Hello fellow expy owners,

It's summer time and I will be driving down to the beach almost everyweekend. I have a 99 XLT with the third seat option. I was wondering if anyone has a cheapo but secure and waterproof roof rack luggage holder? I have six people in the truck so the third seat will be used. As everyone knows, if you use the third seat then there's hardly any room for luggage unless one goes to the roof. I was thinking of a waterproof nylon (maybe) bag which can hold smaller loose luggage with a zipper and to tie it down with a bungee cord.

Anyone have any ideas? I don't want to spend money on the Yakimas or the Thules, I've spent enough money on other things.

Dan

 

There are lots of inexpensive roof bags out there. anywhere from $40 to $100. I have a kanga roof pouch that I've had for years and it worked great on my cherokee(previous suv) good waterproofing unless your driving real long distances in the pouring rain, if so put your luggage in trash bags before you load it in. I'm with you about spending you money on other stuff, but if you have never drove your xpy with a carrier on top your in for a rude awakening. if you think the mpg sucks now wait till you throw a bunch of luggage on the roof. aside from the anoying wind drag it creates, unless your 7' tall or pack you ladder with you it is a miserable experience loading an unloading stuff up there.
take a look at www.stowaway2.com I bought the swing away one about a year ago. I didn't want to spend the money on it at first. but now that I see how much use I get out of it , I think it was one of the best investments I made for my expy.

 

Thanks, I'll look into that.

Safe driving,
Dan

 

In addition, if you look at your owners manual, it says not to exceed 200 lbs if using the crossbars or 100 lbs if placing the cargo directly on the roof. PepBoys and Kragen both have decent roof mounted carriers for around $100.00.

The swing away ones are a nice, attractive option, but the price of $400.00 - $500.00 is not.

FYI

 

Thanks for the info...you know I've always wondered about the weight limit one can safely and evenly distribute on the roof. Maybe an engineer said that; I mean, isn't the roof supposed to support the vehicle, somehow, when it lands upside down? One can only think of the passengers if the roof totally collapses....OUCH!!

Anyhow, thanks for all the replies My younger brother just handed me a nylon mesh they use on Humvees in the Army and it's even the same color as my truck I'll probably end up using a tarp to cover the luggages (evenly distributed and not exceeding suggested weight limit on the roof) and cover with/hold it down with the nylon mesh. That should turn a few heads on the highway

Safe driving to all,
Dan

 

On my recent trip to Virginia on the 5th annual Xpedition Expedition, the wonderful folks from Ford were there & I won a SportRack cargo holder, it rocks, it holds lots of stuff, its aerodynamic, I didn't notice ANY change in gas milage AT ALL, it's waterproof, it's easy to get into, & it's a snap to put on & take off, the only thing I can't tell you is the price, since I won it....But I am sure it would be a great investment!! Happy travelin'!!

 

Hi, I have stowed various items on my Expy over the years and I'll tell you that if you can afford it, do not buy cheap stuff. Now I have a cheap luggage box, but I had to reinforce the bottom by putting a piece of chipboard under this box for a trip the the Rockies last August. I do not use the Expy rack bars; we have Thule bars that use the custom feet that fit in the Expy roof rails. This system holds much more weight the the OEM bars. But if I could afford it I would buy a Thule box, it will not bent or flex on the cross bars because the plastic is too soft. My cheap box is made of thin plastic. Good luck. I've carried windsurfing equipment on my roof using Thule bars too. When I had 3 windsurfing boards and associated gear stacked on the roof, I lost about 2 mpg (i.e., 16 mpg highway).

 

I just got back from a road trip (1000 mi.), I averaged 17mpg traveled up to Yosemite, Tahoe and back. I bought a Sportrack from Kragen for $100.00, lots of room, aerodynamic and water-resistant. Attaching it is a pain in the ****, taking it off is easier.

 

Do you still have the factory cross bars and feet? I have a post on here about trying to use feet from an Expedition rack and the cross bar from my Excursion to cure the low profile roof scratching original roof rack system that came on the Excursion. The shape of the cross bars I am tryign to use with Expedition feet is flat on top and bottom. Below are my latest findings in this endeavor. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

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Took a look at a neighbor's '99 Expedition and the track and foot configuration appears that the feet would be compatible with the track on the Excursion, but the profile of the crossbars on the Expedition are more rounded than the relatively flat cross bars from the Excursion. Maybe other model years of Espeditions have a flatter profile? Any Expedition owner's out there with a description of their cross bars? The cross bars on the '99 Expedition were curved on both the top and the bottom.
--

 

I still have them.

 

Could you describe the feet or possibly post a picture of them? I am trying to determine if they'll work with my tracks on the Excursion and the bars being interchangeable with my bars. My bars come apart from the feet with a couple star bit screws. How high do those factory feet raise the bar above the roof line? As I said above my cross bars are flat on the top and bottom. Thanks again.

 

I hate to be a poop about this, but I don't have a digital camera, and don't know where the racks are right now. I just know I have them. Sorry.