less than $70.

Sherpak Elite (& Kanga)
 
I have the Yakima Mega Warrior Basket and use that to carry a dry bag if I need to carry gear on the roof.

The basket can also double as a bike, kayak or spare tire carrier.
 
I think the biggest downside to the soft carriers is the collection of bugs... You will get bugs on front and top of the carrier, but the hard shells tend to clean up easier.

The upside to the soft carriers is that you can fit more oddly shaped items in the carrier.
 
This may not be directly on point, but one of my major concerns with the hard-shell box is the space it would take up when storing it.

Space is at a premium at my house, and it would be much easier to fold up the soft bag and store it somewhere.
 
Baba Booey said:
I am thinking about getting a rooftop cargo holder for this year's summer vacation season. I still haven't decided between a hard-shell cargo box and a soft bag. Can anyone list the pros and cons?

I looked at the Rola Platypus, the Thule Quest, The KangaRoof Pouch and the Sherpak Elite. Right now I'm leaning toward the Rola and the Sherpak. Here is a link to a website that sells the Kanga and the Sherpak. The Kanga is less expensive. I have seen the Thule Quest on sale at Backcountry.com for less than $70.

Sherpak Elite (& Kanga)
Click to expand...

Right now I'm leaning toward the Rola Platypus. It looks a little more sturdy but who knows, Thule is certainly a good name.

koda
 
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akoda said:
Right now I'm leaning toward the Rola Platypus. It looks a little more sturdy but who knows, Thule is certainly a good name.

koda
Click to expand...

Here is the Rola Platypus for $25 less than the site you were looking at. I don't know how the shipping costs, customer service, taxes, etc., compare, though.

Rola Platypus aft $104.95
 
Baba Booey said:
Here is the Rola Platypus for $25 less than the site you were looking at. I don't know how the shipping costs, customer service, taxes, etc., compare, though.

Rola Platypus aft $104.95
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. I just called them and they are out of stock until sometime next week.
 
To use the soft style carriers, do you need the basket or do they just strap to the cross bars. I've never had a roof rack before so hadn't had the option to carry anything up there. Thanks.
 
Have you guys looked at the ones at Cabela's. They have a duffle from Highland that come with a waterproof cover. You can get just one duffle or a set of 2. Here is the link:Highland Duffle Also what is your experience with gas mieage. I am going up to Ohio this June and have ordered a hitch, since I have an 06' V6, and will order a hitch carrier, but I was kind of leaning towards a rooftop setup. I just don't want to reduce my gas mileage by too much.
 
I originally bought this for my wife's Expedition. However, once we got the 4Runner we took it to Mammoth instead.

It is a Weathertech Rack Sack. I had to remove the little plugs at the beginning and end to slide the cross bars as far as possible apart. The Rack Sack fit perfectly between the bars and on top of the roof.

It has two zippers and you can open three sides. There is an overlap to protect the zipper from the weather. It has all weather styled material.

There are just four clasps. You simply wrap them around the cross back and pull up the slack. You then roll up the slack and use the velcor ties to keep the slack from being buffeted by the wind and hitting the roof.

You can really cinch it down tight. I took my wife and two kids to Mammoth. All of our stuff goes on top in the Rack Sack. Dog gets to go in back.

Easy on and off. When done can just hose off and fold up.
 

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Baba Booey said:
I just did a "Froogle" search and found the Platypus on sale for $89.90, with free shipping on orders over $100.

I think I will jump on it!

Platypus $89.90
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Great deal. I just ordered mine. They were in stock and with shipping it will be less than $100 bucks. This should work nicely on my FJC or my 4runner.

Koda
 
Has anyone used a THULE quest bag? It holds 13 cu ft and is $80 at a local store. Would the extra 2 ft be that big of a difference from the ROLA platypus' 15 cu ft?
 
Thule Expedition large basket and Playpen Pouch that I ran recently offroading in Utah
 

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I found the THULE Quest for $79.99 with 20% off. So after tax it was under $70 total. Plus it was local and no shipping. It holds 13 cu. ft and the black and grey will look good on top of my titanium metallic (silver) 4runner. I'll post some pictures once I get a chance to use it.
 
teotwaki said:
Thule Expedition large basket and Playpen Pouch that I ran recently offroading in Utah
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This is kind of off-topic but I noticed the plastic gas cans on the roof. I am currently debating between buying plastic gas cans or making the investment in metal. On your expeditions, do you ever feel unsafe with the plastic. I had some plastic ones a while back and always felt uneasy because they always expanded like crazy with sun exposure - made me feel like it would explode.
 
mtnracer said:
This is kind of off-topic but I noticed the plastic gas cans on the roof. I am currently debating between buying plastic gas cans or making the investment in metal. On your expeditions, do you ever feel unsafe with the plastic. I had some plastic ones a while back and always felt uneasy because they always expanded like crazy with sun exposure - made me feel like it would explode.
Click to expand...

The plastic ones are built better nowadays. The key is how the cap seals so that they do not dribble gas on the roof of the truck. Don't buy the ones with the little air vent as those leak. I drove over 100 miles offroad in Utah and never had a problem with the ones I bought. Got them at Target for 1/2 the price of the auto stores.

Buy the one-piece blow-molded cans. The ones that are molded in two halves and fused together seem to fail after a while.

Mounting is important too. Don't let them bang around or rub against hard edges. Mine were securely strapped down.

The metal ones are a lot heavier and I did not want to waste cargo payload as there is a limit to what you can put on the roof. If I had a killer bumper to mount cans on I would use metal just because of worries about getting rear-ended.
 

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teotwaki said:
The plastic ones are built better nowadays. The key is how the cap seals so that they do not dribble gas on the roof of the truck. Don't buy the ones with the little air vent as those leak. I drove over 100 miles offroad in Utah and never had a problem with the ones I bought. Got them at Target for 1/2 the price of the auto stores.

Buy the one-piece blow-molded cans. The ones that are molded in two halves and fused together seem to fail after a while.

Mounting is important too. Don't let them bang around or rub against hard edges. Mine were securely strapped down.

The metal ones are a lot heavier and I did not want to waste cargo payload as there is a limit to what you can put on the roof. If I had a killer bumper to mount cans on I would use metal just because of worries about getting rear-ended.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info. Very valuable.
 
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