Roof Rack storage?

S

Signal

New member
Happy friday,

I am looking for a case for the roof rack. I was looking at the vault by pelican but they aren't waterproof, Plano seems good and the apache at harbor freight seems decent but is more than the Plano. What do you have and do you like it.

I am planning on having a ratchet set, tow strap, shackles and other recovery tools.
 
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Signal said:
Happy friday,

I am looking for a case for the roof rack. I was looking at the vault by pelican but they aren't waterproof, Plano seems good and the apache at harbor freight seems decent but is more than the Plano. What do you have and do you like it.

I am planning on having a ratchet set, tow strap, shackles and other recovery tools.
Click to expand...


I've used various different Plano cases for many years with no problem. Upside for me is they're cheap, reasonably watertight and available in lot's of different sizes. When I head out with the family I strap 4 of the 108 quarts to the roof. They handle low hanging branches well too.
 
I think Vaults are reasonably waterproof. I have one I keep in the back at all times and plan on mounting it to my roof eventually.
 
I have been looking and researching for a while now and really like the ROAM Adventure Co Rugged Case. They are waterproof and has just the right amount of space for my recovery gear, but its $300.

The gun cases just aren't quite waterproof or the right size for me.
 
Has anyone used Wolfpack by frontrunner? I just picked up a couple of those for inside storage, but they look like they would hold up really well on the roof rack as well.
 
firegod33r said:
Has anyone used Wolfpack by frontrunner? I just picked up a couple of those for inside storage, but they look like they would hold up really well on the roof rack as well.
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These are certainly not waterproof. I had 2 of them.

Good case for temp storage, but if it's raining, it's going to let water in.
 
i use 2 plano rifle cases with pretty good success in some crazy weather and it held up just fine.
 
I have two AW2 42” Planos on my LFD bars. Although, I haven’t subjected them to any rain, because we haven’t had any for the last two months, unfortunately, the size, 43” x 14.50” x 5” interior or ~1.8 cu. ft of storage is good. You can get quite a bit into one. I use one for dirty stuff and the other for cleaner storage. Made in USA, rated as waterproof and half the cost of a Pelican made my decision.
 

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I have had great success with Pelican cases, they certainly stand up to rain and weather, there is an internal o-ring style gasket that seals them up pretty well.

I use several photo cases (inserts not by Pelican...) and would not trust over $20K worth of cameras and lenses to anything else. The Harbor Freight cases are almost as good, but don't have any of those large enough to warrant as rooftop cargo so I don't know how they hold up.

Unless Pelican has changed something with their new Vault line, I would certainly trust them to anything short of submersion into water.
 
Kamalani Mahie said:
I wonder if you could make them waterproof with some low profile
weatherstripping placed on the inside lip
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Not so much the lid seals but on the box themselves there are holes in each upper corner the size of the nickel. Not sure why they have them there but that's probably going to be the likely entry point of water.
 
sn_85 said:
Not so much the lid seals but on the box themselves there are holes in each upper corner the size of the nickel. Not sure why they have them there but that's probably going to be the likely entry point of water.
Click to expand...

Those are tie down holes and are only on the outer layer.
 
Kamalani Mahie said:
I wonder if you could make them waterproof with some low profile
weatherstripping placed on the inside lip
Click to expand...

Ok guys I just ran a test on the Wolfpack’s and so far I’m impressed.

At the bottom of the box there are 4 small holes, probably for draining purposes....not sure exactly why.
On one of the boxes I covered the holes with a rubber grommet, the other one I left it alone to see what would happen. I then placed both boxes on the ground raised about 6-10 inches to simulate them being on the roof rack.

I put a bunch of paper in both Wolfpack’s and had the kids hose them down for a few min and then left them under a sprinkler for 15 min with a fan running to simulate driving/wind.

The one with the holes covered had absolutely no water inside, and the one with the bottom holes uncovered only had maybe a couple of drops of water around 2 of the holes.
I’m gonna do another test when we have some serious rain in the forecast.
 
I have an update guys... the results are interesting.
Just did a real world test on the Wolfpack. Drove With them secured to my front runner rack for about 60 miles in moderate to heavy rain.

These boxes are definitely not 100% waterproof. I think the combination of rain and the wind is what caused some water to get inside from the top of the case. On a good note, the amount of water that got inside was minimal. Some drops and am run offs coming down from the top of the box downward. You could put some rubber around the top of the case to seal it.
 
firegod33r said:
These boxes are definitely not 100% waterproof.
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I had one with a hi-lid that was dryer inside compared to the regular lid. But I think this was more luck of the draw. Seal around around the top of the box and lid would help.
I place the ones I stick on the roof in a Rightline Gear carrier with soft items. Never had issues with weather after that.
The new Wolf Pack Pro is suppose to seal out water and dust better.
 
TRD PANTHER said:
I have two AW2 42” Planos on my LFD bars. Although, I haven’t subjected them to any rain, because we haven’t had any for the last two months, unfortunately, the size, 43” x 14.50” x 5” interior or ~1.8 cu. ft of storage is good. You can get quite a bit into one. I use one for dirty stuff and the other for cleaner storage. Made in USA, rated as waterproof and half the cost of a Pelican made my decision.
Click to expand...

How did you mount the boxes to your LFD cross bars?
 
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