CARGOSMART Rooftop Cargo Basket, 44”x35.8”x4.8” – Expands Carrying Capacity of Vehicle – Mounts to Cross Bars – Solid Steel Construction – Wind and Rain Deflector – Easy Installation

The CargoSmart Rooftop Basket is well designed and engineered in the USA! Read on for our observations. THE GOOD: -- NICE QUICK RELEASE: The basket attaches in 4 places over the rooftop bars using threaded knobs making it easy to install and remove. - UNIVERSAL MOUNT: The attachments above have use plastic insert between the rods along with a U shaped threaded rod to affix itself around the bars using the thread knobs. The U rod is wide enough at about 3.5" to fit every bar I have every seen including the Rhino Aero Roof racks which are 3.5" wide. -- GREAT INSTRUCTIONS: It was a pleasure to read instructions written by U.S. engineers. They are accurate, easy to follow and with good illustrations. -- RUBBERIZED PROTECTION: The bottoms of the plastic inserts that grab the racks are rubberized to prevent any scratching to the vehicles roof. -- 1 PERSON MANAGEABLE: It is made from steel and weighs 27lbs. One tallish person would be able to lift and install. On taller vehicles a step stool would be required. -- RUBBERS SEALS FOR TUBES: to prevent water from getting inside the tubes rubber tubes are provide that slide over the 12 joints formed when assembling the basket. A good thought, but being exposed to sun, dust and weather I would not expect these tubes to last more then a season. -- GOOD VALUE: If this rack is in the $100 realm, as are other similar products. this is a good value THE BAD: -- AIR DEFLECTOR IS PLASTIC AND WILL BREAK EASILY. The air deflector is shiny black plastic and held on by small self tapping screws. The plastic will easily scratch and Im not sure I trust it being held in place with only the 4 self tapping screws. A bump of the cargo when installing into the deflector is going to break it or at least the screw connection. -- SELF TAPPING SCREW FAILED: To attached the tubes to each other a small self tapping screw is used. In 2 instances the screw failed to thread and would just spin. Probably would need to drill through and add a bolt to secure it. -- CAREFUL WITH STATED CARRYING CAPACITY: They state 125lbs but probably need to look more at the racks its mounted to for the limit. For example, the Rhino racks previously mention have a weight limit of 85 lbs. They weight 11 pounds and with the 27 lbs of the basket that leaves really only 47lb carrying capacity. -- CREATES MORE WIND NOISE: There is quite a bit of added wind noise. Im sure the deflector helps. That said just about anything you put on the roof will create added wind noise so this is to be expected for any rack. CONCLUSION: For occasional use to carry a small amount of weight (check your rack limits) the CargoSmart is a good choice that easily attached and detached and fits most racks. In my case which my racks I would be limited to 47lbs which is not enough but your racks may be better.

This product was exactly as described. It seems very sturdy for the money. They have done what they reasonably can do to waterproof the rack to minimize water seeping into the joint connections and causing rust. It was surprisingly easy to assemble. Just read the instructions all the way through first (so you don't forget to put the rubber washers on the screws before putting the rubber sleeves on like I did!). I used a little silicone grease (that I have for plumbing projects) on the joint connections in order to make it easy to slide the rubber sleeves over the joints. Otherwise, easy-peasy. A good value for the money.

Works really well once you get together. I had trouble putting together as the prices didn’t line up very well. I made sure I was using the right pieces but had to force together.

