Roof racks or car trunks: types, differences, tips, legislation and everything you need to know

In addition to the fact that car roof boxes are little-known items for many users, on top of that there are a lot of them on the market, which can lead to even more confusion.

There are models of different sizes, different weights and different prices, so it’s hard to know which one will be the best for us if you don’t have any prior knowledge.

While there are models over 1000 liters to accommodate luggage, the ones that move around are usually purchased. from 300 to 500 literswhich called the middle class.

The same thing happens in this type of product as in everything we buy, since there are quite cheap models that can leave us with more than acceptable quality, like others, where it would be better to return them as soon as possible.

This is what happens less when we increase our budget, because the moral is that those that are called high-end and therefore higher priced are usually products of sufficient quality that we do not have the slightest Problems.

Determining Factors for Buying a Roof Box

When we are going to buy a roof box for our car, we must be aware of certain factors and parameters that may decide us to buy one or another model.

But we also need to be aware of some minimums that we can set so as not to have overly serious problems when purchasing this type of product.

The most determining factors when buying a roof rack are the following:

• Roof grids: Not all roof rack systems are placed on the vehicle in the same way. Many cars, especially SUVs, come with a roof rack, although there may be different types of mounts, which we’ll talk about later.
• Load: Obviously, an important part to consider is the load that our vehicle supports. What we have to do is add the weight of the luggage to the weight of the chest itself, and then go to the car’s spec book and find out how much weight we can load.
• The size: This will largely depend on how our machine is set up and how much space it needs to fit a product like the one we’re talking about today. It must be taken into account that the larger the box, the more fuel it will consume, the more noise due to wind effects and in other areas, such as braking and cornering, this will also be slightly affected.
• Mounting: The assembly is the same for almost all car roof boxes, so you need to be more careful so that everything falls into place. You also need to know if this product is accredited for use in our country.
• Lock: While this may not seem true to you, there are some car chests that don’t have a lock, which means they are most attractive to any type of person who likes to take what belongs to others. If possible, it’s always better to have one that we can block.
• More equipment: Some chests can be longer, for example, to carry skis, others, among other things, have side compartments or load dividers.

FISHER 126000

In addition to all this, we have certain rules we must follow and that they’re going to celebrate the fact that we don’t have any problems with ITV, or the moment that the Highway Traffic Authority can stop us in the middle of the highway.

We have to take into account everything we are going to tell you right now:

• Normally, the maximum load on the chest moves from 50 to 75 kg, something to which we must add the weight of the chest itself and the anchors we use to know if our machine can carry this chest. in vehicle instructions You must tell us what is the total weight it can handle.
• We must also be careful about permissible gross vehicle weight. If we want to know how much it can load, we must subtract the vehicle’s empty weight (tare) from the MMA (Maximum Authorized Weight), information that we find in the vehicle’s documents.
• You should know that according to the rules of the General Directorate of Road Traffic, the load that we carry on the roof must not be wider than 2.55 meters and car height no more than 4 m.
• If we talk about the length of the load, then it can only protrude through rear 10% of vehicle length. This information is useful to know in case we have to carry something that is longer than our chest.

Cartrend

Types of anchor systems for installation of a cargo box

All roof racks are universal and can be adapted to the mounting type of each car.

But what is changing is the way the chest is placed in our vehicle.

• Roof grids: there are many vehicles that carry them as standard (especially SUVs). Thanks to them, you can put a chest, since in the vast majority of cases they are already ready for this.
• Integrated bars: this is a system that is not similar to the previous one and is more successful in terms of aerodynamics.
• Attachment points: Some vehicles have attachment points located at the ends of the roof that are hidden, allowing us to place the chest thanks to them.
• Flashing: here we will have a rail on which the attachment system for the chest will be installed.
• T-profile: This is an inverted T-slot through which the bolt slides, where we can securely hold the chest.
• regular roof: When there is no pre-installed system on the roof to place the box, we must choose the standard systems that we can buy from different specialty stores in order to get the one that best suits our particular model.

Thule Motion XT L

How should we drive with the roof box installed?

Now that we know, as far as possible, the determining factors for the purchase of a roof box, the rules we must comply with, and the types of fastening systems that currently exist, we only need to know how we should adapt our driving to transport this roof box. . Type of device in the car.

By including a product that is not in the design of the car, its behavior will change and therefore our driving style must also be adapted.

• slower speed: It is advisable if we are driving on a dual carriageway or motorway, we slow down a little and drive at about 100 km/h, because in this way the chest will not suffer much, and we also compensate for the fuel consumption of the car.
• distribute weight: we must try to ensure that the weight we have placed inside the chest is distributed as best as possible so that there is not an area that weighs much more than another. This will allow us easier driving.
• Slightly advanced braking: It is normal that when transporting this type of product on the roof of a car, the stopping distance increases, so we must treat the brakes much more tactfully, with a little anticipation of what braking is.
• Height fee: We must be careful at the training camp so that the height at which we carry the chest does not hit the barriers that are handled at the maximum height.

You now have all the information you need to be able to buy the roof rack that best suits you, the needs you have right now, and the car you currently drive.

You should know that everything we have seen in this article should be taken globally, as this way you will be able to purchase the best possible roof rack.