Roof Rack or Cargo box?

On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 19:40:12 -0500, bdubya
wrote:

I would strongly recommend it. This thread's getting a little
tangled, but you're looking at the Expedition, with a rack rated for
50 lbs, and "wobble" is a concern? DEFINITELY get the crossbars to

That was the other guy's vehicle. I'm looking at a Chrysler Town and
Country with a rack rated at 150 pounds. I just looked at the setup
tonight and it's not as bad as I thought. The curve is there, but not
as bad as I originally thought it was and the bars seem VERY solid. I
may buy the box, sit it up there, drive a mile or two with it, see how
it goes and then decide if the rack is necessary. Or, knowing me, I'll
just likely not want the hassle and will just tell them to go ahead
and add it.

I always thought those factory roof racks were more of a decorative
item anyway.

Same here. I've never really understood how they expected anyone to
hook luggage to them. I notice the Owners Manual also doesn't bother
to mention how they work for that.

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 22:15:51 -0600, AstroPax
wrote:

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


I did it for a living for a while (photography) skiing is a cheap pass
time in comparison ..
BTW Astro you do good work .. how big are your image files?

if you could produce a quality Dye-sub 8x10 you might want to start
shopping for an image bank...
don't discount calendars and post cards..

in my best year I turned 14K just off that stuff (Ok so on average it
was closer to 3 still it was something I was doing anyway..)


oh! BTW

Hi everyone!

Rich Heimlich wrote:

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.

Oh jeez. Those cheezy ass fairings are just another way to rip off the
dumb yuppies. My box extends beyond the edge of the roof and if there's
"flutter", I never noticed it.

bdubya wrote:

On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 16:16:43 -0400, Rich Heimlich
wrote:


On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 09:54:38 -0500, bdubya
wrote:


Y'know, if you're dropping that much on the box, would the additional
cost to get the Thule or Yak crossbars and feet be that high? It

I would have thought not, but it costs about $200 more.


might be worth it; I know from experience that the Thule bars can
carry a LOT of weight, presumably much more than the van
manufacturer's rack.

I'm very much leaning towards not risking it and just getting the
3rd-party rack.


I would strongly recommend it. This thread's getting a little
tangled, but you're looking at the Expedition, with a rack rated for
50 lbs, and "wobble" is a concern? DEFINITELY get the crossbars to
match your box.

And towers. If it's rated for 50 pounds, it won't wobble, it'll rip
right off the roof.

With those same Thule bars I mentioned, I used to
strap a 12' windsurfer and associated gear onto the car and travel 300
miles at speeds in the 75-85 MPH range, and the whole package
(considerably less higher drag than the box) didn't budge at all.

I always thought those factory roof racks were more of a decorative
item anyway.

They're cheezy, and that's just the truth. They're also narrow, y'ever
notice that? I can carry 4 kayaks on my lil tercel with 48" bars; I see
people with SUVs and factory racs who can't carry 2.

On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 23:24:58 -0400, Mary Malmros
wrote:

Oh jeez. Those cheezy ass fairings are just another way to rip off the
dumb yuppies. My box extends beyond the edge of the roof and if there's
"flutter", I never noticed it.

That was my take. BTW, from rear-to-front of the Chrysler, is
somewhere around 95 inches so the box is unlikely to even extend over
the windshield.

Rich Heimlich wrote:
I
may buy the box, sit it up there, drive a mile or two with it, see how
it goes

One final note: be careful about driving into your garage (presuming of
course that you have a garage) - numerous people of destroyed their ski
box, car rack and sometimes car roof, and their garage door - all
because of a tiny misunderstanding about clearances...

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 17:33:33 -0700, lal_truckee
wrote:

One final note: be careful about driving into your garage (presuming of
course that you have a garage) - numerous people of destroyed their ski
box, car rack and sometimes car roof, and their garage door - all
because of a tiny misunderstanding about clearances...

Thanks. I have a 2-car garage but, except for a single "trial" time,
we've never parked our cars in it. It's pretty much a storage
wasteland at this point.

Rich Heimlich wrote:

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 17:33:33 -0700, lal_truckee
wrote:

One final note: be careful about driving into your garage (presuming of
course that you have a garage) - numerous people of destroyed their ski
box, car rack and sometimes car roof, and their garage door - all
because of a tiny misunderstanding about clearances...

Thanks. I have a 2-car garage but, except for a single "trial" time,
we've never parked our cars in it. It's pretty much a storage
wasteland at this point.

Garage space is much too useful to waste on cars. If a car can't stand
being outside, pitch it!

--
Cheers,
Bev
------------------------------------------------------------------
It doesn't matter who you vote for, the government always gets in.

On Sun, 22 Aug 2004 11:25:24 -0700, The Real Bev
wrote:

Garage space is much too useful to waste on cars. If a car can't stand
being outside, pitch it!

I use my garage as intended, that is, parking a car.

I'm sorry, but first thing on a fresh dump winter morning, I have
better things to do than wasting time scraping ice and snow off of my
Subaru.

You know, "things"...like *skiing*, maybe ?

-Astro

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X Minus Two
http://www.xmission.com/~hound/astro/04-05/index.htm
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On Sun, 22 Aug 2004 11:25:24 -0700, The Real Bev
wrote:

Garage space is much too useful to waste on cars. If a car can't stand
being outside, pitch it!

That's pretty much our view. grin I've yet to have a car outside
that doesn't look tremendous after a good detailing. I just had a car
cleaned up for trade-in purposes that hadn't been washed in over a
year. It looks fantastic and the dealer commented about how clean it
was and that it helps that I keep my cars in such great condition.
hehehe