Hi guys, this is my first post so please forgive me if it's in the wrong forum.

I drive a 2002 XTerra LE.

I'm looking to buy a cargo box (one of those horrible aerodynamic plastic boxes that I never thought I'd need until I had a kid...). The dealer tells me I need to buy a crossbar kit to mount it on, but the rack dealer disagrees.

Apparently in older model X's, the plastic fittings attaching the crossbars to the main factory racks were pretty weak but the rack dealer says the 2002 and newer doesn't have that problem. Again, the dealer disagrees.

Anyway, does anybody have any experience mounting a cargo box on the factory crossbars? Spending $500 or so on a cargo box is going to be hard enough, I'd rather not spend $250+ on crossbars when I already have some that look strong enough to me (those are Canadian prices btw).

To be honest, it floored me when the Nissan dealer told me I'd need crossbars. I thought my X had useful roof racks. If they're just decorative then I'm kinda pissed

Duh, XE not LE.

I have an '02 and the Nissan aero black box. I've had it fully loaded when mounted to the factory bars; cross country and even up to 75 on the interstates.

In my book, the stock crossbars are quite strong. My nissan dealer, as well as my rack dealer wanted me to double rack when it came to loading bikes.
Needless to say (with some help from other owners) I've been carrying my bikes, as well as at times a home modified bin on my stock "weak" 2000 bars.
Other owners have been able to carry larger bins with the use of U-bolts or rak dealer mightymounts. I'm sure they will chime in with more suggestions

I have an '01 and attach a Yakima RocketBox to the stock bars with mighty mounts. I've loaded it up for camping and driven to Taos and back. Also loaded up for a week of Christmas with the family. Drove it to Ohio and back to Denver. I've also had a couple of kayaks up there on multiple occasions. Never had any problems.

How are the brackets make to attach it to the roof rack? Is it with large u-bolts that go around the large crossbar? I have a similar box as yours, but was attached to a Thule on my previous vehicle with small u-bolts. Was thinking on getting large u-bolts, the one with 2 90degree bends instead of a smooth curve and put wings nuts inside the box.

There are flat powdercoated pieces of steel above and below the bar (foam in between) and square head bolts that go through them.

The braket that attaches the crossbar to the rail is the weakest point. But it's still strong enough for a cargo box loaded to the limit.

I actually broke one of the braket by attempting to drive into a garage with a couple kayaks on the rack. The kayaks were fine, the straps never moved, but the braket split and slide all the way back on the rail.

Yakima's X-Tower is much stronger. However if you drive under a solid overhang, something is going to break. In your case, even with stock crossbars, I bet the box will break first since the plastic is very thin. My kayaks are pretty tough and I bet if I ever do that again now with the X-Tower, something truly horrible will happen like ripping the rail mounts out of the roof.

Jim

A picture is worth a thousand words. I wasn't expecting something like that, but that setup looks great. My box did not come with brackets like that, but that's easy to fabricate. I think I will try to find bolts that are the same size as my wing nuts I have now, weld those bolts to the plate that will go underneat the crossbar, that way, I won't have to hold them and then another drilled plate for inside as a washer.

Thanks for the pic.

Don't know how I missed this post before. I had brackets similar to that taking a Thule cargo box from San Jose, CA to Huntsville, AL. Never had a problem. The bugs in the midwest got coated on there like new paint, some of them STILL haven't come off, but other than that, no complaints. You couldn't get any locking brackets for your box? Those were helpful on the Thule because I didn't have to worry about someone taking the whole box off the truck.

I also bumped into one of those "overhead" clearance signs at a Carls Jr drive-thru, but luckily nothing happened to the brackets or my roof rack...just a bubble in the plastic. Good luck!

I've got a Yakima load warrior basket with the center extension and wondered how secure it would be under load. Last week I had a buddy at his bike shop call yakima and found that I could order extra brakets with an off-the-chart part number. (The brackets for the basket look pretty strong.)

I'm going to order an extra xterra factory crossbar and use the yak brackets to create a third support bar, like i did with my old yak system that carried a full complement of racing bikes and wheels a few years ago.

I think that adding a third piece up there will help alot. If this works out, it'll look very factory. Maybe you could piece together a similar setup to add extra support to your cargo carrier.

Hope this helps.

The may mine was hooked up on my Thule rack on my previous car, and the way I plan to set it on the X, the wing nuts holding the box are inside the box and all that is outside will be a homemade bracket similar to the one shown with no moving parts. In other words, the box has to be openned to be removed.

Well after reading this and talking to the rack dealer I decided that additional racks were WAY overkill and just stuck a Thule box on the stock racks. I think unless I drive in a hurricane (or into a low-clearance area which I almost did the day I bought them) they should be fine.

Pics (a bit exposed due to unseasonal March sun):