roof cargo box on Front Runner rack

[ThomD]

Now that the Christmas holidays are over (if we ever can get on a flight out of Boston), it is time to think about how to improve the cargo capacity of the truck.

Has anyone mounted a Thule/Yakima cargo box on to the FR rack? I expect that they are designed to mount on round/square tubes, but the cross bars are the FR rack are wider, so I wonder how they will clamp on to it.

 

[thx138]

I have been thinking about trying to mount my space cadet on my Front Runner rack. I have not looked at spacing yet but I was thinking of mounting it with bolts up from the rack not using the box clamps.

 

[ThomD]

That's a good possibility. I'll hit up REI this weekend to look at them closely.

 

[Dave Legacy]

I emailed FR about this a few months ago and never heard back. The clamps on the cargo boxes are pretty large and look to be able to accommodate something of oval or rectangular shape. They also slide around a few inches to accommodate different lengths. I like the idea of using a cargo box on a FR rack for a little more security.

 

[targa88]

I emailed FR about this a few months ago and never heard back. The clamps on the cargo boxes are pretty large and look to be able to accommodate something of oval or rectangular shape. They also slide around a few inches to accommodate different lengths. I like the idea of using a cargo box on a FR rack for a little more security.

You might want to contact Paul May @ www.equipt1.com. They are the distributors for FR in the US

 

[MC4X4]

please let us know the outcome as I have a thule box and need to fit it to the rack. I was thinking of mounting another rack to the front runner rack.
cheers Mark

 

[ThomD]

We went to REI and picked up a box.

We almost went with the Thule because it uses a two prong camping mechanism. I expected that this would fit between the slats easily. Unfortunately the bottom of the Thule box is not flat. It is designed to span a rack with only two cross bars. Each end of the box hangs down about 1.5 inches. You can see this if you look carefully at this photo.

Since the Frontrunner rack has a continuous set of slats, there is no place for this lower bulge to hang over. The rack would rest on that part.

I decided that this would put too much stress on the bottom of the box - the box walls are not very think for either Thule or Yakima. I also was not sure the clamps would reach down the extra distance to be able to get to the slats.

So, we picked up the Yakima Sky box 16.

Yakima uses a single sided clamp:

Sorry for the big pict, blame etrailer.com

Anyway, that clamp is long enough that it will not fit between the slats dropping straight down. It opens pretty wide by pivoting down, so when it is fully open you can wiggle and jiggle it into place. I was afraid that it would be a very fiddly operation, but it only took about 5-10 minutes. It will be easier the next time because I have the clamps properly spaced for the slats now.

It was very easy to remove - maybe 3 minutes.

The box is 81" long. Yakima's larger boxes are 92" long and I think there would be room for one, but it would extend over the front of the rack and I think it would be noisy.

 

[john2kin]

this is a nice box and i have used it several time ..its strong and light weight..u must try it

 

[Dave Legacy]

Sorry to bring this old thread back to life, but have you decided that the Yakima secures firmly enough into place to be reliable? From the pics it looks pretty successful.

 

[ThomD]

Sorry to bring this old thread back to life, but have you decided that the Yakima secures firmly enough into place to be reliable? From the pics it looks pretty successful.

Although we have not used the box yet, I'm sure it is plenty secure.