Advice on cargo carrier for 05 LGT wagon?

Please don't flame me if this has been covered already, I did try searching and didn't find much...

 

I'm looking for something to store cargo (suitcases, etc.) outside the car on trips so we can fit 4 adults + toddler + toddler's stuff inside the car. Want something enclosed to keep bug splats off of the bags. I've been looking on the web at the hard shell cargo carriers and would like any opinions anyone has, plus I have two specific questions:

 

1) Do they have enough volume to be useful and worth the price? They look kind of small from the pictures I've seen. I should probably go to a dealership and see one close-up.

 

2) I bought the Subaru square cross-bars with the car so I could tie things down to them. Does that mean I can only buy the cargo carrier from Subaru, or could I buy from other companies? If I can buy from others, what are the companies I should take a look at?

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

-Matt

I have an '05 gt wagon and also bought the square crossbars. So far, all of my Thule rack accessories fit perfectly. While I don't have a Thule cargo carrier, I would think it would fit. Go to a good bike or ski store that would let you try it on your car.

My Mother in law has this very ancient X-Cargo roof pod.. It was a little big, but tied off nicely.. we fit 3 suitcases, 2 tents, and a couple bags of clothes and miscelanious items up there for our summer camping trip. It was kind of a pain to get into mostly because it was so huge compared to the newer ones. When I look at the ones Suby offers, they always seem to small to be of any real worth..but it's not really something I've researched in depth.

I think the Thule cargo boxes will fit as well. I recall some post on this board a while back where folks said some of the larger boxes would hit the wing at the top of the hatch when it was opened. I guess some of the larger boxes can't be placed far enough forward to avoid the wing. I recall one guy saying he was planning to remove the wing to accommodate the larger box. Another mentioned he was drilling his own set of holes in the bottom of the box to allow him to move it forward. I didn't follow up on how their exploits turned out.

 

I've been wanting to get one of the Thule boxes for my '05 LGT wagon as I too have the square crossbars. I know the shorter of the Thule boxes will fit without interfering with the wing but I have fairly long skis and I don't think they will fit in the smaller box. If you're just thinking of shorter things like luggage you may be all right.

 

From folks I know who already have the cargo boxes they like them. Some folks I know leave them on the car all the time. Of course, I would expect your gas mileage will decline some and there'll probably be some extra noise. I notice that when I have bikes on the roof.

 

You may find the following chart useful:

 

http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/box_comparison.asp

 

Good luck...

what about a trialer hitch and then getting a cargo tray that plugs into the hitch? that way u wont lose as much fuel economy. and the look of the car wont change to much

Found the thread about the the issue with the box hitting the wing...

 

http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4149

 

I must say I prefer the roof to hitch mounted stuff. I actually think the car looks better with a roof rack. But, your mileage may vary. Also, aesthetics was way down on the list of criteria for me.

Thanks for the replies. I'll look into Thule, and I'll watch out for the wing interference problem. I don't think I want to deal with worrying about towing a small trailer (issues when changing lanes, backing up, etc.).

 

-Matt

Check out the extended cargo box:

http://www.subaru.com/shop/accessories.jsp?year=2006&model=LEGACY&trim=25_GT_LIMITED_WAGONI

 

I don't recall seeing this before, is this new for 2006?

I am in the market for a new box as my Yakima Rocketbox (similar in shape to the one in the pic) hits the wing. The one in the pic looks like it mounts in the back half of the box to avoid the wing.

This might just be what I need if I can get some more info from the dealer.

Hey, I just got this yesterday (10/8/05) at REI 20% off: final price $294. Also has a $30 mail in rebate so it will work out to be $264 This is mounted on the Subaru cross bar set. The box is supposed to hold 16 cubic feet of stuff. Also, it is supposed to hold skis upto 185 cm. It also doesen't interfere with the tailgate.

 

click thumbs for larger picture:

 

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a299/vespolis/DSC00020.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a299/vespolis/DSC00019.jpg

Yakima and Thule all have hardware to fit on different crossbars. If you ski or snowboard, the cargo boxes work better than ski/snowboard racks because your ski/snowboard don't get sand blasted by the road debris.

Just for kicks and giggles I had a Thule Spirit box fitted to my LGT Lmt wagon this week to size it up and it fit very well...accesible from both sides and it fit snug to my factory crossbars as well...(covered up my wicked sunroof though!) ... This box is nice as it is one of the best built boxws out there as it has stabilizer bars through the base of the box while still being one of the lightest out there as well it has wells to fit around the bars for a tighter fit...bottom line less drag and wind noise inside the car...as far as gas mileage...(not and engineer so therefore don't worry about it...I am sure it is not better but it is what it is) ... The best part about this box is that not only is it easy to install but it has slider adjustments inside the box so it can be adjusted about 12 inches fore and aft...in addition it has a tail flare at the back to allow more room to lift the tailgate...check out the matchmaket selection on the Thule site http://www.thule.com

 

One drawback...it is the most expensive box they have...oh well...vanity+function=cost...

johndas - when you tried the Thule Spirit did it hit the wing when you raised the hatch. I noticed on the Thule site that the Spirit is 90.5 inches long and I would've thought that even with the box placed all the way forward it would still interfere with the wing.

