I'm going to a festival in Denmark with a bunch of friends in a couple of weeks, and we have realised that we'll probably need to get a roof box as we'll be squeezing five people and all their stuff (tents/chairs/sleeping bags etc) into a Golf mk4.
I've had a quick look at the Halfords website and I'm unclear on a couple of things, so I'm hoping you can answer my questiosn.
The first one would be, what do I actually need to get? As far I as I understand, I need: 1)Roof Bars, 2)Foot Pack, 3)roof box. Is this right? Or is there more?
Are all those sold seperately, or can I buy, say the roof bars and pack in one pack for example?
How cheaply would I be able to get all that I require, considering that I'll probably just need this for the one time, and so want to pay as little as possible. Is there a particular piece of equipment you'd recommend or know where I could get particularly cheaply? ;)
Sorry but they are not cheap. You need to have a car that will take the roof bars first. If your car does not have roof bars it may have "Holes" in the roof. to take some kind of clamp. Not sure how much these are. If you do have roof bars, Cross bars and a small top box will cost you about £200.00. (As I said - not cheap) Buy the biggest top box you can afford. (Or your car can take) Best bet is to go into Halfords and enquire first. - then go away and have think.....
Note: Be careful if you buy "second-hand" as all cars have different "feet" You have to buy the right one for your car.
------------- Ken and Wendy
Face piles of trials with smiles.
IF YOUR CAR IS 3 DOOR THEN YOU MAY ALSO NEED ANOTHER PIECE OF "KIT" THAT WILL ATTACH THE REAR BAR TO THE FRONT AS THERE ARE NO DOOR OPRNINGS AT THE REAR TO CLAMP THE BAR. YOU CAN GET SOME BARS THAT WILL ONLY FIT YOUR CAR. THIS CAN SAVE A BIT AS YOU DO NOT NEED A FOOT PACK. THE DRAWBACK IS WHEN YOU CHANGE YOUR CAR YOU CANNOT USE THE BARS ON YOUR NEW ONE. UNLESS ITS THE SAME, OF COURSE. TRY YOUR MAIN DEALER AS THEY SOMETIMES HAVE SPECIAL DEALS ON BARS AND I KNOW SOME WILL RENT YOU BARS AND A ROOFBOX WHICH CAN SAVE YOU MONEY IF YOU ONLY INTEND TO USE THEM ONCE.
IF YOU LOOK AROUND FOR BARS, THEN BEWARE! THERE ARE SOME PRETTY BAD ONES OUT THERE AND ARE JUST NOT WORTH THE MONEY.THEY DO NOT FIT VERY WELL AND CAN CAUSE DAMAGE TO YOUR CAR. ANOTHER PLACE TO LOOK IS ON YOUR LOCAL FREECYCLE SITE. JUST JOIN UP FOR FREE AND POST A WANTED AD. YOU NEVER KNOW, YOU MIGHT GET THE WHOLE LOT FOR FREE. NOW THAT IS CHEAP!!!
Have a look at roofbox.co.uk they havea package deal staring aroud £115 all in.. and you can use the roofbar chooser - just select your vehicle and it tells you what you need.
------------- Christine
2014
April -
BunRoy Fort William 3 sleeps
April / May
Invercaimbe Arisaig 4 sleeps
Bleatarn Brampton tbc July
We've just got our roof box from Motormania on ebay. V helpful telling us what we need and there's an online guide too. We paid 100 for a big one with free delivery.
We've used it and it was fine (until I forgot it was on top and went through a low height restriction barrier! now has a split in one corner!)
We got the Paddy Hopkirk roof bars and locks from Towsure as they were the cheapest.
It was really easy to fit.
Sell it all on ebay after - everyone else seems to!
You can enter make and model of your car and get info regarding what you will need. You can get other brands, of course, but this will at least give you some idea.
Before you buy anything, have a look at this chap, he is highly recommended and will source you any original VW parts cheaper than over the counter. He will also advise you what parts you require exactly.
If I buy them, do I just need to get a roof-box, and that's it? Or do I need any Foot/Connector kits/locks/anything else?
Getmeoutofthere- We're going to Roskilde this time round, managed Werchter a couple of years back without the roof box in a fiesta, but there were only 3 of us then.
edit - I've just found out that one my friends has managed to secure a roof box for £10 from some sort of relation, so now that we've got that, will it be enough for me to just buy those fapa bars and that's it? Thanks.
I was hoping someone could confirm something for me, we have a roofbox sorted from a friend, and I am about to order those fapa bars from roofbox.co.uk.
My questions is do I need anything else (roof adapters/anything else)? Do the roof bars or the roof box itself comes with anything to attach the box to the bars.
We got roofbars from roofbox too, they were really helpful. Then we were extremely fortunate to get given a free roofbox from our local Freecycle group (www.freecycle.org )it's a huge Karrite one and in "as new" condition, so we were unbelievably fortunate, but worth registering on your local group and asking, someone might have one knocking about unwanted. Also try your local free ads, local newsagents window, ask around see if you can borrow one from friends or family.
I thought I'd update you as to what happened, I picked up the roofbox we got from a friend, turned out quite a big Halfords roof box in good condition.
Due to a very hectic week organising the whole thing, I only got round to ordering the roof bars from roofbox.co.uk yesterday. I asked for next day delivery, and all seemed fine. Unfortunately from then on, things have gone wrong.
They got the delivery address completely messed up, seems like some sort of typing error. But it meant that the delivery driver just left the bars on the pavement outside the house, unsure of which flat to deliver to (driver at blame also). That's not that much of a problem. HOWEVER, they sent me the WRONG bars. I'm currently in possession of bars for a 3-door Golf, even though I ordered the 5-door bars. Apparently it was some sort of processing error, as on their systems, it also says 5-door.
I'm now in a position where I have to spend a good chunk of tomorrow driving to Halfords, as roofbox cannot guarantee re-delivery for weekend, and I need the bars for this Sunday morning. Doesn't really help when I've still got loads to sort out for the trip.
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Topic: Complete beginner roof box/bars question.
