Rocket Box Reviews

[Blue Streak]

They really are.

First one I saw was the monster size, on a full sized truck driven by a ski rep. It held a couple dozen pairs of skis.

We have had two of the 90 size. On a variety of SUV's and wagons. Bought them in black, removed the decals. Looks very clean.

They hold any sized ski, and plenty of them. I've used them to carry all sorts of gear in off seasons.

Big initial investment. Worth it, IME.

Unless I am missing something, they aren't that much more than a Thule.
The SYSTEM 60LP is $1,099, while a Thule Motion XT Alpine is $779.
OK, it's more, but we aren't talking Bentleys and Hundais here.
If I had a nice, luxury ride, I would be all in.
But I drive a Subaru, so I am probably in for a Yakima or a Thule.

 

[Blue Streak]

Although, it looks like the choices are very limited, because most of the longer boxes interfere with the rear hatch gate operations. It's like looking at a Chineses menu to which you are allergic to all but one or two entrees.

 

[tball]

Whatever brand you get, I'd suggest buying a low profile box so you can park in a garage without worrying about clearance. With a Yakima Lopro we can drive our MDX into parking structures, drive-thrus, pretty much wherever without worry. If we bought a taller box, I'm pretty sure we'd be on #2 by now because we hit something. Boxes tend to outlive vehicles, so consider you may have a taller vehicle than your Outback down the road.

 

[coskigirl]

Although, it looks like the choices are very limited, because most of the longer boxes interfere with the rear hatch gate operations. It's like looking at a Chineses menu to which you are allergic to all but one or two entrees.

@Monique just went through this I think.

 

[Monique]

@Monique just went through this I think.

I did, although I was more concerned with finding a low-profile box than a short one - needed to be able to get into our garage as well as a work parking garage that's several inches lower (sigh). And I wanted a Thule because I really like the Thule hitch bike rack, and didn't want two sets of keys again. So I didn't cast my net very wide. We ended up with a Thule Motion XT Alpine, which can fit my husband's powder skis with room to spare. We thought we'd need to limit the height of the Outback hatch when it opens (which fortunately is programmable), but the box could go forward enough that there wasn't an issue.

But the crossbars on our 2008 Outback couldn't be moved forward far enough, so on that car we had to get a short box.

 

[Blue Streak]

I did, although I was more concerned with finding a low-profile box than a short one - needed to be able to get into our garage as well as a work parking garage that's several inches lower (sigh). And I wanted a Thule because I really like the Thule hitch bike rack, and didn't want two sets of keys again. So I didn't cast my net very wide. We ended up with a Thule Motion XT Alpine, which can fit my husband's powder skis with room to spare. We thought we'd need to limit the height of the Outback hatch when it opens (which fortunately is programmable), but the box could go forward enough that there wasn't an issue.

But the crossbars on our 2008 Outback couldn't be moved forward far enough, so on that car we had to get a short box.

Yeah. It looks like the Yakima Rocket Box Pro 11 will be only one that will work.

 

[cantunamunch]

Although, it looks like the choices are very limited, because most of the longer boxes interfere with the rear hatch gate operations. It's like looking at a Chineses menu to which you are allergic to all but one or two entrees.

We had to be careful with our Thule on the VW but it was doable - the hatch opened 3/4 of the way.

One problem with moving the box very far forward is that you wind up catching windscreen air with the bottom of the box. The whole assembly becomes a very effective windcatcher/parachute, especially with boxes where the front floor is lower than the rear floor. Yes we had this problem too. You may remember me asking about the grab claw depth in a thread on here about 2 years ago - I wound up making 15mm pipe standoffs to tilt the box nose down. Just a piece of sectioned PVC pipe and pipe insulation that fit under the rear claw - but it gave us 2"+ of hatch opening distance and eased the nose problem a bit.

EDIT: one reliable telltale of how much air your box is catching is to look at the dirt/salt/grit trapped behind the air dam. Reliable because you can actually compare the effects of aero changes instead of just relying on feel.

 

[Blue Streak]

I haven't bought a box yet, and I have to say that my skis (and they are all 185-190) fit just fine in the back of the Outback, and my experience - so far - has been so good that I am having second thoughts about buying a box.
Disabuse me of that notion, if you will.

