External storage solutions... overlander style

[MattBW]

I am fast becoming a fan of the more rugged look and saw this setup at Camperjam at the weekend. However it wont be cheap to get going, £400 for the box, then the same again for the bracket to hold the box and thats before the mounting/rack you need which is about 1k up I think. It does look ideal for me although I dont want a wheel carrier.

Peli-Box for our modular back carrier for VW T5/T6 and MB Vito/Viano/V-class

Peli-Box for our modular back carrier for VW T5/T6 and MB Vito/Viano/V-class

www.gtv-van.com

Any other solutions people know of? Anyone tried one of these? I wonder how well the gas struts would cope?

 

[Hotel California]

Those Peli case are very expencive , we orderd some at work and fell off my chair seeing the price ...
Looks cool but be sure you have a stick ready to hold that boothdoor open , sure it will not stay up by itself!

 

[Borris]

Very nice but opening the tailgate could be a struggle.

 

[bvddobb]

We adapt our bike rack like that when we go on a more rugged tour:

We then have our spare wheel on the back for easy acces and an extra spare tyre underneath (for when we wreck our spare and a local tyre repair service can't order a new tyre quickly enough).

One can order an adapter set like this from Terranger.

That's quite expensive. There are several examples on the german Caliboard of handy people who just have bought the metal strips and adapted their rack on their own.

We have not yet used an extra box or canister on there yet. The normal Cali gas struts won't hold the hatch open with the chairs inside and the wheel on the back. You would need to mount extra strong struts to be able to do that. Terranger also sells reinforced struts. Again: quite expensive. You need reinforced fixing points on the D-pillar and on the hatch as well.

The problem with these reinforced struts is: when you take the rack and the wheel off, you won't be able to close the hatch against the force of the struts and when you open it, the hatch will fly open with the risk of you being knocked unconscious.
We don't use this set up permanently, so we have left the original struts in place. To keep the hatch open we cut two pieces of aluminum U-profile strip to the right length, and we put those around the piston rods of the struts when the hatch is open. That way the hatch can't close inadvertently.

 

[Kingsley]

I am fast becoming a fan of the more rugged look and saw this setup at Camperjam at the weekend. However it wont be cheap to get going, £400 for the box, then the same again for the bracket to hold the box and thats before the mounting/rack you need which is about 1k up I think. It does look ideal for me although I dont want a wheel carrier.

Peli-Box for our modular back carrier for VW T5/T6 and MB Vito/Viano/V-class

Peli-Box for our modular back carrier for VW T5/T6 and MB Vito/Viano/V-class

www.gtv-van.com

Any other solutions people know of? Anyone tried one of these? I wonder how well the gas struts would cope?

I am fast becoming a fan of the more rugged look and saw this setup at Camperjam at the weekend. However it wont be cheap to get going, £400 for the box, then the same again for the bracket to hold the box and thats before the mounting/rack you need which is about 1k up I think. It does look ideal for me although I dont want a wheel carrier.

Peli-Box for our modular back carrier for VW T5/T6 and MB Vito/Viano/V-class

Peli-Box for our modular back carrier for VW T5/T6 and MB Vito/Viano/V-class

www.gtv-van.com

Any other solutions people know of? Anyone tried one of these? I wonder how well the gas struts would cope?

Did you see this one

 

[MattBW]

Yes the trayback, T5 wonderful ! It should have won best in show in my opinion but it was in the T6 section and was a T5 so didnt place sadly. What a vehicle!

 

[MattBW]

Very nice but opening the tailgate could be a struggle.

You need to get uprated struts just as you need for lots of bikes or a box I suspect.

 

[MattBW]

We adapt our bike rack like that when we go on a more rugged tour:

We then have our spare wheel on the back for easy acces and an extra spare tyre underneath (for when we wreck our spare and a local tyre repair service can't order a new tyre quickly enough).

One can order an adapter set like this from Terranger.

That's quite expensive. There are several examples on the german Caliboard of handy people who just have bought the metal strips and adapted their rack on their own.

We have not yet used an extra box or canister on there yet. The normal Cali gas struts won't hold the hatch open with the chairs inside and the wheel on the back. You would need to mount extra strong struts to be able to do that. Terranger also sells reinforced struts. Again: quite expensive. You need reinforced fixing points on the D-pillar and on the hatch as well.

The problem with these reinforced struts is: when you take the rack and the wheel off, you won't be able to close the hatch against the force of the struts and when you open it, the hatch will fly open with the risk of you being knocked unconscious.
We don't use this set up permanently, so we have left the original struts in place. To keep the hatch open we cut two pieces of aluminum U-profile strip to the right length, and we put those around the piston rods of the struts when the hatch is open. That way the hatch can't close inadvertently.

That is really useful thanks and lots of food for thought. Wow the kit is nearly 1000euros, that is serious money. I may have a chat with my fabricator friend. I wonder if I will get enough use from it for the outlay. The link I shared was even more money (I guess it combines the two in one package).

 

[Bellcrew]

Did you see this oneView attachment 47351

Who knew that mudguards and enclosed wheels were optional.