 

Did you try this?

I certainly did check that...I was able to put it forward enough so that there was no contact at all...in addition I could open the tilt on my sunroof as well...just barely...this was on the stock Subaru crossbars too...therefore no additional height...if you use Thule bars it will raise it up about 1 and a half inches...like I said the best part about this box is that it has its own slider adjustment inside the box that are way easy to use..in theory you could have it mounted back for long trips and when the load came out you could easily slide itforward on the box sliders to access the hatch if you needed to...I liked it a little farther back purely for vanity and fit but even thn I could open my rear lid about 90% and would just throw a peice of matching foam on the lower edge of the box for a bumper...

 

This box was by far the easiest to not only install but to use or adjust...and like I said...without going to a heavy custom fibreglass box you will not find one as stiff...I formerly had a Yakima Spacescase on my Expedition and this is a very nice unit...although expensive...I wish I toof a pic as it looked pretty sweet in silver on top of my silver wagon...

 

Check it out...it was alomost the perfect width for the wagon as well allowing great access from either side...I will maybe go down again and get a pic this time if they will let me...

 

Cheers and good luck...

I got a 20 cu.ft. box from Sears for $203 installed. It uses the stock rack and performed well in our drive back to NY from VA at speeds up to 85 mph.

I got the Yakima Pro 16s as per vespolis write-up.

 

It is very easy to install. There are four clamps that clamp on to my stock aero bars that you tighten via four large levers inside the box. There is no fiddling with passing screws through the box or hand tightening nuts as I had to with my old Yakima Rocketbox. The install is like 5 minutes compared to maybe 15 minutes for the Rocketbox. I do like the form factor of the Rocketbox better (long and narrow) but it unfortunately interferes with the wagon hatch.

 

It performs as expected, no interference with wagon hatch, and I had no problems with 4 pairs of skis (170cm).

I ordered my car with the Mont Blank (Subaru) square cross bar kit (SCBK). We went camping this past weekend with some friends and decided to buy the Yakima Blacktop Pro 16 cargo box and mounted it up to the SCBK. Couple of observations and findings while setting up the box.

1. The SCBK locks on very tightly and securely - I initially had some concerns about the SCBK's tenacity in flight - completely gone now.
   
2. It is possible to set the SCBK at it forwardmost and aftmost posiitions along the side rails when mounting up the box (more on this below)
   
3. In order to keep the box lined up with the flow back from the windshield, (so its leading edge and bottom isn't sitting out in turbulent air) I had to mount the front CB all the way forward and then move the front box latch/clamps to about the middle of their forward/aft sliding position.
   
4. With the rear CB all the way aft, the rear box latch/clamps were positioned all the way to the rear of the box
   
5. With this configuration, the sun roof opened fully with no impingemnent or hinderance.
   
6. However, as others have mentioned in their posts, with the box this far aft, it does sit directly in the arc/path of the rear spoiler. So, when you open the rear hatch the box only allows the rear hatch to open about half way as the spoiler will hit on the box. I put a terry cloth towel on top of the spoiler to act as a cushion and that worked for me.
   
7. I was pleasantly surprised by both how quiet and how easy it was to travel with this box in place. We traveled about 500 miles, out to the high desert and back, with consistent 40mph cross-winds for at least 300 miles of the trip and the car/box combination handled beautifully. At about 72-75mph we averaged 24 and 25 mpg on the two tanks of gas. YMMV
   
8. Having the box on top does not seem to impede acceleration at all (what a relief...)
   
9. Having access to both sides of the box is great as is the ability to easily load stuff - it holds alot of camping gear and I would expect a lot of luggage if you needed to put that up there.
   
10. It may look small on top of the car but it is huge when sitting on the ground. Now I need to go get Thule's Box Lift system so I can put this thing up against my garage roof and off of my floor.

Note - I did initially set up the box as far forward as possible so that it would not impinge the rear spoiler/lift gate, but the wind noise and turbulence (bouncing) were excessive IMHO and the box was canted forward at an odd angle compared to how I ultimately set it up. Much more uniform spacing between the box- to-roof-top, front-to-rear when I set the box further aft.

 

BTW - has anyone used the Thule wheel "step up" to access the top of their vehicle and if so, how does it work for you?

 

SBT