 

[Monique]

I haven't bought a box yet, and I have to say that my skis (and they are all 185-190) fit just fine in the back of the Outback, and my experience - so far - has been so good that I am having second thoughts about buying a box.
Disabuse me of that notion, if you will.

Do you have dogs and another person in the car along with clothing, cooler, etc for the weekend?

 

[Blue Streak]

Do you have dogs and another person in the car along with clothing, cooler, etc for the weekend?

Nope
But I never travel without an emergency case of Blantons, if that makes a difference.

 

[Monique]

Nope
But I never travel without an emergency case of Blantons, if that makes a difference.

Well, if you had to haul all of that, you might want the roof box.

I don't know how much bubble wrap you use to protect your Blantons.

 

[cantunamunch]

Well, if you had to haul all of that, you might want the roof box.

I don't know how much bubble wrap you use to protect your Blantons.

Maybe he goes old school, sawdust and pine

 

[Blue Streak]

Well, if you had to haul all of that, you might want the roof box.

I don't know how much bubble wrap you use to protect your Blantons.

Each member of the Swedish Bikini Team holds two bottles.

 

[Ken_R]

I just got a INNO box for my Forester. Needed a low profile box mainly to hold 2-3 pairs of skis and other stuff. I measured how much space I had over the subbie on the entrance of the garage and the INNO was the best solution (along with the thule low profile crossbars). I woulve had gotten a taller one if I had more space obviously. But this one looks great and makes no noise while cruising.

It looks really really good and the locking mechanism is really nice and smooth from either side. My 190cm skis fit no problem.

http://usa.innoracks.com/product/wedge-660/

 

[Blue Streak]

I just got a INNO box for my Forester. Needed a low profile box mainly to hold 2-3 pairs of skis and other stuff. I measured how much space I had over the subbie on the entrance of the garage and the INNO was the best solution (along with the thule low profile crossbars). I woulve had gotten a taller one if I had more space obviously. But this one looks great and makes no noise while cruising.

It looks really really good and the locking mechanism is really nice and smooth from either side. My 190cm skis fit no problem.

http://usa.innoracks.com/product/wedge-660/

View attachment 34763

Like the low profile.

 

[Philpug]

There are some good Lo-pro designs from Inno and Rhino Racks.

 

[coskigirl]

I think @SkiNurse has an Inno box so she can probably speak to the durability/use over time.

 

[Slim]

Unless that have changed recently, Yakima uses round cross bars, Thule square bars. The round shape is stronger and allows changing the mounting angles of accessories especially on a sloped roof line.

I used to have a huge Yakima box that could hold a dozen pair of skis. I used to joke that it was big enough to camp in or get buried in and cheaper than a coffin.

But this is a thread about boxes, or cross bars. All boxes fit all bars, factory and aftermarket.

On a different point:
If you are looking at used, just make sure to get a model that’s new enough to have the interior quick clamp, vs old style bolt in, and that it has the “push to click to latch shut” rather than having to turn the key to slide the latching bar like the old Yakima’s. That leads to broken keys.

 

[cantunamunch]

But this is a thread about boxes, or cross bars. All boxes fit all bars, factory and aftermarket.
If you are looking at used, just make sure to get a model that’s new enough to have the interior quick clamp, vs old style bolt in, and that it has the “push to click to latch shut” rather than having to turn the key to slide the latching bar like the old Yakima’s. That leads to broken keys.

Can happen even with new latching boxes if the boxes are long and flexy - one of the engagement keys just misses going deep enough in the slot and the friction from the others doesn't let it go deeper. Happens more with budget long, flexy, ABS boxes than with premium, rigid fiberglass ones but it happens.

 

[Slim]

I have a 12cft Yakima, box, about 11 years old? It’s not at all low profile, but on my Impreza, with round crossbars, it’s still under 7 feet tall and fits in my garage (pretty low hanging door). It fills in every parking ramp I have ever tried.

On my minivan it doesn’t, so a low profile box might have been better, although then you have to go either wider or lose volume, always trade offs.
Even on there I have been fine in parking ramps, I think it was right around 7’ tall.