we're off on holiday in a couple of weeks and i'm starting to panic about space. we're taking a couple of tents and travelling light, but i think i'd be more confident if we had a roof box or summat. does anybody know what kind of roof rack or box you can get for a volvo V70? and how they fit on? more importantly, how much it will cost?
we would only use it this time cos we usually take the caravan, so i don't want to spend an arm and a leg for 2 weeks use!
Have you looked at the Thule 'matchmaker' website? It seems rather slow to load today, but you can choose your car, up comes an image, then click on the different style and size of box to see what suits you best. Then you can jot down the measurements etc and dig around on the www to get a good deal.
People have different ideas about roof boxes so it's best to select one that really suits. I nearly bought a new one with a larger capacity but then thought that the overall vehicle height could stop me using the T-tolls in France and also getting into some car parks when fitted.
It's claimed that certain cheaper top boxes are constructed of a different material to some more expensive ones and that they will not last as long. My old Thule must be about 12-14 years old now and is still serving us well - though the same size box is now available for little more than I paid for it all those years ago!
thanks for that - just after i posted i thought maybe hiring would be a better option. it really will only be used this once and i know they're expensive. i'll look into the hiring option!
I bought a roof box years before I started camping again. We've found it excellent for any kind of trips cos we use it as a travelling wardrobe. OH merely takes the clothes off the rails in the wardrobes (still on their hangers), wraps them in either dressing gowns or beach towels for each person, and then I plonk them (sorry, lay them out neatly) in the roof box. Saves ages packing suitcases at each end of the holiday. I always lay out a picnic rug inside the box first, which I can then wrap around the clothes and secure with the straps. Dead easy, no creases or anything. For camping trips though, the clothes are consigned to holdalls and sod the creases! There are more important things to fill the box. My roof box is big, so I book onto ferries as a 'high' car (some companies have a 'car + roofbox' option. Only once had a problem in a car park - luckily is was not a multistorey so I could go out of the entrance which didn't have a bar!
I saw them favourably reviewed in a magazine years ago, but by the time I came to buy one I couldn't find a supplier in the UK so I ordered direct from the USA. The company were very helpful and the shipping charge (forgotten what it was) was very reasonable.
I have always been very pleased with ours. Its well made out of good strong stuff. It sits very securely on the roof of the car and everything inside is safe and dry. We use it for pillows, sleeping bags, clothes holdalls etc. The bag sits on a mat of that sticky mesh fabric on the roof of the car (to avoid any scratches on the car from dirt etc) and there are strong hooks on adjustable straps which clamp inside the car door frames. When you get to the campsite, you just empty it, take it off the car, roll it up and stick it out of the way until you need it to go home. Similarly at home, where it lives in the corner of the shed. As you don't need roof bars or rails with it, I have also been able to lend it to friends quite easily for their holiday needs. MT
------------- Tackling life the Western District way
Brilliant! You can roll them up, sit on them, or use a vacuum cleaner to suck out the air. If you 'pat' the bags as the air is being sucked out you can actually get a very good stackable shape. They save masses of space in our car - and I really do mean that.
They are much better and stronger than the one's we bought from Argos a few years before, which had an awkward sealing 'stick'.
i think thule do the roof bags now, and someone also said that tescos had started to as well.
there was a thread on here, i'll see if i can find it.
------------- "He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." In memory of Bear. 06/03/06 - 25/01/12 Izzie 23/09/07 - 25/03/13
------------- "He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." In memory of Bear. 06/03/06 - 25/01/12 Izzie 23/09/07 - 25/03/13
------------- "He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." In memory of Bear. 06/03/06 - 25/01/12 Izzie 23/09/07 - 25/03/13
I hadn't seen that Thule one before - it is quite different to our Kanga one, which is made out of a rubber-type material and doesn't need roof bars or rails. Interesting. MT
------------- Tackling life the Western District way
thanks guy's. i've been trawling the net all morning! found quite a few, the kanga was the one i fancied but i don't think it will fit our car without a roof rack - defeating the object really, plus the website i was looking at didn't seem to ship to uk. merry terrier, how does yours fit on the car?
off to have a look at your link now jen - fingers crossed
CAN RECOMMEND THULE PRODUCTS. THEIR STUFF IS EXCELLENT QUALITY. I HAVE BEEN TO THEIR UK BASE AND DONE THE OFFICIAL TRAINING COURSE A FEW YEARS BACK WHEN I WAS IN THE MOTOR TRADE. THEY EVEN SAY THAT BY ADDING A ROOF BOX IT CAN HELP THE FUEL ECOMOMY ON SOME CARS!!!
Quote: Originally posted by billie on 08/6/2006 merry terrier, how does yours fit on the car?
We bought the smallest size, as we only had a Punto at the time, and there are various sizes available. It came with two different sets of adjustable straps - one set to use if you were going to strap the bag onto either a roof rack or roof rails, and a second set for if, like us, the bag would be sat on its mat on the roof of the car and hooked onto the door frame (ie the actual car body inside where the door shuts, not the door itself). Oh dear, I don't think I'm explaining this very well!
Try again. the bag is on the roof with the four straps dangling down. Each strap ends in a hook. Open the car door, hook the hook (!) onto the part of the door frame above where the door would be, tighten all four straps, shut the car doors. Bob's your uncle. MT
Post last edited on 08/06/2006 17:00:06
------------- Tackling life the Western District way
i know the thule ones are supposed to be the best, but we are only needing one because we decided to leave the caravan at home and save on the petrol costs - probably an extra £300. if we were gonna buy thule roof bars and box we might as well just take the van!
We have got a roof box and it gives you a lot more space to put things. It is good for puttin ground sheets and air beds in there, because they dont take up much space in there, so we can put other things in there.
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Topic: roof racks/boxes??
