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Camping

It's no good, we need roof bars / box...

26 replies

JenniMoo · 14/07/2014 07:24

We just got everything in the car for this weekend's camping trip. However, getting it back in, in the drizzle, was another matter...

So where's good to get roof bars / boxes? I know halfords do them but are there more reasonable places? And what should we be looking for?

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WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 14/07/2014 07:31

We got our bars fitted at Halfords because we wanted them fitted and not just to buy and try and fit them ourselves, the consequences of not doing it properly don't bear thing about. Bought the box online separately, much cheaper. Probably a good idea to tell the fitters what box you're getting so they can position the bars appropriately.

There are a lot of choices, wide, narrow etc, there are websites and forums dedicated to them. We put all the light, smaller stuff in ours to free up the boot for the tent, which is too heavy and bulky to go in the box.

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JenniMoo · 14/07/2014 07:42

That's a good idea, to just get the bars at halfords. There's no way we'd fit ourselves anyway though, too much risk!

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NonnyMuss · 14/07/2014 07:56

We bought Cruz roof bars and added an eBay bargain Halfords roofbox.

Can't remember how much exactly but when we looked into it the Cruz bars were massively cheaper than any equivalents, dh fitted them himself, it didn't seem too difficult or complex he didn't swear very much at all, well, no more than the usual flatpack furniture amount of swearing

Probably a good time of year to pick up a second hand roofbox on eBay, loads of people upgrade to bigger and sell the smaller one.

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AnnoyingOrange · 14/07/2014 08:23

We us Thule bars which can take a roof box or a bike rack. We fit them and take them off after each use. They are very easy to fit - you just wind them up until they clamp the roof rails

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AnnoyingOrange · 14/07/2014 08:25
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starfishmummy · 14/07/2014 08:48

It Kent hard to fix the bars yourself and unless you plan to leave them on permanently it dies seem a waste of money to have them professionally fixed.

We just had a small box so would actually remove the bars with the box still attached for storage

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WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 14/07/2014 09:10

It's quite fiddly to get the bars on and off our car, took two Halfords blokes half an hour, although I think once they are all assembled it's probably fairly quick. - it was the lining them up to be even on both sides of the car that seemed to take the time. Probably a lot easier if your car has rails, but ours hasn't. Also we wouldn't be able to fit our box into it's storage space with the bars still on, so ours stay on the roof permanently.

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JenniMoo · 14/07/2014 09:19

Useful info, thank you. It's a mondeo hatchback if that makes any difference. Might look into how to fit them but I expect we'd let someone else do it, cost depending! Having paid for halfords to fit a light bulb once I know that sometimes you really do get your money's worth, as that turned into a massive job, but I'd never pay for other stuff, like windscreen wipers...

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piratecat · 14/07/2014 09:23

trailer, so much easier in the long run, you can unhook and leave.

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WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 14/07/2014 09:23

Quite, I do my own wiper blades, do my own bulbs if it's the side that hasn't got the battery blocking the way, but get them to do the battery side bulbs and the roofbars as it's a one off job for us.

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WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 14/07/2014 09:24

We always take the roofbox off and leave, just put it behind the tent or holiday cottage and use it to store all the beach stuff, but we haven't got anywhere to keep a trailer, I'd love one otherwise.

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JenniMoo · 14/07/2014 09:27

We have a garage too small for our cars so could store a trailer, but I'm not sure DH fancies towing. I think it'd work well as could be left packed up...

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WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 14/07/2014 09:30

Yes, leaving it packed is why I'd prefer a trailer. However our drive is small and there is only access to the rear of the house via a passage, which we can carry the roofbox down to the shed but wouldn't fit a trailer. The other thing with a trailer is that if you are doing a lot of stopping off en route it's harder to park, but you could use the caravan bays in service stations I guess.

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nilbyname · 14/07/2014 09:36

We fitted our Thule roof bars ourselves, and then detach them when we don't need them. We bought a roof box separately online. We keep the roof box full with our rolled up mattresses, cooking stuff, stove etc so we are almost ready to go at a moments notice.

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piratecat · 14/07/2014 09:38

didn't even think about where you can store a trailer Blush

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WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 14/07/2014 10:49

We'd struggle to keep the roofbox loaded all the time, we are both very short and it lives on an above head height shelf in the eaves of the shed at the end of the garden. It has to be carried there on it's side down the alleyway. It would be hard to manoeuvre it up and down from the eaves if it was full. I wish we had a garage.

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whatwouldaudreydo · 14/07/2014 18:45

Roofbox.co.uk are meant to be very good, and if you go through Ukcampsite I think you get 5% discount. Apparently it's even better value to get a box and bars package :)

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badger21 · 14/07/2014 19:10

I'll second the roof box co. Really helpful people, good prices and fast delivery.

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droogie · 14/07/2014 19:47

And me third, we got the Cruz bars too. Very easy. The first time takes a little while as you have to assemble them (you buy the bars and then attach them to specific fittings for your car). Now I can get them on in minutes (leaving them on creates drag and a nice whistle at certain speeds!)

We've been borrowing a box but need to get our own soon as selfish friends have booked a trip at the same time as us Grin

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JenniMoo · 14/07/2014 19:47

Thanks for all the info. Has anyone fitted roof bars to a mondeo? I'll have a google and try to find out I guess.

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WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 14/07/2014 20:20

I think roofbox.co.uk was where we got our box, but it was a few years ago now. You have to buy the specific feet for your exact model of car (if in Halfords there's one of those flip books like there is for wiper blades etc) but the bars themselves are generic.

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profpoopsnagle · 14/07/2014 21:49

We've always bought from roofbox- 3 sets of feet/roofbars over time and 2 roofboxes. Fitted all 3 roofbars ourselves no problem.

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MeAndMySpoon · 15/07/2014 23:05

I narrowly avoided buying a roofbox this week (would have gone with roofbox.co.uk if they could get it to me in time) because someone lent me theirs, but have just bought bars, feet and fixing kit from Halfords and while I'll admit I did spend most of the evening fiddling around with it (in between bathtime and putting DSs to bed) it wasn't hard. You get all the tools you need, the instructions were clear and I feel that it's as secure as if fitted at the store. It was also very satisfying if you're the Meccano type. Grin

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JenniMoo · 25/07/2014 21:35

After the roof box people at our local halfords couldn't even work out if they had the right fittings in or not we didn't trust them to try and fit the bars, so ordered online and fitted the bars this evening. It was a bit if a palaver but we're happy it's safe.
We haven't even taken the roofbox out of its box yet, I hope that's easier to fit than the bars!

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freckleonear · 26/07/2014 00:28

We already had factory fitted roof rails on our car so I bought universal roofbars from Ebay for £20, far cheaper than Halfords. They were fairly quick and easy to fit.

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