General: XC90 Roofbox Height Clearance - Under 2.1m?

[Balistaff]

I have recently bought an XC90 SE LUX ('63 Plate) and am busy getting it ready for a skiing trip, as I've done many times before with my beloved V70 SE.

Trouble is the Clearance Height when adding a roofbox into the mix.

I purchased a Thule Spirit 780 roofbox many years ago and it's provided good service over those years. It's a slimline roofbox and a max height of 330mm.

The XC90 has a height of 1784mm AFAIK which includes the roof rails.

The roof bars I have (came with teh XC90) are Thule Wingbars Edge bars with 7204 feet. So they are as low as possible AFAIK.

The trouble is with the XC90, Bars and Thule Pririt 780 roof box the unladen height is an estimate of 2114mm; which is 14mm greater than my garage estimate (might have to take the internal handle off the door) and also the maximum height of a couple of underground garages I've used on previous trips abroad.

So my question is, are there any height-reducing possibilities other than:

• Letting air out of the tyres - Pump up with a compressor afterward
• Loading the car up (as it will be, with luggage) to compress the suspension and thereby maximum height
• Take more beer
• Buy lower roof bars - not my preferred option
• Just take the risk that the clearances quoted at car park entrances allow for some tolerance

Any other ideas or your experience with roof boxes is welcome

[Balistaff]

Here is the current setup:

[Balistaff]

Old V70 SE & Thule Spirit 780 plus Thule Aero Bars, allowed me to go on the Channel Tunnel without having to declare the roof-box, as with or without the roof-box the car was under 1.85m in height.

I think the Wingbar Edge bars are slightly lower than my old Thule Aero bars:

[Balistaff]

Just to put this into further context, it seems that old car parks have in many cases lower (worse) height restrictions than newer car parks etc.

All seem to accommodate 1.8m or over i.e. just an XC90 (1.784m) without roof-box

I don't intend to go shopping locally with a roof box, however, just to get a feel for various height restrictions:

• 2.2m Local Train Station
• 2.0m Old Multi-story
• 2.0m Old Large Town center Multi-story
• 2.6m Newer Sainsbury's Multi-story
• 2.8m MacDonalds - They know their customer base well
• 2.1m Local Sports Club - Bar across open-air carpark

A couple of others I've seen are 2.1m restricted. One has signage for 2.06m or 6ft 9inches quoted.

I also appreciate that the measurements are designed to accommodate slopes/ramps within the carparks and also overhead ducting in places.

[Balistaff]

Actually I think the roofbars and feet are the slightly older 958x Wingbars, but I don't think the newer ones buy me any height reduction.

So back to the list of options, to possibly reduce the hieght:

• Temproarily letting air out of the tyres - Pump up with a compressor afterward
• Loading the car up (as it will be, with luggage) to compress the suspension and thereby reduce the maximum height - how much weight per Cm of movemnet
• Take more beer i.e. greater weight to volume ratio to help with the point above. Distribution is the problem as the majority of the weight will be in the rear
• Buy lower roof bars - not my preferred option and I'm not sure there are any better (i..e lower) options currently available
• Tale the roofbox off the roof bars (and the roof bars off the car) resting the roofbox on the car roof ... far too much hassle, especially at the height of an XC90 and the weight of a full roof box
• Just take the risk that the clearances quoted at car park entrances allow for some tolerance

Any other ideas or your experience with roof boxes is welcome

[prjames]

Our old way to do this was unload family, unclip roof box and stow it in car!
Nearly got caught out in Tenby's multistory car park half way up as the roof lowers, but this way saved our day.

PS HM Customs + French Customs think it peculiar when you travel with the roof box in car as I once did and make you unload everything for inspection!