Roof Rack or Cargo box?

Rich Heimlich wrote:

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 14:47:52 +0900, tm wrote:

1000 gallon concrete septic tanks mounted atop your ... wait, did you
say Chrysler? (chort)... van.

heheh. Trust me, I'm as nervous about it as possible. We started out
looking at Honda Odyssey's, Toyota Sienna's and the like. Meanwhile a
family member has owned 3 Dodge Caravan's that he's put tons of miles
on and never had a problem. A neighbor who is a car dealer has owned 4
Chrysler/Dodge vans and swears by them (not at them). I haven't bought
an American-made car in 20 years.

Wuss! We have a '68 Dodge van, a '70 Dodge pickup and a '76 Southwind
monsterhome built on a Dodge body with a Dodge 440 (or something like
that) engine. All work. Steel is real.

--
Cheers,
Bev
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Screw the end users. If they want good software,
let them write it themselves." -- Anon.

Good news on the roof rack. Thule and Yakima both checked the Chrysler
Town and Country factory rack specifications (if we do go that way,
which will be decided this weekend) and their rack is rated for 150
pounds, not the more prevalent 50 pound. Both said there is absolutely
no need for their racks so their box is all that's needed and both
ship with all the parts needed (including locks) to attach to the
factory rack.

Thule made a big deal over limiting the box to their Evolution 1600
which will handle skis up to 180cm as they said any longer would
either create a wind problem on the front end or limit the rear hatch
from opening fully in the back (a real problem as this is an electric
hatch).

Either way, we're now talking $450 or less.

Rich Heimlich wrote:

Thule made a big deal over limiting the box to their Evolution 1600
which will handle skis up to 180cm as they said any longer would
either create a wind problem on the front end or limit the rear hatch
from opening fully in the back (a real problem as this is an electric
hatch).

Huh. Well, I guess that's a problem with a hatchback...I'll have to
keep that in mind when I get my next vehicle.

Yes, I have skis longer than 180 cm.

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 18:41:22 -0400, Rich Heimlich
wrote:

Good news on the roof rack. Thule and Yakima both checked the Chrysler
Town and Country factory rack specifications (if we do go that way,
which will be decided this weekend) and their rack is rated for 150
pounds, not the more prevalent 50 pound. Both said there is absolutely
no need for their racks so their box is all that's needed and both
ship with all the parts needed (including locks) to attach to the
factory rack.

Thule made a big deal over limiting the box to their Evolution 1600
which will handle skis up to 180cm as they said any longer would
either create a wind problem on the front end or limit the rear hatch
from opening fully in the back (a real problem as this is an electric
hatch).

Either way, we're now talking $450 or less.

Did they explain the "wind problem"? I have a hard time picturing it
being anything more than a slight reduction in fuel economy (relative
to having the box sit farther back).

bw

Rich Heimlich wrote:
Good news on the roof rack. Thule and Yakima both checked the Chrysler
Town and Country factory rack specifications (if we do go that way,
which will be decided this weekend) and their rack is rated for 150
pounds, not the more prevalent 50 pound. Both said there is absolutely
no need for their racks so their box is all that's needed and both
ship with all the parts needed (including locks) to attach to the
factory rack.

Thule made a big deal over limiting the box to their Evolution 1600
which will handle skis up to 180cm as they said any longer would
either create a wind problem on the front end or limit the rear hatch
from opening fully in the back (a real problem as this is an electric
hatch).

Either way, we're now talking $450 or less.

180cm is awfully short. What are you going to do when ski lengths swing
back to longer in a couple of years?

My Thule box takes longer skis - up to my downhill race 215cm and the
kid's 217cm. I don't think I ever tried to put the 225 Atomics in the
box. I wonder where these short boxes started? Anyway, I never had a
problem with the long box at freeway speeds. My SUV hatch doesn't open
all the way, but it does open to horizontal, which is plenty.

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 19:02:19 -0400, Mary Malmros
wrote:

Yes, I have skis longer than 180 cm.

I thought of that but I'm at 167cm now and plan to go to 174's next so
it'll be a while before I cross that barrier.

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 18:56:14 -0500, bdubya
wrote:

Did they explain the "wind problem"? I have a hard time picturing it

They talked about it potentially having a "flutter" problem and since
it will be extended past the front, we can't use their "ferring" (not
sure that's how you spell it) to help it out.

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 16:59:31 -0700, lal_truckee
wrote:

180cm is awfully short. What are you going to do when ski lengths swing
back to longer in a couple of years?

Well, I know that the skis I just bought this year are not going to
get replaced simply because current thinking might change back to
longer skis. I'll ski on these until I feel like I'm being held back
by them.

My Thule box takes longer skis - up to my downhill race 215cm and the

Which one do you have? I mentioned the 1800 and the rep basically
talked me out of it saying it's really too tall and bulky.

Well, one thing more I need to call these guys about. Both claim that
their boxes will work just fine on the factory rack but I don't get
it. Unless my vision is completely hosed, the factory rack crossbeams
are NOT flat--they're curved (higher at the center than at the ends).
I can certainly imagine that the clamps could reach down to the lower
portion of the crossbars but wouldn't that essentially put a lot of
strain on the center of the box itself? Most factory racks I've seen
on any vehicle are curved this way.

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 10:04:51 -0500, bdubya
wrote:

On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 23:58:17 -0400, Rich Heimlich
wrote:

(snipped)

What started out as a perceived purchase of about $150 has turned into
a major investment.

You get used to that after a while. Welcome to the world of skiing.

You think skiing is bad? Try photography!

-Astro