Roof boxes: Let the Critiques Soar

have owned a thule atlantis and cascade, and a yak skybox. Yak boxes i think are built better. I can stand on the skybox 16. But i just got the thule spirit. Really expensive but hands down the best box design out there. Solid as a rock, really quiet, easy to take off, has a better key system than most of the other thules, and looks badass. The cascade was like a limp noodle on my roof. Horrible attaching system and flapped everywhere.

my roof boxes would last a lot longer if my dad would stop running them into garage doors

I have a Cascade and have had no problems, either with the key or locks freezing or flappi/floppiness. And I've had the car up to 90+ with the box on.

I too wish I'd gotten the larger size. It's fine for me driving by myself, but add a couple buddies and their fat skis and it's maxed out pretty quick. I'm actually thinking about upgrading up to a wider version of the same box.

Also the textured stuff on any box is bad for stickers - enough air pockets that stickers begin to lift up from the box, get air underneath them, and then get torn away by the slipstream.

Personally, I've always liked the Packasports, if only from looks alone. Sharp looking boxes, and they look pretty substantial, materials-wise.

For the guy with the Barrecrafters box, have a locksmith make you more keys, shouldn't be a problem.

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Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

I have a Packasport 60; search in gear swap, there's a thread on this with a guy in Sacramento CA who has (had?) a lot of old stock he was selling for cheap. I bought mine from him.

I had a Yakima Rocketbox; would've kept it, but it didn't clear my garage door opening on top of my Jeep. The Packasport is lower-profile, and clears by about 1.5 inches.

I like the design of the dual-opening-sides that some Thule and Yakima boxes have. And both Thule and Yakima have some slick easy-on/off ratcheting clamps now. The Packasport is the only one made out of fiberglass -- it's a little heavier, but much stiffer -- don't know whether that's a good thing here or not; might crack, but would be repairable, where a Yak/Thule box might dent/pop back, or shatter.

I'd just buy whatever fits your vehicle's roof and your garage clearance, and whatever you can find a deal on.

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You have a PM.

I'll throw in my two cents.
I've had two Yak spaceboosters, the slimmer, long one, base model (XGF got the old one). The new lock mechanism is way better, still relies on key to latch, but it's smoove, and if it's really jammed with stuff, I just have a friend clamp one end while I clamp the other and turn the key to avoid undue key stress. Super easy one person, qick release on/off.
I've fit up to eight pairs of skis with poles in there. With the narrow box I can still fit two bikes up there betwee the rails.
I've seen the new Thules (silver top) get holes punched in them from skis sliding around. Teh Yak is pretty bomber and I don't worry about my skis rattling around up there. It's stable at speeds up to 120 mph full or empty.
The important thing is to get one that works on your vehicle. It used to be that you could always redrill but with some of the new mounting systems, you may not be able to. My legacy only has half rails, so i need to move the box forward for hatch clearance. I could only go so far with the new one. I helped the situation by making a lifter for the back of the box, (~2"). This works great and it gives the box downforce so it doesn't try to jump off at speed. Lots of new vehicles are tapered down toward the rear so I think a lot of peeps could benefit from this.

I got 27.8 w/ my Subie coming back from Vermont. That was doing 80 and w/ snow tires on too.