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Roofbox issues

Buckman

Buckman

To keep within our MTPLM we have a roofbox on our Jeep Grand Cherokee and have not had issues entering car aprks until we visited Poole area where every car park the height was restricted to 2.1m or lower. Even some supermarket car parks had height barriers. We need a clearance of 2.3m to get under a barrier. Has any one else come across this as finding suitable street parking a real hassle?
 
Going from Southampton to the IoW I allowed extra time in case of hold ups. I could see we were very early, but there is simply nowhere to wait, so we got turned away at the gate. No problem said the steward and directed us to a car park. No use at all as there was a height barrier. I found a road leading the the cruise terminal and parked at the bottom. I figured I could do a 180 using both pavements as the kerbs were low. But, just in case, I could see that there was a roundabout after the terminal gate. So I walked to the gate and asked politely if they minded if I drove in, then straight out. Mrs jobsworth gave me a tirade of abuse, but I guess she meant no. Then a car parked in front of me with a top box. This would prevent me doing the 180. But it did not matter, as he was there for the same reason as us, and was waiting for the same ferry.

I was told the barriers were new. Wonder if many have this problem at Southampton.

John
 
Yes. same with multi story car parks. The solution is to remove the box when its not needed. Not only does it prevent such problems but it also does wonders for the cars fuel economy.
 
Buckman said:
To keep within our MTPLM we have a roofbox on our Jeep Grand Cherokee and have not had issues entering car aprks until we visited Poole area where every car park the height was restricted to 2.1m or lower. Even some supermarket car parks had height barriers. We need a clearance of 2.3m to get under a barrier. Has any one else come across this as finding suitable street parking a real hassle?
Click to expand...
It’s not uncommon. When we went to Yorkshire in May we decided come hell or high water the roofbox would not go. So we carried the dogs on the rear seat and were able to fully use the load area. It was because on trips to Wales and Norfolk we had your problem.
 
When we had our X Trail we had to use a Roof Box because the dog travelled in the back of the car. We found may of the beaches in Ireland had similar height restricting barriers. We had to park on the road away from the beach, until we removed the Roof Box for the remainder of the holiday.
 
We used to have one of the largest Thule boxes, mounted on our XC70 and when visiting hotels along Germanys Romatischestrasse found many hotels had underground carparks and we simply could not get into them. As we had prebooked the hotels we had no option but to stay. Our solution was ridiculous in operation, we had to take the box off and carry it through the hotel like a ruddy great coffin. We got some strange looks and on our final stop, decided to have a laugh and bought a cheap bouquet of flowers, and put it on the Thule when carrying it past the dining room. It certainly dispelled the myths of the Germans having no sense of humour.
 
Unfortunately for us taking the roof box on and off while away on holiday is not an easy option due to it being on the Jeep which is already high.
Mainly it carries the poles, groundsheets and the windbreak as awning travels in car. We have two dogs so need to keep an area free for them in the back of the vehicle. The poles are the biggest hassle in the back of the vehicle due to space they take up and you cannot really put anything on top of them. I guess we will need to start re-thing this.
Generally we put it on at the beginning of the season removing it at the end as we don't use the vehicle much when we are not out and about.
 
Sam Vimes said:
Just a slight digression but I've been wondering about the soft roof boxes that are easily taken off like this one.

HandiHoldall Large Vehicle Roof Bag / Top Box (Navy Blue) – 330L Weather Resistant Cargo Carrier : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive

HandiHoldall Large Vehicle Roof Bag / Top Box (Navy Blue) – 330L Weather Resistant Cargo Carrier : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive
www.amazon.co.uk
Click to expand...
Looks great if you are strong enough to keep taking it off and putting it back up when you get a low barrier , would not suit us .
 
Jcloughie said:
Looks good, if there were two people strong enough to manhandle it on and off, loaded, it could also be packed and unpacked at ground level.

John
Click to expand...
I wouldn't even consider loading at ground level and then lifting it on. After all you wouldn't do that with a conventional hard roof box.

The advantage here that I see is that once unloaded it's easy to remove and store in the car.
 
Sam Vimes said:
I wouldn't even consider loading at ground level and then lifting it on. After all you wouldn't do that with a conventional hard roof box.

The advantage here that I see is that once unloaded it's easy to remove and store in the car.
Click to expand...
I would agree that a good idea to put in the car👍
 
Sam Vimes said:
I wouldn't even consider loading at ground level and then lifting it on. After all you wouldn't do that with a conventional hard roof box.

The advantage here that I see is that once unloaded it's easy to remove and store in the car.
Click to expand...

I take your point. I was looking from a different angle. As it’s only a max of 50kg. And I don’t think I would put that much in, but what I noticed is, it is straps on rather than using bolts through the bottom of a rigid box. Also, being soft, might make easier to manoeuvre and kinder to the cars body work. Also, I never fancied the acrobatics required to store or empty a conventional box.

Storage when off the car has to be a big advantage.

But academic for me, I have no intension of getting one.

John
 
We have decided that we will sell the roof box as loading it is now getting a bit much for us. Hope there is a market for it?
 
Jcloughie said:
I take your point. I was looking from a different angle. As it’s only a max of 50kg. And I don’t think I would put that much in, but what I noticed is, it is straps on rather than using bolts through the bottom of a rigid box. Also, being soft, might make easier to manoeuvre and kinder to the cars body work. Also, I never fancied the acrobatics required to store or empty a conventional box.

Storage when off the car has to be a big advantage.

But academic for me, I have no intension of getting one.

John
Click to expand...
My Hapro Traxer roof box has crab claw wind on clamps that poke through the bottom. To install you place the box on the car then push the clamps through, wind them open, position over roof bars, then wind closed and press lock down. Easy peasy. I gave up the roof u bolt idea a good while back. The Hapro opens from both sides to so no gymnastics required.

The crab claw clamps also facilitate mounting the roof box on the garage wall. Two u brackets are required plus a length of metal conduit. Feed the conduit through two closed clamps and lift the box so that the conduit is supported by the wall brackets. Sits tightly against the wall.


45C702A6-002F-4F1D-956E-F07361169088.jpeg
 
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garyhughes said:
Yes, finding parking with a tall roofbox can be tricky, especially in places like Poole where many car parks have height restrictions of 2.1m or lower. This can make it hard to find a spot, even in supermarket car parks. One way to avoid this hassle is to look for open street parking that doesn’t have height barriers, or try using custom retail packaging boxes to better organize and possibly reduce the height of your load.
Click to expand...
Thank a bunch for bringing my post to the fore. I will now have to go into the tip heap that’s called a garage and start tidying it up as it’s never been that tidy since the photo was taken. Even the dog refuses to accompany me inside. 😂
 
garyhughes said:
Yes, finding parking with a tall roofbox can be tricky, especially in places like Poole where many car parks have height restrictions of 2.1m or lower. This can make it hard to find a spot, even in supermarket car parks. One way to avoid this hassle is to look for open street parking that doesn’t have height barriers, or try using custom retail packaging boxes to better organize and possibly reduce the height of your load.
Click to expand...
Yep we had the problem in Poole and only just made it into Sainsbury car park with mm to spare. One needs to remember that there is roof box on the car. LOL!
 
Work van hit warning bar a couple times. Of cause it was at both of ramp of underground carpark instead of top. Luckily both times there was no one behind me as I had to reverse up ramp.
 
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