Thule SideKick Rooftop Cargo Box

We bought the Thule sidekick carrier because I was tired of not being able to see out my back windshield since our family way overpacks for vacation! This did the trick. We were able to fit 4 bags, beach towels, and two camp chairs in the carrier. The carrier remained secure on two separate 650 mile+ trips. The lock stayed locked and everything inside remained dry despite driving through a couple of strong rainstorms. It’s sturdy, but light enough that one person can lift it and secure it to the car rooftop. We’re very pleased with this purchase and plan to use it for a long time.

Like it was crafted by the Time Lord Dr. Who himself this box is spacious for how narrow it's footprint on the rack is. I have a MINI Cooper and space in the car for camping and road trips tends to be limited, especially when my dog and an additional friend come in to the mix. On my Thule rack I am able to fit this box in the center with a bike bar on each side. Now I may be writing this review a tad too early as i haven't taken it on a long road trip yet but i can say that i was able to fit my golf clubs and camping gear(Tent, Pads, Tarps, Cookset, Sleeping Bag, backpack, doggy duffle) all in to this box without effort. This allows me to stow the cooler and a few bundles of firewood in the boot and still have room for the pooch to lay down and sleep during the drive.Delivery was extremely quick as I ordered this box late afternoon with Prime and it was at my door in Chicago the next day. Seriously I don't think I could even get food delivered from places that fast... OK OK I probably can but you get my point.Assembly was a bit of concern as I read some reviews from people complaining about confusing instructions and parts missing. I ripped open the box like a kid on Christmas morning and was relieved to discover that all the necessary pieces to assemble this box were there. As for the assembling of the box itself, i have no idea what the people who had problems are talking about. I had the whole thing put together single-handed within 30 minutes. If you've assembled Ikea furniture before you can put this box together blind-folded. If you can tie your shoes and figure out that maze to the crunch berry bush on the back of the cereal box, you show signs of having enough intelligence to put this thing together as well.I'll update this review when I put this box through its paces and give it the true test of moving across the country with all my worldly possessions inside it.

I bought this with some skepticism, having read other reviews that gave it low marks, and also having bought Thule products in the past and cursed them as I tried assembling and installing them, what with missing pieces and the like.Happily, this box is fine. It does seem flimsy when you're assembling it, and it even seems that way when it's open on top of the car. It seems to be engineered to be as light as possible, which it is, and that can be unnerving until you get it fastened down and locked closed.Assembly: It's awkward. It took two of us, me and my 2 year old! Seriously. It's a bit hairy for one person to get it right, since you have to match the hinges with the sides of the "clam shell", and their fit doesn't seem quite right until you tighten them up well. Still, it went OK, about 20 minutes for me to do, far better than a Thule roof racks I installed some years back, where I was dealing with bent and missing parts. If you do this alone, you need to brace it well at an angle as you hook the top and bottom together. Much easier with two people.Installation: Dead easy on the factory roof rack. (We have a Pontiac Aztek.) THERE IS NO NEED TO BUY ADDITIONAL BRACKETS, though when viewing ads for this, you might think so at first glance. The package includes 4 U-brackets which attach to your roof racks and are held inside by hand-swivel bolts (whatever they're called). One thing I added while doing the installation was to put duct tape over the inside holes for the U-brackets. There are several holes in each sequence, and you only use two out of 4 or 5; the others are exposed. Covering with tape might help keep spray out.Performance: Pretty good! We drove 2300 miles with this unit, of which about 300 were in driving rain. During the worst rain, we did have dampness and some droplets of water at the bottom front inside, but the gear was sitting up on ridges and was fine - bag in front was damp but not wet. If you have cloth bags that press to the very bottom, I'd put them in plastic if you'll be hitting heavy rain (and ours was VERY heavy, and at 70 mph driving speed).We noticed an increase in wind noise at high speeds, and in our rough tests, it knocked about 2 mpg off our gas mileage at 75 mph, but on a 50 mph stretch of several hundred miles we couldn't tell a difference.Removal takes literally five minutes. You undo (by hand) four pairs of swivel bolts, and lift it right off the roof. Reinstallation is about the same.Overall, we're extremely happy with it and very glad we bought it.