I'm looking at a product, the Roofbag, to carry stuff on the top of my '06 xB. I would prefer not to have to put the tiedown straps through the car, but use the hooks to secure the bag. To determine if I can use the hooks the Website says to look for:

Top of door frame needs to have ½” ridge to receive the door hooks (70% of cars have this ridge). Additional info...

Open the car’s front doors and look for a ½”-high x ½”-thick hard ridge or lip sticking down from the top of the door frame. The ridge may be covered with an easy-to-dislodge plastic molding or rubber seal. Place the door hook with the short strap on the hard ridge. The hook should stay put when pulling upward on the strap. Close the door. The strap should exit between the door and the frame, but the hook should stay between the door and the frame, invisible from the outside.


Do our cars have this ridge? I don't REALLY know what to look for. I see a bump but I don't know if that's what they are talking about or not.

Here is the URL if you wanted to look at the information.

http://roofbag.com/InstallExplorerDoorhooks.asp

If I CAN'T use the hooks... do you think the bag with the longs straps through the car would work? I'm concerned that it might leak in the car if it rained... because of water wicking through the webbing.


Thanks for the help guys!

Thanks for the help.

 

They are talking about hooking the straps to the edges of the roof in the top of the door openings. They may or may not stay (I am not sure). They may or may not damage the edge of the roof as well.

 

The other consideration for this kind of cargo carrier is that it will TRASH your roof. Road grit, dirt, etc, will get between the bag and your roof and act like sandpaper all the way to your destination. It will destroy your paint.

My suggestion would be to go with a Yakima / Thule setup with a basket or box. While a more expensive solution, it gives you tons of versatility over a simple bag and will not mess up your paint. Check craigslist and ebay for used rack systems if budget is a concern.

Thanks

 

They did mention the problem of the paint on top of the roof. So to elevate this problem they have a mat that I was going to get. It keeps the bag from touching the roof and keeps it from moving around. You don't think that would be enough?

Yes, the cost of the Racks/Basket or box is too much for me.

 

I had a roof bag on a Civic once, no mat, it destroyed the roof.
Besides a billion light scratches, the roof itself collapsed inward on one road trip, with just some clothes and normal items in it..
never again.