Roof trunks or car chests: types, differences, advice, legislation and everything you need to know

If you are going on a trip and the trunk of your car is not enough, you will always be able to buy a roof box in which to place a good number of everything you want to take with you. The problem is that these types of car elements are largely unknown and that is why today you will have all the information you need.

In addition to the fact that car roof boxes are elements not well known by many users, on top of that there are many of them on the market and that can lead to even more confusion.

There are models of different sizes, with different weights and in which the price varies, so the difficulty in knowing which one would be the best for us is quite high, if you do not have some kind of prior knowledge.

Although there are models of more than 1,000 liters of capacity to put luggage, the normal thing is to acquire those that move between 300 and 500 literswhich are called middle class.

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

This is something that happens less when we increase our budget, because the moral thing is that those that are called high-end and, therefore, with a higher price, are usually products of sufficient quality so that we do not have the slightest problem.

Determining factors to buy 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 could decide us to buy one model or another.

But we must also be aware of some minimums that we can establish so as not to have excessively serious problems when we acquire a product of this type.

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

• Roof bars: Not all roof rack systems are placed on the car in the same way. Many vehicles, especially SUVs, come with a roof rack, although there may be different types of fixings, which we will talk about later.
• Load: Obviously, an important part to take into account is the load that our vehicle supports. What we must do is add the luggage to the weight of the chest itself, and then consult the car’s characteristics book and know how far we can load it with weight.
• Size: This will depend a lot on how our car is and how much space it has to be able to place a product like the one we are talking about today. It must be taken into account that the larger the box, the more fuel it will consume, the more noise there will be due to the effect of the wind and in other areas such as braking and cornering will also be slightly affected.
• Mounting: The assembly is the same in practically all the roof boxes for the car, so we must be more attentive to whether everything fits in its place. You should also know if that product is accredited for use in our country.
• Lock: Although it may not seem true to you, there are some car chests that do not have a lock, which means that they are the most attractive to any type of person who likes to take what belongs to others. If possible, it is always best to have one that we can lock.
• More equipment: There may be certain chests that are longer to, for example, be able to carry skis, others that have side compartments or load separators, among other things.

FISHER 126000

In addition to all this, we also have certain rules that we must follow and that they are going to mark the fact that we do not have any type of problem with the ITV, or at the moment in which the General Directorate of Traffic agents could stop us in the middle of the highway.

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

• Normally, the maximum load of a chest moves between 50 and 75 kilos, something to which we must add the weight of the chest itself and the anchors that we use, to know if our car can carry said chest. In the vehicle instructions You have to tell us what is the total weight with which it can work.
• We must also be attentive to permissible total vehicle weight. If we want to know how much it can carry, what we must do is subtract the empty weight of the car (tare) from the MMA (maximum authorized mass), information that we will find in the car’s papers.
• You have to know that, according to the rules of the General Directorate of Traffic, the load that we carry on the roof must not be wider than 2.55 meters and the car cannot exceed 4 m high.
• If we talk about the length of the cargo, it can only protrude through the rear 10% of vehicle length. This information is good to know in case we have to carry something that is longer than our chest.

cartrend

Types of anchoring systems to put a roof box

All roof boxes are universal and adapt to the type of fastening that each car has.

But what changes is precisely that, the way in which the chest is going to be placed in our vehicle.

• Roof bars: there are many vehicles that carry them as standard (especially SUVs). Thanks to them, a chest can be placed since, in the vast majority of the time, they are already prepared for it.
• Integrated bars: this is a system that is not the same as the previous one and that in terms of aerodynamics are more successful.
• Attachment points: Some cars include anchor points located at the ends of the roof, which are hidden, which will allow us to place the chest thanks to them.
• Flashing: here what we are going to have is a rail where the fastening system for the chest is going to be installed.
• T-profile: It is an inverted T-shaped slot, through which a bolt slides, where we will be able to hold the chest securely.
• regular roof: When the roof does not have any pre-installed system to place a box, we must opt ​​for standard systems that we can buy in different specialized stores to get the one that best suits our specific model.

Thule Motion XT L

How should we drive with a roof box installed?

Now that we know as we can the determining factors to buy a roof box, the standards that we must comply with and also the types of anchoring systems that currently exist, we only have to know how we should adapt nour driving for carrying this type of device in the vehicle.

By incorporating a product that is not in the structure of the car, its behavior will change and, therefore, our way of driving should also be adapted.

• Less speed: It is advisable that, if we drive on the dual carriageway or motorway, we slightly lower the speed and drive at approximately 100 km/h, since in this way the chest will not suffer as much and we will also compensate the vehicle’s fuel consumption.
• distribute weight: we must try that the weight that we have placed inside the chest is distributed as best as possible so that there is no area that weighs much more than the other. This will allow us an easier driving.
• Slightly anticipate braking: The normal thing is that, by carrying this type of product on the roof of the car, the braking distances increase, so we must treat the brakes with much more tact, slightly anticipating what the braking is.
• Height tolls: We must be careful at the tolls so that the height at which we carry the chest does not hit the barriers that are processed at the maximum height.

Now you have all the necessary information to be able to buy the roof box that best suits you, the needs you have right now and the car you drive at the moment.

You must be aware that everything we have seen in this article must be taken globally, since that way you will be able to acquire the best possible roof box.