I needed a roof mounted storage solution (6 people and a dog in the New Defender 110 leaves very little room for luggage).
It needed to double as waterproof outside storage when not loaded to the vehicle.
Ideally it needed to be somewhat portable - something I can transport around the block to where I park.
Somehow it needed to fix to a set of Thule Wingbar Evos.

I thought about Thule Roofboxes, but they're not entirely watertight (annoying for the price) and they're not easy to stow or carry.

Enter: The Pelican Case 1730 - 160 litres of bombproof watertightness, on wheels.
Admittedly not the most aerodynamic of solutions, but given that I'm already driving a brick shaped vehicle, a little extra drag isn't my biggest of concerns.


Fixing the Case to the Thules Wingbar Evos was relatively easy:

HARDWARE
1. Roofbars with a top t-track mounting solution (eg, Thule wingbar evos)
2. 4x t-track ready steel eyelets
3. 1x 2.5m ratchet strap
4. 2x 1.5m paracord lengths
5. 1x tape measure
6. Padlock & Cable lock

THE PLAN
The 1730 has 4 large 2 inch deep nesting tabs to allow stable stacking of cases on top of each other - in this case I used these tabs to locate between the roof bars and prevent forward/backward movement by butting the tabs up against the roof bars. (space the roofbars approx 660mm apart).


Bars spaced at 660mm to allow the nesting tabs on the base of the container to fit between the bars.



The t-track eyelets served as stoppers for horizontal movement, with the case sitting in between these eyelets had very little chance to move unless it jumped up on to of eyelet. The eyelets also doubled as fixing points for horizontal straps to route over the top of the case. I used relatively small eyelets and paracord, but larger eyelets which could accommodate a full ratchet trap might offer even more horizontal security - both as a physical stopper, and for more strap strength.


eyelets butt-up against the sides of the case. Bars spaced to exactly fit the nesting tabs underneath.

Eyelet as a horizontal stopper, and nesting tabs on the bottom prevent forward/backwards movement

The 2 types of physical barrier prevented forward/backward and horizontal movement, but relied on the case being securely fixed to the roof bars. So I routed a ratchet strap through the front and rear case handles and beneath the roofbars, to attach the case firmly to the roofbars and prevent any vertical movement.

END RESULT:

McLaren called and asked if i'd help with their F1 aerodynamics once I'd finished here...


It looks small here, but I could easily squeeze a dead body inside.

DOWNSIDES
Once the horizontal straps are looped over the top, you can't access the contents of the box without undoing the straps. This was ok for the way i was using it - long haul, then unpack. But it would be annoying if you wanted to stow/unstow kit multiple times on a journey. In such a case, I would probably invest time in a more robust horizontal stopper solution and get rid of the horizontal straps.

Security needs to be handled using external locking devices - I found a thin cable lock which locates through the reinforced padlock holes in the lid lip and wraps under a roofbar - this secures the box to the roofbar. And a padlock to lock the lid closed. It would deter an opportunist. But relying on external strapping is not as secure as perhaps drilling holes in the base and using fixing points which can only be accessed from inside the box.

The box lip is kinda high. I was able to load/unload by standing on door sills or tyres, but very heavy stuff, or small items could be trickier to retrieve. It was also a bit of a faff trying to fully open/close the hinged box from the side. You could throw the lid up, but it wasn't reachable to close. I might attach a little string to the lid to help in closing it in future.

Aerodynamics are not ideal. BUT, for £170, I now have a roofbox, a waterproof storage box, AND potentially a heavy duty flight case if ever needed.

Size: This box is massive as a piece of rolling luggage. But even so, it was not big enough for a 5 adults and a Baby for more than a couple of days. Given that it's usually just 3 humans and a hound, I think it's perfectly sufficient.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions for other boxes welcome. I did see that peli now offer dedicated Cargo cases for vehicles. But they still don't seem to be as large as the 1730.

Anyway, I hope this has been helpful - I couldn't find many examples where peli cases were being used on roofbars AND were not drilled to secure them to the t-track. This solution worked out great for us.
Cheers