Roof rack question

[MSHardeman]

Joe,

I have a cargo carrier/ ski box (Thule) for my VX and it fits just fine. It uses wide "u-bolts" to connect it to the rack and they are just wide enough to fit around our aero cross bars. The mounting points also slide back and forth in slots in the bottom of the box so I can position them where I need them, and there is still enough play left over to slide the box back and forth by a couple of inches once everything is in place.

To get bike racks on, though, I have had to get some universal adapters that a "normal" cross bar mounts to (above the VX's cross bars) and then mount the bike racks to that. Some others have found some standard roof rack mounts that fit into our mounting points and they've used standard cross bars with those, but it negates our aero cross bars.

See pictures below for various set ups.

[Joe Isuzu]

Great, thanks for confirming what I was thinking MS Hardeman. If possible, could you let me know which thule cargo box you got, that seems to be exactly what I'm after. Thanks!!!

[MSHardeman]

Joe,

I have the box hanging from the ceiling in my garage right now so I'll check it when I get home tonight and let you know tomorrow.

I don't know where you park, but be aware of your clearance. The only reason mine is hanging from the ceiling and not on the VX (I would rather carry my boards in an enclosed box then in the ski racks) is that my garage door is about an inch and a half to low for the VX with the box on to fit under it.

Mark

[Joe Isuzu]

Thanks for the assist on this. Looking forward to your next post. I took mesurements tonight and printed out the dimensions of all the Thule cargo carriers, it seems there are only 2-3 that may work; one that definitely should and two that may if you are pushing it. Have zero experience with cargo carriers but height to me is not an issue. I assumed I would simply park the VX outside to unload it after a trip and then just take the cargo container off before entering the garage. I'm one of those people that can't really relax after a trip until the car is unloaded so this would be natural for me.

[MSHardeman]

Joe,

Sorry for the delay, but I had forgotten to take my camera home the other night, and I was out of the office snowboarding most of the day on Thursday (I know, I know..I lead such a hard life).

Anyway, took some pictures of the Thule cargo box last night (see below, and excuse the crummy VX in the background), and after a quick search of Thule's website it doesn't look like they make the Cascade XT anymore. It also looks like they have revised their mounting clamps. As you can see in the picture, my box has big metal u-bolts that feed up through holes in the bottom of the box into a clamping mechanism inside the box. The u-bolt and the clamping mechanism can slide back and forth in the slots that you can see in the pictures. I couldn't find any information on Thule's new mounting hardware, but I can only assume that it still slides back and forth some to accommodate different roof rack systems. You might be able to find an older version on Ebay.

Hope this helps.

[Joe Isuzu]

Thanks again for all the input MS Hardeman
I'll be shopping around locally to see what's out there now that I know at least one thing that will work

[MSHardeman]

Not a problem Joe. That's what the VX fam is for. Let me know if you need anything else.
Mark