Rooftop Cargo Carriers

The summer season is practically knocking on your door right now, and this is the year you’ve vowed to spend more time exploring the great outdoors. We don’t all have vehicles set up with luxurious cargo areas for hauling our gear so rooftop cargo carriers are an ideal way to get your tents and coolers to the campsite.

Roof Rack

At the base of every rooftop cargo carrier, regardless if it’s a box, basket, or bike rack, is the rack. The rack consists of four feet (or towers) that attach to your vehicle and two crossbars that attach to the feet. A lot of modern cars come with factory roof racks or integrated points for easily connecting a rack. If your vehicle comes with a factory rack with crossbars, you can skip ahead. If not, read on.

Mounting Methods

For passenger vehicles that have no factory rack installed, most manufacturers have feet that clamp down on your roof where the door is located. If your vehicle comes with bars or a rack that runs parallel to your vehicle, there are feet that will attach to them as well. And the third mounting system is for vehicles with rain gutters. These are typically larger vehicles like cargo vans. 

Don’t worry if it’s a little confusing right now. Our friends have fit-guides on their sites that allow you to enter your vehicle’s make, model, and year and they’ll give you the best options.

Image via MattJP

Crossbars

These are the bars that run across the roof of your vehicle, on which all other boxes, baskets, and accessories are mounted. They come in square, round, and other aerodynamic shapes. Square bars can usually support more load, round bars are usually cheaper, and aerodynamic bars are more expensive but help reduce drag (for fuel economy). Most come in fixed widths so make sure you get the right size for your vehicle.

Once again, you may only have limited options available depending on your vehicle, but the manufacturer’s fit-guide will help you decide.

We suggest getting a kit that includes the feet and the bars from a single manufacturer.

Cargo Boxes

These are the most popular choice amongst outdoor enthusiasts. They keep your gear dry under any weather conditions (unless you drive into a lake) and offer the security of key locks. They’re also aerodynamic to reduce drag as much as possible, but of course you’ll see some drop in fuel economy with one of these on your roof.

Some boxes can be opened from either side, while all the rest only open on one or the other. Be sure to pay attention to that if you have a preference between driver’s side or passenger side, but it is safest if it opens on the passenger side (think about pulling over on a busy highway with a small shoulder).

Cargo Baskets

These are the most versatile roof mounting systems and can handle the biggest and dirtiest of gear. Think: spare tires, reserve gas tanks, and your emergency tools. They also still allow you to mount other accessories like bike and ski racks

These do have a few drawbacks though. 

1. They offer no weather protection. If you’re putting things like clothing or electronics in your basket, you’ll want some other weatherproof container to put them in, or just be sure you’re only driving on bright, sunny days.
2. You’ll also need a cargo net or tie-down straps to keep your gear from flying off the roof. 
3. Presumably, something high up on your roof would be difficult to steal, but there is very little security after that. Thule does make lockable straps with embedded strands of wire to make it a little more difficult for thieves.

Cargo Bags

The benefit of some cargo bags is they can actually be used without a rack of any kind. They also pack down extremely small when not in use, and are much more affordable than the other solutions. All in all, these are a great way to add up to 16 cubic feet to your storage capacity!

The downside of cargo bags is that none of them can claim complete weatherproofness, though new advances are made every year. Depending on where you live and adventure the most, that might not be a huge problem for you, but it’s something to keep in mind if you live and play near Seattle.

Our Picks

Weighing in on size, versatility, and security, this is the setup we think everyone would be happy with.

Yakima Whispbar Heavy-Duty Bar Rack Kit

These bars provide added strength for heavy loads, an airfoil design to reduce drag, and mount to any vehicle without rain gutters or with factory bars already in place.

Thule Trail Cargo Basket

While baskets lack complete security and weatherproofness, they make up for it in the versatility of what they can hold. We chose this basket because it has integrated T-track mounting capabilities for other Thule boxes and mounts if you choose to add them on later as well as being compatible with their one-lock system for added security.

Rhino-Rack Master-Fit 440 Cargo Box

This adds 16 cu. ft. of storage to your vehicle and holds up to 165 pounds! It has a 3-point locking system and opens from both sides. The best part? It’s only 16.5” wide so you can fill-up your box and still use almost half your Thule basket. What a deal!