Is there a roof box or a luggage rack? These advantages and disadvantages need to be understood clearly

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Preparing to travel by car, especially if a family of a few go out for a long-distance self-driving tour. Due to the small space in the car and limited storage space, there is a lot of luggage and essential materials that cannot be brought, which is very headache. When planting, it is often considered to expand the material carrying capacity of the vehicle by adding luggage or luggage racks outside the vehicle. This approach can indeed play a great role.

But should a suitcase or a luggage rack be installed? Which cars are suitable for luggage and luggage racks?

In accordance with Article 54 of the "Implementation Regulations of the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China", passenger vehicles shall not carry cargo except for the luggage rack and built-in luggage on the exterior of the vehicle body. The height of the luggage rack of passenger cars shall not exceed 0.5 meters from the roof, and the height from the ground shall not exceed 4 meters.


This means that if your car is shipped without a luggage rack (that is, the two left and right luggage rack longitudinal rods), it is not allowed to install any luggage or luggage racks. This is illegal, but usually, The traffic police do not check very much. As long as they check, they will be dismantled and punished as soon as they are caught.

Moreover, this luggage rack longitudinal bar does not mean that you can install one on your own, but the photo on the driving license shall prevail.

Therefore, only some off-road vehicles, SUVs, MPVs, and station wagons on the market that meet the regulations and can be equipped with luggage racks and suitcases meet the requirements. If you plan to install it yourself, it is recommended to check whether it meets the regulations first. Because, in some areas, illegal installations are strictly investigated, such as Xinjiang.

Cost comparison of luggage and luggage rack

Compared with suitcases, luggage racks do not have big brands with special advantages. There are many different brands and even customized models. The vast majority of them are around a few hundred yuan. Only a few are suitable for heavy luggage racks installed on large off-road vehicles. The price will reach the price level of 1, 2000, which is generally relatively cheap. After all, there are only so many materials used, and the process is not complicated, so the price is not much higher.

The price of luggage is much more expensive. Of course, regardless of the counterfeit products, mainstream brands of luggage basically start at a price of 3 or 4000, such as Thule, Yakima, and other brands. It's more expensive. For many friends who don't often go out for self-driving tours, this investment is a bit big.



What are the advantages and disadvantages of luggage racks?

As an old user who has used luggage racks for 7 or 8 years, I think luggage racks have several advantages and disadvantages.

Let me talk about the advantages first.


1. The price is relatively cheaper, the purchase cost is low, and it is not distressing.


2. The installation is simple and flexible, and the disassembly and assembly are very convenient. Because the luggage rack is not part of the original car's configuration, it must be removed every time it was reviewed last year. After the annual review, I will install it again. I do the disassembly and assembly by myself.


3. Expansion is more flexible, without height and capacity restrictions. Basically, as long as your luggage rack can be installed and placed firmly, you can fix it with cables and luggage nets. It can hold a lot of flexible luggage items. This is an advantage that luggage does not have.


4. The wind resistance is small. When there are no luggage items in the luggage rack, the overall windward cross-sectional area is small, and the wind resistance and the impact on fuel consumption are relatively small.


5. Storage does not take up much space. If the luggage rack is not used and needs to be removed, it will not occupy too much space at home. Generally, it can be placed in the corner of the balcony.


Let's talk about shortcomings.


1. The most important thing is not to prevent theft. If it is a long long-distance self-driving trip, you must not put your luggage on the luggage rack and then park the car outside overnight. No one can be sure that your things will not be taken by others. Steal or vandalize.


2. It is not rain-proof, because the luggage is exposed outside, it will inevitably face the problem of wind, sun, and rain.


3. There is a risk of items falling, especially when you stack a lot of loose luggage items on the luggage rack, and if you do not do enough binding and reinforcement, it is easy to cause the luggage to fall down due to wind, bumps, etc. The situation, I have seen such a situation during my previous self-driving trips, and it is still quite dangerous.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of luggage?


Let's talk about the shortcomings first.


1. Of course it is expensive, especially large-capacity suitcases of big brands. The price of thousands or even tens of thousands is not ordinary and distressing.


2. The wind resistance is large. No matter whether you pack your luggage or not, the shape is there anyway. As long as you pack it in the car or run on the road, it will hinder your fuel consumption level.


3. Disassembly and assembly are more complicated, especially for car owners with weak hands-on ability. Every annual review must go to the car repair shop to disassemble and install once, a waste of time and money.


4. It takes up a lot of space. If you don't use it at ordinary times, and only install it when you travel, then you have to have enough space at home to store it.


5. Only soft-packed luggage can be stored. Due to the exterior design and height of the suitcase, it is difficult to place large pieces of luggage in the suitcase regularly. Only some soft-packed and scattered items can be placed in the suitcase.


6. The issue of height limitation. Especially for some medium and large off-road vehicles and SUVs, the height of the body is properly more than 2 meters or even more than 2.2 meters after the luggage is installed. In this case, there are many underground garages and height limit bars that cannot pass.

Back to the advantages, in fact, it basically corresponds to the disadvantages of the luggage rack, so I won't repeat it.


The last words: whether to buy a luggage rack or a suitcase, first of all, look at the wallet to order food. If the budget is sufficient, the suitcase is better; secondly, it depends on how often you travel by car, if not much, More for the self-driving needs of commuting and commuting, so a luggage rack is enough. The last thing I want to say is that travel is not moving. In fact, every time you go out to travel, you will find that almost 30-50% of the items you carry are always useless. If you can streamline it, just streamline it.

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