Why don't i see any Thule or Yakima boxes on Overland rigs?

calicamper

Expedition Leader
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Thule and yakima are so mainstream. Enter one hadrigg missile case. Full gasket, w like 50 latches and a pressure relief. Literally it used to hold missiles. Not for everyone I know. I just put it up there tonight. I'll see how bad the noise is on the way to work tomorrow and then redesign the mounting setup. The shell fills up fast and head space is important. Gonna give this a try.

Ive had people ask me what kind of boat I have on my car. LOL You might want to tell them "oh thats my dad" taking him home to the family farm. Id probably skip the "its a missile" response ha ha
 

Rando

Explorer
View attachment 413019View attachment 413018



Thule and yakima are so mainstream. Enter one hadrigg missile case. Full gasket, w like 50 latches and a pressure relief. Literally it used to hold missiles. Not for everyone I know. I just put it up there tonight. I'll see how bad the noise is on the way to work tomorrow and then redesign the mounting setup. The shell fills up fast and head space is important. Gonna give this a try.

45 Minutes to unfasten and fasten all of those latches including the ones you can't reach on the far side, to get your camp chair may get old quite quickly. It is super exposexual, but maybe not that practical.
 

FauxArmy

FauxArmy
One reason may be that anything stacked on the roof creates under-story clearance issues, and puts extra weight at the top increasing the possibility of a rollover incident.
Just curious why I don't see a lot of thule or Yakima boxes on Expo rigs here?

I have a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited with a Gobi rack, and I'm planning a long family road trip. So naturally I'm trying to plan my loadout and these boxes seem like good candidates, they are waterproof and lockable.

Has anyone use these while Offroad? If so how did it hold up and would you recommend using them?

Tia.
 
Turns our the old missile case is actually very very quite. It added no noise to the existing wind noise from the rack which isn't much.


Yeah, "it's a missile" might cause a riot huh :)

The latches are pretty quick and reachable. It takes longer to fasten than to open. One or two to keep it closed at camp sounds easy. Then batten down the hatches when I hit the road.

I'll give it a try for a while. Gotta fit the rest of my junk on the rack, home made recovery boards, high lift, Jerry cans. We'll see how it all works out.
 

ericvs

Active member
Yeah, "it's a missile" might cause a riot huh :).

It would be more appropriate if you had these mounted too:
missile-balloons-for-your-car-xl.jpg
 

Byways

Adventurer
I learned the hard and expensive way that Yakima is being honest when they state (in the warrantys and elsewhere) that their gear -- cargo boxes in particular -- is unsuited to use on anything rougher than paved roads and well-maintained, lightly graveled roads. They crack to pieces (I am on my third Carbonite ... Don't ask why.) Poo on Yakima for not stating this prominently, instead of burying the problem in their literature or other obscure places. I will say, however, that Yakima has given me a lot of time (many emails, two phone chats, many photos sent) and attention to the problem I've had with their Carbonites ... If anyone has an alternative that provides parking-lot security, please pass it along ...
 

patoz

Expedition Leader
My Yakima 'Space Case' is 30+ years old, and is made out of a very rigid ABS type material, which looks and feels like fiberglass. It's been mounted on five different trucks and used all over the South East, both on and off road. My biggest problem with Yakima products is with their cross bars rusting from the inside out. They have not changed the design of their end caps in forever. They are very poorly designed, using materials that split and fall off in about 6 months or less, leaving the bars open to water intrusion. Rust forms around the ends and gets between the metal bar and its black vinyl coating, making it impossible to install new end caps. If the rust build up is not very bad, I have used plastic chair leg tips, which will outlast the OEM caps quite a bit.

So Yakima, if you happen to read this... Get Your Act Together, and develop an end cap that will actually do it's job and last more than a few months! After all, it's the cheapest component in the system! Better yet, how about making the bars out of aluminum or stainless steel?

hpim1385-jpg.381616
 

Byways

Adventurer
My Yakima 'Space Case' is 30+ years old, and is made out of a very rigid ABS type material, which looks and feels like fiberglass. It's been mounted on five different trucks and used all over the South East, both on and off road. My biggest problem with Yakima products is with their cross bars rusting from the inside out. They have not changed the design of their end caps in forever. They are very poorly designed, using materials that split and fall off in about 6 months or less, leaving the bars open to water intrusion. Rust forms around the ends and gets between the metal bar and its black vinyl coating, making it impossible to install new end caps. If the rust build up is not very bad, I have used plastic chair leg tips, which will outlast the OEM caps quite a bit.

So Yakima, if you happen to read this... Get Your Act Together, and develop an end cap that will actually do it's job and last more than a few months! After all, it's the cheapest component in the system! Better yet, how about making the bars out of aluminum or stainless steel?

hpim1385-jpg.381616

I am jealous about your box, Patoz! Also, you are correct about their cross bars. The plastic coating starts peeling off much too early (not UV resistant?), and the end caps for the round bars don't stay in place (could use a rubber insert with an expansion screw to adjust). I was disappointed not to sense interest in my urging that the company tap into the overlanding market and develop more suitable stuff. But then, I was speaking with the warranty staff, not the product-development staff.
 
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patoz

Expedition Leader
I am jealous about your box, Patoz! Also, you are correct about their cross bars. The plastic coating starts peeling off much too early (not UV resistant?), and the end caps for the round bars don't stay in place (could use a rubber insert with an expansion screw to adjust). I was disappointed not to sense interest in my urging that the company tap into the overlanding market and develop more suitable stuff. But then, I was speaking with the warranty staff, not the product-development staff.

I have used the rubber expansion well nuts with a stainless washer and screw in the ends of 3/4" aluminum tent poles, and am considering using them in my Yakima bars also. The trick though is to install them when the bars are new and before rust has a chance to start expanding the ends of them. You can use a counter sunk screw and then put the chair leg tip on over the entire thing, or you can use eye bolts to give you a place to hook bungee cords if you use them a lot.

Another problem with the steel bars is, if you get a bad scrape or cut in the plastic coating anywhere along it's length, it's going to rust badly. They use what looks like black iron pipe or tubing, which has no rust inhibiting factors of any kind. I have thought about just biting the bullet and replacing my bars with thicker walled aluminum tubing, and covering it with adhesive heat shrink tubing, but I don't know how well the tubing will hold up against UV damage.
 

Byways

Adventurer
For what that stuff costs, we shouldn't have to even think about this stuff. Why has no one come up with something better?
 
D

Deleted member 9101

Guest
Simple answer: it takes up space where the RTT, spare tire, and four fuel cans are bolted to the roof. ;-)
 

tbisaacs

Adventurer
As others have pointed out, I don’t think a roof box would survive bombing through the desert. But with forest roads and low speed technical driving, my 10+ year old Thule XT is still holding up.

4114d410e48e85ac86999b47cbf184b1.jpg


We primarily use ours to get tents, bags, chairs outside of the cabin so we have more room for heavy/hard stuff inside.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Byways

Adventurer
That is the sort of road Yakima approves of, and the kind we often drive as well. We also often travel the following, and they told me these roads are too rough for their boxes. Sad!

untitled (1 of 2).jpguntitled (1 of 1).jpg
 

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