Thule Cargo Carriers - Any luck?

[jfberlinger]

Hope all is well!

My buddy will be letting me use his Atlantis 1800 cargo carrier for my annual Thanksgiving rummage to the mountains of NC and was wondering if anyone has put one on their EX? The box looks pretty big and appears it will hang over the windshield and cause some air flow issues. The box disappears on my buddy's Envoy and Thule shows pics of it on an Outback.

Any feedback on this carrier or any other rooftop carrier, including pics, would be appreciated!

Thanks and enjoy the ride!

Jim

'08 EX - 50K!!!!

[txgcoupe]

air flow issues

I think just about anything you put on top will cause this.

John

[sashki2]

Worry about the weight, not the look. The OEM cross bars rated pretty bad - if I remember right, only 100lb. My box usually weighs way more then that so I bought Thule cross bars ratted 200lb or 250lb (again, don't remember).
I haven't tried my box with EX yet, only with my previous Subaru LGT. Expect fuel economy with the box to be worse and you'll probably hear more wind noises but nothing dramatic should be happening. When you put the box on top, slide it forward until the back of the box doesn't touch the open trunk door. Otherwise, no matter how careful you're, you going to have little scratched spots on the door. If it doesn't go forward far enough, I'd put a piece of masking tape on the hatch door to prevent scratches. Color it with marker to match your car color if you're worry about the look or let your kids color it with drawings

[Obsidian EX]

I've got the same box on mine. It substantially increases cargo capacity, and is easily removable. The only problem is storing this sucker in your garage, as it takes up a ton of space!

Wind noice wasn't too bad, especially if you close the liner on the sunroof. After a 2000 km trip I didn't notice that big a reduction in fuel economy, and it's a small price to pay for an increase in cargo space.

I know that this may sound obvious, but don't forget about the decreased overhead space. My wife did, and we now have a nicely scratched (and patched) cargo box!

I will post a picture this evening, as I don't have one on this computer. It actually looks pretty decent.

Cheers.

[sashki2]

I've got this thing to store the box and find it was money well spent.

[Obsidian EX]

Here's a picture. Note that I have aftermarket cross bars, and these are set as far forward as possible. If you have the Infiniti bars, this may not be possible.

Hope that this helps.

@ sashki2, I actually built something fairly similar to your suggestion, as I wasn't going to spend $100+ for rope and pulleys!

[sashki2]

An Ex could be any color as long as the color is black

What is of graphite color on your car?

[EXceptional]

Obsidian EX >>> looks like somebody got their PHOTOBUCKET Account going !

Good Job !!!

Now that you got your PHOTOBUCKET thing going, take some pictures of your home-made Pulley system and post them.

I think what is cool about the Thule system... is how all the Ropes converge to a central-Bar and then go over to a Gear-box and down a Crank Rod.

[EXceptional]

I went searching for old Threads on this subject and all I could find that had any substance to it, was this one >>> post4192990.html

[Obsidian EX]

An Ex could be any color as long as the color is black

What is of graphite color on your car?

Yeah, the black is awesome, as long as it isn't dirty (which is often).

The graphite is the colour of the leather, which in most books is black! The other graphite element could be the bottom trim, which in the picture hasn't been Armour Alled (two kids under the age of 3 make quality time with the car pretty hard).

Cheers!

[sashki2]

mine was just like yours until I installed what infiniti calls aerodynamic kit. Well, I stand corrected, my box is different

[EliB]

An Ex could be any color as long as the color is black
Yeah, the black is awesome, as long as it isn't dirty (which is often).

Hah! That's the truth. I just got an EX in Black Obsidian. In just two weeks it has already been washed twice by the dealer, and twice by me. It almost pained me to get on the road in the rain this morning! (before you ask if I'm being anal, that's the dealer's prep wash, a do-over for water spots and adhesive streaks, and two quick washes by me to get the pollen off before showing it to friends and family).

Your carrier and rack setup looks sweet. I have been assuming we would continue to take the minivan on long drives, but now I have something else to consider.

-Eli

[WinterSkibum]

Question for Obsidian EX...

Nice setup btw ! I'm considering having the same setup to carry my skies but I have some questions before I go for it !

Your box... Is it the Atlantis 1200 ?
Did you have to remove the antenna ?
Are you able to open the tailgate without touching the box ?

Thanks !

[Obsidian EX]

Question for Obsidian EX...

Nice setup btw ! I'm considering having the same setup to carry my skies but I have some questions before I go for it !

Your box... Is it the Atlantis 1200 ?
Did you have to remove the antenna ?
Are you able to open the tailgate without touching the box ?

Thanks !

Thanks. I'm very happy with the setup, and it increases cargo capacity considerably!

The box is the Atlantis 1800 XT. It should carry skis, and that is the plan for future cargo (once the kids are older).
I thought I would have to remove the antenna, but there is enough flex in it to bend downwards and not be permanently deformed. I'm actually thinking of getting the aftermarket shark's fin antenna (there is a link somewhere on this site), but it is not absolutely necessary.

Yes, I can open the rear gate entirely without it touching the box. This does require that the crossbars are as far forward as possible, but it works.

Let me know if you have any other questions. Cheers!

[sashki2]

The box is the Atlantis 1800 XT. It should carry skis, and that is the plan for future cargo (once the kids are older).

Once the kids get older they won't fit into Atlantis anymore -

[Obsidian EX]

The box is the Atlantis 1800 XT. It should carry skis, and that is the plan for future cargo (once the kids are older).

Once the kids get older they won't fit into Atlantis anymore -

You weren't supposed to tell anyone! It's so much quiter when they ride up there!

[sashki2]

I know! I've heard there's a bigger one for wives too

[jfberlinger]

Was also definitely concerned about the weight and know the stock cross-bars are only rated for 100 pounds. Definitely need to get the Thule bars.

Thanks to all for your replies. I will let you all know how the EX does in the mountains on I-81.

Sorry for the delay in responding.

BTW, anyone having worse luck with rotors? Had to replace the front pair at 40 and the rears at 50. Now, I realize I put a lot of New England miles on my EX but thought I would get 70+.

Thanks!
Jim

[Mandragora]

I wanted to write to provide some information I've been hunting all over for without much luck, and I'll try to put it all in one place.

The Infiniti EX crossbars are spaced 19 inches apart.
They are fixed in place and cannot be adjusted.
They are rated for 100 pounds.

Having spoken directly to Yakima, Thule, an Infiniti parts specialist, and several local cargo retailers, I can now say for certain that there is no hard cargo box on the market now (July 2012) that will work on the Infiniti EX OEM crossbars. You can theoretically modify the boxes (e.g., drill your own holes) but the Yakima rep told me that there is a high risk of the wind tearing the box off your car, with the second crossbar acting as a fulcrum and the first under too much pressure. And since you've modded the box, you've voided all warranties.

So, if you have OEM crossbars, these are your options:

* Soft-top cargo bag
* A Thule or Yakima cargo basket (only their smaller sizes; the full sized baskets still won't fit)
* Remove your OEM crossbars, spend ~$400-500 on Thule or Yakima crossbar systems, and then add a hard cargo box

In the words of a local retailer, when told about the 19 inch spread, he said, "I don't know what Infiniti was thinking." So there you go.

[sashki2]

My $130 shorter box (xCargo) works just fine with Thule cross bars. I've been carrying over 15 cubic feet of really heavy staff there for camping with no issues.