Yakima Skybox 21 - Will it fit on roof

[douginder]

Hi guys, do you think a Yakima Skybox 21 will be too big/unwieldy to fit on the roof? On the crossbars.

PRODUCT SPECS

• Weight: 62.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: L 92.00 in x W 36.00 in x H 18.00 in
• Minimum Crossbar Spread 24.00in
• Maximum Crossbar Spread 42.00in

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[OrthoBlock]

Good question, would love to see a picture. Is this the largest box that Yakima makes?

 

[manitou202]

R1S or R1T?

 

[wicked2112]

Hi guys, do you think a Yakima Skybox 21 will be too big/unwieldy to fit on the roof? On the crossbars.

PRODUCT SPECS

• Weight: 62.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: L 92.00 in x W 36.00 in x H 18.00 in
• Minimum Crossbar Spread 24.00in
• Maximum Crossbar Spread 42.00in

Is this for the R1S or R1T??

 

[the long way downunder]

I'm sure it would be fine on the S, maybe a bit wobbly on the R1T because the racks don't have a wide footing, but I've seen the ski box on my neighbor's F-150 which I think never gave him any trouble.

The concern would be (horrific) impact on mi/kWh.

 

[xyskis]

May have rear gate interference with S

 

[Andystroh]

Anyone putting a box similar to this above the bed on the R1T? We have one that we previously had on our ID.4 for big winter trips ('Sportrack' brand), but just measured and it will not fit in any of the mounting configurations without drilling new holes in the box. We are probably going to hold off and see if we actually need any extra storage since the R1T is much bigger than the ID4, and see how much abuse the skis get in a ski rack above the bed (hopefully not much), but was just curious if other brands are more flexible in their mounting.

 

[OrthoBlock]

Ok, for science:

Yes, the box will "fit".
Yes, it looks a bit silly.
Yes, the skybox hooks reach around the OEM roofbars, but only barely (better attachment setup would be prudent)
Yes, lowest ride hight can make the difference between fitting vs. not fitting into a garage.

Next will run up-and-down a short highway ride to get a since for Mi/KWh

 

[OrthoBlock]

Here is the consumption on a mini test.

I don’t have an apples to apples Baseline comparison. But fair to say the results were not catastrophic. This was mainly highway, in conserve mode, max speeds of 75 (but average closer to 70 while on highway. )

For posterity, couple of additional data points:

Tempeture ~85 degrees, sunny [no rain or meaningful wind] -- the data is for a roundtrip, so any elevation gain should be cancelled out.

 

[OrthoBlock]

A smaller box is a better fit for the R1T in my opinion: for example a Thule Vector M

To my eyes, it fits the proportions and styling of the R1T better than the much larger alternatives.

One does, of course, give up a good bit of cargo volume on this one. But on the upside, the impact on range should be smaller, wind noise should be reduced, and the overall look is better (in my opinion.)

 

[OrthoBlock]

No such thing as too many boxes.

 

[chrismc]

The Skybox 18 fits well on the R1T roof and is pretty slippery for aerodynamics with minimal range impact. The Skybox plus a kayak on the roof demolished efficiency though, down to about 1.7 mi/kWh at highway speed (but still fine for our trip).

There was a problem with the Skybox mounting clamps fitting on the Rivian crossbars though, they didn’t adequately capture the giant crossbar size. I have an awesome local Yakima dealer who called up their Yakima rep for guidance and they decided to swap the Skybox clamps with the ones from a CBX and those worked perfectly.

 

[OrthoBlock]

There was a problem with the Skybox mounting clamps fitting on the Rivian crossbars though, they didn’t adequately capture the giant crossbar size.

I found the exact same to be true with the SkyBox 21. Ironically, the standard clamps on the Thule box fit perfectly (ironic, in that Rivian is partnering with Yakima, yet their products don't fit the crossbars, whereas their competitors products match up quite well!)

 

[onetwothreefour1234]

Has the Skybox carbonite been working? Did you ever identify a solution to more securely attach it? How did swapping the clamps go? I was told by Yakima that it wasn't possible.

 

[Soju1]

i just got a skybox 21 on a killer deal when the local REI closed down. It was too good to pass. i agree that it does look silly on the R1T. I was really hoping the skybox would look better when i got it, but i might put it on the wife's ICE suv instead. i have a similar setup to OrthoBlock for over the bed with the locknload, but went with Pelican Boxes over the roam boxes. works out great for the camping adventures.

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