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I'm in need of some roof bars and box for our first family camping trip 🙂 I've been looking at the thule boxes and bars which come in around £600 ish for both. Halfords have 20% off their own brand boxes and bars at the moment and it looks like the package will be around £350, has anyone got some? Are they any good or shoukd I stick to thule?
Edit: Bugger, wrong forum! Sorry.
I have had my 360l exodus box for about 8 years now. It has been trouble free so would recommend. I have been through 3 cars and just had to change bars twice and luckily the foot pack was the same each time, sold the bars to fund the new ones each time. Gets used once or twice a year and beginning to show sits age (scratches due to my poor storage). I would happily get another.
I rented one instead of buying. Much cheaper. Big Thule Atlantis. I did buy the roof bars though.
I have a Halfords own exodus box .... No problems with it after 3 years of use. It's the only box I've had so I can't compare it to the more expensive ones (Thule) but it does the job.
You'll get an additional 10% off if you have BC membership.
When I worked for Halfords (a good 10 years ago, admittedly) the Halfords and Thule packaging all was the same dispatch/origin details on it.
Exodus stuff is fine, I battle with the locking mechanism from time to time but haven't tried the Thule box to compare.
The actual aero bars I have are stamped Thule beneath the exodus branding.
I've had a halfords one for a bout 15 years still going strong after a lot of abuse and being kept outside in all weathers.
I've got an exodus one that's been faultless. I now have a van so am selling it. Give me a shout if you're interested. Think it's 380l.
I bought mine off gumtree years ago. Paid around £60 for the box and £60 bars. Sold the box for what I paid awhile pack. Now selling the bars as the car has long gone
Exodus stuff is fine, I battle with the locking mechanism from time to time but haven't tried the Thule box to compare.
A big exodus box on thule bars here, it's been fine. I regularly curse the locking mechanism though. Would be good to have some catchbolts on the outside of the box. Don't know if the Thule are any different.
Experience of two sets of Halfords bars was they bent under a canoe (so 30-45kg load).
On the other hand, my Thule bars are now 15 years old and still work, with new foot pack each time I change car.
Just got Thule wing bars and box and they're superb. Got the wing bars from treadz for a decent chunk less than Halfords then found a 10% discount code too so they were not much more than Halfords own.
Where abouts are you?
I have a larger size Halfords roof box doing nothing in my garage.. £50 if you are SW Scotland area.
If you go the Halfords route, use Quidco to get cashback. Makes it even cheaper.
Don't know if the Thule are any different.
Was curious about this. Looks like the Thule are better. The KAMEI ones on roofbox.co.uk look better too (like [url= https://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php/car-specific-accessories/kamei_husky_xxl_black_roof_box_left_side_opening_no_km339_0_81339_01_/Qx%40w%2C6M42VAwp3%40Rb%7B~cC4ure5JNf2 ]this one[/url])...
The box is unlocked with a quarter key turn, but locked again just by pulling the box shut. Big deal? Actually, yes. All other central locking systems have a big drawback when it comes to closing the box, because you need to turn the key in the lock at the same time as holding down both the front and the rear of the box – which is a three handed operation if the lid is being held up by bulky gear, or if the base is sagging due to incorrect loading or weakness.
The 3 handed thing ^^^ drives me nuts sometimes with the Exodus box if I'm trying to do it on my own 😡 I'd get one of those before the Exodus if I was buying again. Price about the same too (at least for the ~500 ltr size). Looks like a bit more usable space inside the KAMEI too with the low profile fittings.
Thanks for the advice, looking at the price of just the boxes there doesn't seem to be much difference between the Exodus and Thule. I'd kind of made up my mind to get one of those Kamei ones until I realised the car it's going on has longer than usual spacing between the bars so it won't fit!
I got this with a 10% discount from work:
http://www.halfords.com/motoring/roof-bars-roof-boxes/roof-boxes/thule-motion-xt-sport-roof-box
And these:
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Thule-969-Wing-Bar-127-cm-Roof-Bars_64356.htm
With this:
Using 10% off with this:
http://www.hotukdeals.com/vouchers/tredz.co.uk
The Thule box opens either side and can be shut with one hand then locked. Much better than the Halfords box a friend borrowed.
It depends how much you use it.
I had a Halfords box ages ago and it worked fine the 2-3 times a year it got used. Not as sophisticated as Thule but much cheaper.
I'd pay more for a cycle carrier because its used weekly rather than a few times a year.... (and because it's more expensive if anything goes wrong)
Thule Atlantis incl roof bars and foot pack in the Classifieds here:
Have you got somewhere to store it easily? They are bloody big things to put away.
I have mine on top of the roof of the little structure I built round the side of the house. Had a previous roofbox on top of my shed before that
Using Thule bars but an Exodus roof box. Can't fault revved box at all. Been all over the UK & down to southern France with it on 3 different cars.
Think I've decided on Thule wingbars (thanks for the links and discount codes) and an Exodus box as I'll only be using the box once or twice a year for family holidays. I've got a shed I can store it in so that's not an issue luckily.
Good one. Just check you get the right length bar for your car.
Exactly what I have Bash. The wing bars are expensive but worth it. I've lost the central rubber strip on mine though. One came off on the motorway.