I have a situation where my existing cargo box that I had before I bought the pacifica does not fit the car that well. It fits, but it hits the roof and I need to place a piece of foam on the roof to keep that from happening.

I noticed a thread about the Sport Utility Bars to raise the profile - does anyone have any measurements about how much higher the Sport Bars are over the stock bars?

Or, any suggestions for moving the rails forward on the car more? Ideally the front rail would be about 12 to 18 inches moved forward to have the cargo box sit well on the car.

I find it odd that Thule does not show ANY cargo box as a fit for the pacifica on their website - makes me wonder how oddly spaced these rails must really be...

Thanks,
Scott

 

I noticed that lack of clearance and short spread of the rails too, and have been musing a couple of solutions before I buy a Cargo box

The short Thule Box looks fine for the stock rails( 54"L x 15.5"H x 25"W) , I might just put an aluminum spacer bar on the bottom of the box to get the extra clearance if it looks like an issue

For a longer box, I was thinking of putting another one or two stock crossrails on for support, and reinforcing the bottom interior of the box with square channel aluminum bar to prevent flex from wind buffeting, and a spacer bar on the bottom to raise the profile a tad away from the roof.

 

I worked on this problem myself for weeks with the dealer and thule. I got the cargo box from the dealer and it says Thule/Mopar. I called Thule and gave them the Mopar number. They told me it is the Atlantis 1600 black. I had the same problem and would not use the box because I don't want to damage the roof. There is a problem with rear hatch clearance also. I checked into the Mopar SUV bar also. (Thule makes the SUV rack, but its to mopar specs. I have a .pdf on it if you would like to see it. I finally decided on a Thule setup. I just put everything on, and its still there if you want some pics. I got the Thule option 2. TK11 track adaptor, 430R Rapid Tracker, and RB53 Rapid load bars. It went on great. It is much higher. The box is no where near the roof now, and the hatch opens completely. I also got the locks for the rack, and the step that goes on the tire. Now in minutes I can remove the box and the rack together as one piece when not needed. I am happy with what I have now and will take some pics for anyone who wants to see it. I want to help, because I could not find any help and did a lot of research on this. I don't know if the hatch door will clear the box if used with the Mopar SUV bars, but I don't think it will. Also call Thule, as they had a note on this issue.
Kevin
Another note: I bought the factory bars at the same time as the box and they were no good to me. If anyone is intersted let me know.

 

Heres some pics of the Thule rack and box.

 

Looks good , Pac2006.
I saw the same crossrail on a Pac last week in a parking lot, the guy had shortened the rails up so there was no overhang past the mounting blocks and powdercoated them black.
(yea, I know stalking pacs in the parking lot is bad, but i just had to see who manufactured them, because they looked like stock rails, but higher!)

BTW, PAC2006, you still have the stock rails, I could use them. Thanks

 

Thanks. Thats funny, "stalking pacs". Thule makes the same bar in 47", but they don't recommend it. I will measure the minimum spacing needed. I was concerned with the bar length being overwhelming at first, but after putting them on and standing back I was happy (pac is wide). Powder coated black would look nice, and I thought about it as well. I only plan to use the rack when the cargo box is on, tho I am toying with the idea now. I will have to get some prices on the powder coating now. Or how about anodizing

Email me about the stock bars. They are new. I put them on, but would not work with the box, so they came right back off.

 

Yea I thought you would like the powdercoating idea. Anodizing is better!

Most shops that do powdercoating for small manufacturers will usually do small jobs for $20-$30 but you get whatever color they are doing that day for that price. Black is pretty common.

I am just going to get the short stubby Thule cargo box, I just want something big enough to hold a soggy tent, tarp and cookset. I just cant bear stuffing all that in the interior and be vacuuming up pine needles and bog mud for eternity

Hey, I emailed you on the crossrails, let me know if you didnt get it

 

Hey Redhill I didn't get the email. I changed my email on here to see if that helps. Or just PM me.

 

OK, sent PM and emailed you with contact info, thanks. Now I hope that Thule box I want is still on the discount rack at the Trading Post.

(sorry, didnt see your PM message from last week)

 

Thank you very much - this is exactly the help I was looking for. One question - how is it that the Thule crossbars help with the rear hatch clearnace problem? Do the feet go farther forward on the vehicle than the stock crossbars do?