Roof box, towbar box or car trailer?

Tigerandahalf

I need to get one of the above to take extra luggage for trips, holidays and possibly to go camping.
The roof boxes seem to be small enough but a lot of people seem to use them.
I have a towbar on the car and I normally use it to carry my bikes.
I have been thinking of a car trailer but are these ok going on a ferry?
Something like a 6 × 4 trailer with mesh sides and possibly a tarpaulin cover on top and down the mesh sides. It would store the bikes and luggage etc plus would also be handy for moving stuff.

Has anyone done the same. I am thinking I could get a new one for in and around 1/1200 eur.

Losty Dublin

Two things to be careful of with trailers.

• Check your car insurance and if they will insure a trailer or not (Surmountable, either by adding on the cover to haul a trailer to your policy or moving insurer if needs be.).
• Have you have the applicable driving licence to tow certain types of trailer (Surmountable by sitting a driving test for a BE Licence.). Class BE relates to large trailers between 750KG and 3,500KG. If it is a smaller trailer then you should be fine; just check on the trailer that it's MAM (Maximum Authorised Mass) is less than 750KG.

Roof boxes are grand once they are fitted correctly to your car. Many of them tend to be limited to about 70KG so be sensible about what you put into them. Their big downside is that they add a lot of drag to cars. This will affect your MPG considerably, more so if your car is more modestly sized or engined.

axe2grind

Speed limit with a trailer 80kmh/50mph

LordSutch

Definitely go for a roof box, that way you can still drive relatively fast and stay in the fast lane!
(This helps on a long journey through Britain or the continent).

Driving with a trailer not only means that you have to drive much slower, but you must also steer clear of the outside lane of a three lane motorway! Reversing is a pain too + you have to get a towbar fitted.

Stick with the box, its s lot less hassle.

my3cents

A trailer is much easier to hitch up than a roof box is to fit and take off.

6 x 4 is quite a large trailer. I have a Erde 143.2 Trailer which is only 144cm x 99cm and will carry half a tonne. Recently had exactly 400Kg in it and it towed very well. I've had bigger trailers but find the Erde much more useful because its very easy to handle. Storage is a dream as I can put it in a garage and its designed to store up on its end, the lights are recessed so don't get damaged when up ended (one man job).

For anyone getting one from Halfords keep an eye out for their sales I got mine this year with 18% discount. Also don't let them put it together for you its a kit (I took home with a VW polo with a roof rack) because they charge a lot extra for the simple job of assembly.

Any questions on that specific trailer then just ask?

ThisRegard

Depends on the roof box. I have a Halfords one which uses the same fitting system as Thule and I have it on and off within a few minutes, no tools needed.

Losty Dublin

LordSutch wrote: »

Definitely go for a roof box, that way you can still drive relatively fast and stay in the fast lane!
(This helps on a long journey through Britain or the continent).

A roof box will slow down or increase fuel consumption of any car via air drag. Driving in a fast lane isn't likely to be an option with one on your car.

LordSutch wrote: »

Driving with a trailer not only means that you have to drive much slower, but you must also steer clear of the outside lane of a three lane motorway!

Any motorist must steer clear of the outside lane in general, it being used for overtaking

In essence a roof box is out if you have a lot to bring based on their low capacity limits but yes they are more practical than trailers.

ThisRegard

Losty Dublin wrote: »

A roof box will slow down or increase fuel consumption of any car via air drag. Driving in a fast lane isn't likely to be an option with one on your car.
.

I don't know either what kind of car, or what size of roof box, you have in mind but there's no issues with driving in the outside lane when required.

my3cents

Roof box is fine if you limit the size of what you are carrying to the size of the roof box but with a trailer which is likely to be bigger to start with it doesn't matter if you have items with are too big to fit in exactly.

I would have thought the choice was quite easy, up to ~ 70Kg carried and no over sized items then roof box all the way. Over 70Kg carried and odd shaped stuff then its got to be a trailer.

I've even seen roof rack bars on a trailer with a roof box on them. Handy for camping as you can keep all the clothes in the roof box and bulky tent and camping stuff in the trailer.

Losty Dublin

ThisRegard wrote: »

I don't know either what kind of car, or what size of roof box, you have in mind but there's no issues with driving in the outside lane when required.

Nothing illegal about it, no. Just that you will find that your car performance is not as good with a roof box on as without and that your overtaking chances will be less common, particularly if the vehicle is smaller or lower powered.

LordSutch

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Nothing illegal about it, no. Just that you will find that your car performance is not as good with a roof box on as without and that your overtaking chances will be less common, particularly if the vehicle is smaller or lower powered.

As a (summer hols) roof box driver for several years now, I think my thoughts in post#4 still stand.

We jave toyed with the idea of a trailer for summer break, but we still just can't see the logic of spending hundreds on getting a tow bar fitted, then paying two or three hundred in top of that for the trailer (just for a short break) + see related comments in post#4.

Yes to a trailer if you're going to use it quite a bit, and if you have somewhere to store it!

PS; the roof box doesn't really have a big impact on our travel time, yes our top speed is reduced somewhat, but we can still overtake in the outside (third lane) and we can park in carparks and reverse as normal > towing a trailer is a different proposition is it not . . .

my3cents

You'd be lucky to get anything other than a very small trailer for €300. It is an investment. If you can put the tow bar on yourself and do the electrics then for many cars you can do the job for €150-€200.