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Topic: Do you remove your roof box at campsite?

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Obzi

01/2/2014 at 8:34pm
Location: Middlesbrough UK.
Outfit: Outwell Vermont XL

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I always take mine off for a few reasons.

Like some above I have Thule roof bars which are brilliant, I leave them still attached and take the entire thing off within a minute, it's so easy.

I also have a Outwell Vermont XL with it's massive porch area, it has loads of space for my roof box and still enough for my Kayak.

The main reason I take it off is I have an X5 which is very high, add on top of that the roof box and I've had problems getting into car parks with height bars on the entrance.

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Obzi

101sal

25/2/2014 at 7:24pm
Location: Cardiff
Outfit: Outwell Tennessee 6 Vango Tigris 800

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Always take mine off and stash it out of site behind the tent. Leave the roof bars on though :-) more options for parking with it off.

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Steve W 77

26/2/2014 at 10:19am
Location: Bedfordshire
Outfit: Sterling Moonstone Kia Sorento KX2

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Quote: Originally posted by Donnod123 on 26/1/2014
Seems I'm a little strange.
I do indeed remove the roof box from the car, it's a multi reason for doing this.
A) I don't have to worry about height restrictions when in an area I don't know ( drive an MPV )
B) saves a bit of fuel
C) I place this outside of the tent, it's fully waterproof and lockable so gives some storage "we can all get at" , all I do is use one or two dog corkscrew ground anchors.

You are not that strange,I always take mine off.

Most car park barriers are 2 metres or less.

Frazzle-

26/2/2014 at 10:58am
Location: Hampshire
Outfit: Outwell Montana 6P tent

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Had roof box kept it on. But only took 3 trips in the car for a week away. We walked the 40 mins with pushchair over the golf course and sand dunes while the surfers took the car (£4 to park).

Obzi

28/2/2014 at 11:29am
Location: Middlesbrough UK.
Outfit: Outwell Vermont XL

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I really fancy a boatbox which is a really good excuse for taking it off, my current box isn't that old but next time around I'm thinking of getting one.

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/boatbox-boat-box-roof-box-p216824

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Obzi

het and ben

28/2/2014 at 2:06pm
Location: Berkshire
Outfit: Elddis advante

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We always take ours off, leaving roof bars on. I then use the topbox to store kids toys and bbq coals etc. That way they stay dry and out of everyone way. I have never had a problem.

moonstone

28/2/2014 at 2:18pm
Location: Greater London
Outfit: Illusion TC 800XL

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we always leave ours on, but we have to pay attention to height restrictions when parking up somewhere...

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bry99

28/3/2015 at 6:08pm
Location: North West England
Outfit: Vango Maritsa 600

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We always used to leave ours on, but now we have a higher car we will not be able to park in height restricted car parks this year, so we may have to consider taking it off and leaving in tent (we do have the advantage of a quick release system where you turn a wheel and it clamps to roofbars) We also use it for all our empty tent bags as I do like a tidy tent.

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lizex

28/3/2015 at 6:15pm
Location: None Entered
Outfit: n+1 tents

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We've taken ours off & put it at the back of the pitch with tent bags etc in it. But this has only been on 2 week trips to France at a site with marked pitches. Not sure I'd risk it in the more random environment of a UK camping field.

NuCampers

17/4/2015 at 1:44pm
Location: Yorkshire
Outfit: Coleman Hawkins 4

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Possibly wrong thread but thought I'd ask.

We recently bought a roofbox from Motor World in the sale for £10 but it doesn't have keys for the locks and doesn't have the u bolts. So we need to try gets the locks sorted - possibly replace them which I understand you can do and we need replacement u bolts - anyone have an idea where we can pick these up from? Any help most appreciated.

We will be getting the Thule bars and fittings shortly.

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27 - 29/05/09 - Woodhouse Farm, Winksley
03/07/10 - Pheasant Inn, Leyburn

Kuppenbender

17/4/2015 at 5:08pm
Location: Staines-upon-Thames
Outfit: Vango Cayman 500

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NuCampers, are there numbers around the front of the locks? If so, these are the code numbers and keys can be ordered for them. Try local locksmiths or ebay.

Halfords sell replacement U bolts, but they're more expensive than your box.

NuCampers

20/4/2015 at 8:40am
Location: Yorkshire
Outfit: Coleman Hawkins 4

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Quote: Originally posted by Kuppenbender on 17/4/2015
NuCampers, are there numbers around the front of the locks? If so, these are the code numbers and keys can be ordered for them. Try local locksmiths or ebay.

Halfords sell replacement U bolts, but they're more expensive than your box.

Checked at the weekend and no numbers unfortunately. Think we'll try a local locksmith. Cheers.

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27 - 29/05/09 - Woodhouse Farm, Winksley
03/07/10 - Pheasant Inn, Leyburn

Stackman

26/4/2015 at 11:04am
Location: North Dorset
Outfit: Eurohike Buckingham 6 Classic

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I am a remover.

It's a 2 minute job to unscrew the roof bars and then lift the box off and place it behind the tent. It then makes a handy storage space for the bags and covers from the various chairs, tables cupboard etc.

We can then spend the week driving round without looking like tourists and putting up with the wind whistle, fuel penalty and car park anxiety.

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I can remember when this was all fields.

Francais

26/4/2015 at 11:53am
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I must admit leaving the RoofBox on was a bit of a pain last July for our fortnight at Frejus.

Many of the open air car parks had a 1.8m Height Barrier, even though at 1.97m for the car with RoofBox, we mostly got into the car parks, but there was a couple of underground car parks were I did not want to risk it.

So this year the RoofBox will be comming of when we get to the campsite.

floppy-poppy

26/4/2015 at 11:46pm
Location: notts
Outfit: Outwell Oakland xl & Bear Lake6

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We've travelled all over France and England and have never thought of taking the roof box off? Only when it comes to parking do we have to watch for height restrictions, but never really a problem. Unless you're travelling thousands of miles, fuel consumption is fairly insignificant.

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