ogiedoki

Hello everyone, need some advice please. My brother, niece and sister-in-law are visiting the Southwest for the first time and we'll be going on a long roadtrip over the holidays with my mom and possibly another niece and my kid sister along also. This issue isn't motorcycle related but since I got a lot of useful help here last time when I needed help with my trailer I figure I'd ask here again.

I'm planning on driving my 05 Nissan Pathfinder but there's no way I'll fit more than 5 of us plus luggage since the third row of seats will eat up a lot of interior space. I was therefore looking at either a hitch cargo carrier and/or a roof rack bag or box.

My Pathfinder has a class III hitch that I use all the time for towing my bike trailer so it'll easily handle a cargo carrier like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Lund-601001-Hi...8679569&sr=8-4

It'll be easier to load and carry more weight but it'll stick out quite a bit from the back. I got that one above at Pep Boys and took it out of the box briefly to see how long it was and the folding hinge makes it stick out three feet behind the bumper! Without the folding part it's only just over 2 feet. I thought the folding part would be nice so that I could unload it and then fold it out of the way before some idiot drove into it while it was parked at our hotel but if it sticks out that much then a cheaper non-folder seems like a better deal. I was planning on getting a bag or box to put on top of it to hold our stuff.

Another alternative would be a bag or box for the roof rack. My Pathfinder comes with one so I don't need to have a rack installed. I was thinking of one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Thule-846-Ques...8679873&sr=1-1

I thought about a hard box but it doesn't seem worth the extra moolah for the rare time my Pathfinder won't have enough room. The rack option wouldn't add to the length of my SUV and be cheaper but wouldn't be as easy to load and might affect mileage a bit because of the air drag.

If it were you which approach would you take - hitch carrier or roof bag/box?

If everyone's coming I might need to go with both (especially if my sis-in-law and nieces bring a ton of stuff) but if I needed only one which do you think would be better?

The trip will be about 1000 miles BTW with multiple stops in Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, and Sedona (and maybe others along the way) in case you want to know.

SheepOfBlue

Check the weight rating on your roof rack. My Vibe is only about 100lbs. Yours is likely higher but double check before deciding

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seamus

I'm counting 7 people. All in one vehicle, even with 3rd row seating, over 1000 miles is going to require some serious packing. I'd go with both to spread the load so you're not potentially overtaxing one method.

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ogiedoki

I did check and the rack has the obligatory "refer to owners manual" sticker but there's no load rating in the manual that I can find. Searched for a while on the net and the only number I could find was also 100 lbs but I'm not sure how official that is. Not even Nissan's site has the number in the Pathfinder specs - kinda stupid. I might try calling my dealer or emailing Nissan but seems stupid that it's not in the manual...

SheepOfBlue

My Vibe had it in the manual. The reason I added this was that 100lbs is not that much luggage (like a single female)

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ogiedoki

Yup, serious packing is the word. Unfortunately I won't know exactly how much I'll need to haul 'til they get here so I'm leaning towards getting the hitch carrier now and I can always swing by Pep Boys and pick up a roof bag later if it's not enough

NinerPilot

Another option would be to rent a small enclosed trailer from Uhaul for ~$15 a day... Easy to load and unload, everything stays dry and secure, only downside is having the trailer back there but it shouldnt be a biggie.
Chris

ogiedoki

I thought about that since I used to rent a U-haul box trailer for trackdays before I got my Haulmark but I'd rather not have to pull anything, even a small trailer. Plus I'm used to driving an SUV with a trailer in tow but my brother will probably share the driving duties and he's never towed anything before himself or driven my Pathfinder so I'd rather keep it easy for him.

I'm gonna wait until I talk to them again before deciding but it looks like I'll be going with a non-folding hitch carrier for sure with the addition of a roof bag if more space is needed.

My bro, myself, my mom, one niece, and kid sister can all pack light so I'm not worried about them but I've never travelled with my sis-in-law or my brother's daughter before so I don't know how much stuff they tend to bring. Far as I know they have the same habits as my brother so I'm thinking it won't be too bad....hopefully

ND4SPD

Now would be a good time to put your foot down and limit how much they can bring(ie carry-on that they would use for flying, etc).

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ONEvcs

Adding weight to the TOP of your car can be more dangerous than a trailer. A pathfinder will make it even worse being tall to start with.

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SheepOfBlue

I would be more worried about containing them all in one place....feathers will fly

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slickwill

I might be too late, I just noticed this thread. There were four kids in my family so there were six of us everytime we went anywhere. We drove a Dodge Caravan. Whenever we went on extended trips we used two of the rooftop bags. One behind the other. It seemed to work out really well for what we needed.

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