SportRack SkyLine XL Cargo Box - Roof Mount - 18 Cu Ft - Black

Video Transcript for SportRack SkyLine XL Cargo Box Review

Hey everyone, it's Evangeline here at etrailer and today we have the SportRack SkyLine XL Roof Box. This is gonna be an affordable or entry level way to expand your cargo space. That way, maybe you're going on a long trip or you need to carry around a lot of items, instead of fitting them into your vehicle you can put them up here. Now we're gonna get into the dimensions as we load this up with cargoes we can talk about what does that actually mean in terms of bags, suitcases, duffel bags, skis. Well, if you're familiar with how to choose a rooftop box which is a segment I do for different roof boxes, I label this as definitely more suitcases versus skis because of its size and shape. The box is made of a polyethylene material that is UV resistant which is important because if you're gonna keep this on your roof, then you wanna make sure that the elements, whether it's rain, water, or sunshine don't affect the insides of this.

Now, for the shape of the box it is definitely on the bulkier side, which can be good for people that have taller items versus the taper design you'll see on other boxes. The downside to it is it's not gonna be as aerodynamic but you're already carrying a large box on your roof. so something to remember is that wind drag and wind noise may be a thing. So four dimensions. It's gonna be 54 inches long by 39 inches wide and for the height it's gonna be 19 and a half inches tall.

So that's just gonna make for a large clamshell looking box that sits on your roof and that this is an entry level box. So there are a lot of features you might expect in premium roof boxes that this one does not have. You have two latches, one in the front, one in the back and then you have two locks. So these four touch points work together to make a very secure fit. So even as I try to shake the lid around, it's not to bugging, it's staying secure over the bottom half of the box.

And with your latches off, as was your two locks unlocked you are then able to lift up on the lid. With those dimensions, you do have to remember that while it says it has 17 cubic feet of storage and you do have space for your larger suitcases and bags, this only has a weight capacity of a hundred pounds. So be mindful of your actual roof weight capacity. Make sure you can handle at least 130 pounds total because you need to include the box. And even if you have your larger items, hopefully they're not super duper heavy because that is gonna be a limitation of this entire box in terms of keeping it contained.

The major feature that I think it really needs is better clamping ability where it requires a 21 and a half inch crossbar spread. And if you do not have that crossbar spread this is not gonna work out for you. Securing the box, you have these mounting brackets and this does stick up a little further though so that's something to be mindful for if you have items that could possibly snag. This is gonna sit at an inch and a quarter inches off of the boxes base. Now there are no anchor points for straps here but if you really wanted an anchor point for straps, what you can do is you can loosen this bracket, fit a strap through and then tighten it down. It'll be a lot of extra work compared to other boxes but could it be helpful for you. And if you do want to carry around other items on your roof with this being a passenger side open only well that's something to consider if you have something on the driver's side then you can put it over there since you're not losing out on that access anyways. Another thing to remember is that the height measurement of 19 and a half inches is something that might be helpful for if you have limited garage door clearance, and if you have things on your roof that might be sitting down to see if you have any space for that. So if you like the affordability of this box as well as its large space for your larger items, but you're curious about if it will really fit with your vehicle, well let's go take a look at the install or the setup process where we dive deep into that. When you do get your roof box there is some assembly required. So the hardware is going to be included with your roof box, that's in bolts to tighten things down. This is what your box is gonna look like fully assembled. So we're gonna start with getting it onto our roof. With the lid open, we're able to see our clamps. From the top, we have two wing nuts, and then these are holding down our top bracket and our U-bolt so we're gonna take that U-bolt out. The maximum width you can carry with this is gonna be four inches wide for your crossbar, and the maximum height of your crossbar can be up to an inch and a quarter inches. Any taller than that, and you would not be able to secure that bracket with your wing nuts. Once you've confirmed your roof and you've confirmed your crossbar compatibility, the final step is to install this roof box. Now the way I do it that I found the easiest way to get this all set up is to install the U-bolt and the top bracket, to leave only one wing nut on top to make sure it's in place. So get the other wing nuts out of the other clamps then we're gonna close this box and get it on there. This is gonna be very light, but you're also gonna have to deal with a large bulky box still. So it is possible to get this onto a roof all by yourself but it'll be a lot easier if you had another person there just to maneuver it onto the crossbars. But see how I left the clamps open. That way I can get it in a general area and then slide the clamp around in order to get it secured. Opening up the box, we're then going at the clamps into place. So if you left the other wing nut loose enough you'll be able to slide that clamp around the other crossbar or the other end of the crossbar and then secure it up top with a wing nut. To get this installed, it is tricky because it's a U-bolt that has to be installed at a very specific spot. So there's three things you can have that can make this a bit easier. The first is to be tall and have a long reach. The second is to have a friend help you out with getting things lined up. So for option number three this is what it's gonna look like. We're gonna have our first two brackets installed with a two wing nuts, so not tightened down but loosely installed just enough where they don't pop off. That way we can just push the rest of the box in towards our crossbars to where they're supposed to get clamped down and then we can get up there and set up those clamps, set up those brackets and get those wing nuts threaded. So as long as they're loosely threaded, you're able to do this maneuver and you're not reaching all the way across to get small U-bolts to fit into some small holes. With everything tightened down, and to tighten down the wing nuts really is just tightening down until fully secure, there's no torque setting like other boxes might have. Then the final step is to load this up with all kinds of cargo, close the lid, make sure it's secure, get the latches on the side and then lock your two locks and now you are ready to drive. And if you are looking at other roof box options especially in the affordable area, something you might wanna compare this to is the Malone Cargo12. That is also gonna be a versatile roof box designed to carry around cargo that is larger. Now on downside to that one is it is a smaller box with 12 cubic feet of storage area versus this which has more storage area, but it also takes up less space and is a bit more low profile. So definitely check that one out here on our website if you want another entry level box worth considering. For an affordable way to carry around a lot of stuff, this was a look at the SportRack SkyLine XL Rooftop Cargo Box here at etrailer.com.