We had just
purchased the Commander. In anticipation of a week-long
road-trip, I repeated my
decision to buy roof-top cargo capacity and purchased the 28
x 91 Roof Box. Time was of the essence so rather than
spent a lot of time shopping for price and features I chose the
larger of two that MoPar feature in their accessory catalog for
the Commander.
Here's what the catalog says
about it:
Here's what the catalog says
about it:
Taking an extended
road trip? Need some more room? A Roof Box Cargo Carrier
may be what you need. Featuring a Gas cylinder opening
system, Mopar carriers make loading and unloading cargo
effortless. Aerodynamic design limits wind resistance
without sacrificing its stylish nature. Lockable
thermoplastic carrier will also keep your belongings dry
and secure regardless of weather. A must have for family
trips.
- Lockable to
keep cargo secure
- Attaches to
Mopar Sport Utility Bars
- Keep belongings
dry in any weather
- Gas Cylinder
opening system for gentle operation
- Rigid and
durable box construction
- Energy
efficient, low drag design
- Black in color
We learned with the Wrangler
that having everything out of the passenger cabin made for a
much better travel experience. Even with the larger
interior capacity of the Commander, we wanted to leave the rear
area as unburdened as possible. All the stuff needed only
at night when we stop to make camp would be in the overhead.
I scoured the the catalog and
the only parts "possibly" needed were some T-slot adapters.
I didn't want to get the roof box and not have everything to
install it so I ordered them too though I could not see how they
came into play on the factory cross bars.
Well the roof box came and was
waiting with the Commander when we went to take delivery.
The guys that work at the dealership were looking at it with no
idea how to install it. I took a look and saw the problem.
The factory cross bars do not have T-slots, and the u-bolts that
come with the roof box are too narrow to fit around the factory
cross bars. Nice...
The bottom line was that in two
days I was planning to load all my luggage into the roof box and
our handy items in the cargo area in the back and leave for
eight days of traveling. I just bought this new vehicle
and spent a fair amount of money. I wasn't ready to spend
another $300 on different cross bars that were compatible with
the box. How dumb is that? I took a look at the
cross bars on the vehicle and decided I had a solution.
I loaded the roof box into the
Commander and drove home. When I got there I took some
measurements and drove up to Lowe's. I purchased:
I used my center punch to mark
four spots to drill that would provide a hole for one leg of
each U-bolt to pass through the factory cross bars. Since
the cross bars are hollow aluminum, I had to drill through both
sides, with the holes lining up. That wasn't too hard
though the cross bars are aerodynamic and shaped like wings -
not flat so drilling took a certain amount of care to keep the
drill bit from roaming around.
I de-burred the holes and
installed the rubber grommets into all the holes. This was
done for the purpose of preventing metal to metal contact.
This will hopefully prevent the aluminum from corroding and
causing the black coating on the cross bars to fail.
The u-bolts pass through the
holes on the trailing edge of the cross bars and go around the
cross bar on the front as they were intended (on some
indeterminate vehicle mounting surface). It's clean and
looking at it, you might think it was supposed to be that way.
When the roof box is not
mounted on the roof, the stainless steel bolt goes through a
washer, then the holes, another washer and is held by the two
nuts, the hex nut acting as a jam nut against the Acorn nut that
hides the end of the bolt and finishes the look for everyday
use.
So here's what fits in the roof box with a little room to spare:
That's one very large roll-away
duffle bag (too large for airline carry-on), one carry-on
roll-away, two kid-sized roll-aways, one over-stuffed suit bag,
two athletic duffels, and one tote bag. Enough clothing
for a clothes-horse family of four for eight days.
Now I do realize that
getting it all up there without a step ladder is not going to be
much fun, but that's where teamwork comes in.
Here it is after I drilled four
holes in the cross-bars to accommodate the factory u-bolts that
hold the roof box to the Jeep...
