rooftop cargo carriers

[java]

I will start with my scarred for life childhood trauma with rooftop carriers. When I was seven and doing our yearly mecca to Hilton Head something happened in Brooklyn. Something no child should have to witness. People were waving at us to get our attention- Dad ignored "the weirdos" Then it happened...I saw the front wheel of my beloved purple banana seat Schwinn bicycle right next to my rear passenger seat window. Next it fell off the car and I turned in horror...just in time to see the car behind us drive right over it-I saw it crushed. My beloved bike was now roadkill.
Flash forward 30 years.. planning a driving trip to Disney and DH wants to buy a cargo carrier for the minivan. So I am assuming they have improved in the last 30 years. Does anyone have any advice on which one to buy? Or have you had your own horror story?

 

[Lewisc]

Drive for a few miles then pull over and make sure it's still tightly attached. If you have to tighten the straps then pull over in a few more miles and check it again.

Most of them will lower your mileage about 10%. If you can avoid them you should.

 

[rkmassa]

We bought a soft-sided carrier for our trip from Kansas City to Orlando. It worked great. Only one time did we have to stop when we heard one of the straps hitting, but no other problems the entire trip.

 

[Shagley]

In May, when we were driving through the Florida Keys, we decided to go through a car wash. The van in front of us was already in the car wash, and they had a hard sided car top carrier on top. When they pulled forward to drive out of the car wash, their car top carrier hit the top part of the wash mechanism. Instead of stopping, and backing out, they gunned it. The car top carrier was pushed to the back of their van, and their van was literally picked up off the ground. They gunned the engine harder, and their was a lot of cracking noises, and finally they were able to drive out of the car wash (with their car top carrier hanging on the side of their van). It must have been empty, because nothing fell out. I bet they ended up with some decent scratches on the top of their van.

Soooo, if you get a car top carrier, be careful in car washes!!

We have a soft sided ccar top carrier that works great. I did pay more to get a waterproof one, instead of just a water resistant one, because I am sure eventually we will drive through rain.

 

[crzy4dsny]

I just purchased a car topper from Sears. I got the hard shell 20 cubic ft. model. One thing I never thought of was the decreased gas milage, with the price of gas these days thats just great But we need to use it because there isn't much room left in our Mountaineer with the third seat up. It is going to be nice not having to cram everything in.


Do these create alot of wind noise while driving? Do you take your stuff out if you stop overnight at a hotel? I know they lock but that lock is not too sturdy.

 

[LIFERBABE]

That must be the one to get, because I mean 90% of them were the Sears Sv-20 model.

We have a Samsonite soft side that folds down to nothing and I keep it in my "Disney Stuff Trunk".

How much are the Sears Model?

 

[crzy4dsny]

The one I just purchased was the 20-sv. It was $164. They had two other models both were smaller. One was around $150 and the other was $299 for some reason.

This one has alot more room in it that I thought it would. If the kids start to drive me crazy I might just ride up there for a while

 

[SqueakyMouse]

We have a Sears hard carrier for our Town & Country van. It has been wonderful. On our May trip, I was surprised to note that it really did not affect our highway gas/mileage. Our in-laws used it on their van last week. They enjoyed having no clutter in the car so much that they are going to purchase one for themselves. Ours is attached with brackets, so there's little danger of it coming off our van. (Although we do check it when we stop.) We also have a lock on it, so there's little danger of it springing open.