I've had this cargo basket installed for about four months or so. I have not had the need to carry any heavy loads during that time, but for light duty it has been there when I need it. I won't necessarily be able to predict when I will need to load anything very heavy, so this review will have to do with lighter use (I will update in the future if I haul anything major). All in all, this basket is cheap, and cheap is what you should expect from it. The fit isn't great, the materials aren't all good, and the design made for some unwieldy and frustrating setup. I set it up in conjunction with CargoSmart's universal cross bars, which I've also reviewed. Those aren't made to fit this basket any more than anything else, so it doesn't matter too much what you're using as long as you have cross bars. Personally I'd like a lower-profile set that doesn't sit so high atop the roof rails and stick out beyond the width of the roof. It would make the basket look more anchored in place. Speaking of anchoring, the mounting of this basket was somewhat time-consuming. Not exactly hard, just awkward. The sleeved metal hooks go underneath the cross bars, and are squared even though CargoSmart's own cross bars are sort of semi-rounded on the underside, so they don't make a lot of contact. This basket is surprisingly small, so you have to do a lot of careful measuring to make sure it's centered just right. I have mine mounted on a Jeep Renegade, which is a very compact CUV, and even on that the dimensions of the basket are rather small. The materials used are of varying quality. The tubular steel frame is fine, and seems capable of supporting more than the official weight rating. But as aforementioned, the mountings are awkward to fit and lead me to believe that they're where most of the unit's limitations stem from. The plastic windscreen is a poor fit, and the holes don't line up just right with the small holes in the front of the frame. One of the screws feels like it isn't as firmly seated as the others due to this, but I haven't lost the windscreen yet, so it may be alright. One of the big disappointments is that the rubber sleeves provided to cover up the fits between sections of the steel tubing are very poor quality, and are already cracking. This means that they won't seal moisture out forever, and the seams between sections of tubing provide a point for corrosion if moisture gets in. The basket is pretty heavy in total weight when mounted, and makes a lot of extra wind noise and resistance. If you want to avoid this, definitely go for a more low-profile basket. QAs it is, I am going from no basket to this one, so I'm sure most similar designs will mess up aerodynamics and add noise in the same way. All in all, just don't expect this to look anywhere near as good as a Thule or Yakima or something else high end. It looks fine on my vehicle from a distance, just don't look too close or you'll notice that the materials and fit aren't all that good. Still, if you need to haul some loads cheaply on the top of your car, this will do in a pinch. I will eventually look for something better.

I paired this CargoSmart Rooftop Cargo Basket with a pair of CargoSmart Universal Cross Bars. Like the cross bars, the basket takes a bit of work to assemble and get in position---nothing too complex or arduous---but do expect to spend about 30 to 45 minutes getting it assembled and positioned. Note that the product info has a bullet that reads “All hardware included, no tools or assembly required.” Well, that description leaves me scratching my head. First, the basket is in three sections that you have to do have to assemble. To do so, you need a Phillips head screwdriver and maybe a rubber mallet. I recommend spreading out the large flat box it ships in and placing the sections on the cardboard to avoid scratching them during assembly. I also found that some of the sections needed a bit of encourage to connect properly, hence I found that the mallet was handy. BTW, the directions were pretty good and simple to follow and all parts were included (not always the case, mind you). Once I had the rack assembled, I spent 5-6 minutes perched on a small step stool, squaring it up on the roof racks and adjusting its placement so that the four universal mount clamps aligned with the cross bars. Note that there are useful plastic inserts that snap into place along with the U-clamps as a way to deter damage to a vehicle’s roof. I tested the installed rack by loading it with a pair of camping chairs, a cot, two small tents, and several other items, securing to the rack via stretch cords. There was of course a bit of air resistance, and the air deflector whistles a bit, but this rack allows me to free up some much needed space in my Mazda CX-5. The size of this rack is a very good fit, too, for this smaller SUV. Removing and reinstalling the rack gets easier each time (I just leave the cross rails now), and this rack is light enough so that is easy to remove and stow. The manufacturer has noted that the “built-in air aerodynamic deflector reduces drag and wind notice.” Hmm, the deflector is not built in, and I have some concerns about how stable it may be long-term, so I recommend keeping an eye on those four little screws that are supposed to hold it in place. As far as “wind notice,” well, yes, you will notice the whooshing over the deflector, and it is loud enough to make it unpleasant to open the sun/moon roof when the basket is attached. In fairness, any cargo basket is going to generate wind noise, so by no means is this a deal killer---just something to note. Overall, an easy to assemble, sharp looking, and reasonably priced cargo basket. I especially recommend it for smaller SUVS.

Weighing in at 25lbs, this Rooftop Cargo Basket by CargoSmart is tough as nails, it's also very stylish, frees up room in the cabin for bags and luggage for road trips, and is also easy on the eyes. I noticed that once I put the basket on my road warrior swagger wagon, my vehicle was easy to pick out in a crowded parking lot or when I pull up to pick up the kiddo in carpool. This Basket was super easy to install folks, so easy a caveman could do it! LOL! Seriously, all you need is a medium size Phillips screwdriver and possibly a small step ladder to reach the top of the vehicle's roof, especially if you have a van, SUV, or truck. Step by Step instructions will guide you to completion of the project. You build the basket first, then you build the mounts on the roof rack, then install the basket on the mounts, and viola! you're done! I must say, you need some good hands to grip the turn knobs that are used to anchor everything together. I love this basket, I cant wait for the next family road trip to really put this basket to work. I highly recommend this basket. Great Product, great price. Good Buy!

Overall decent, however I found the little rubber feet on this fall off all the time, while it works those became the biggest pain to keep up with and make sure they didn’t get lost.

Every Christmas we drive to my parents' house in Florida and we swear that we aren't going to buy so much stuff for the kids this year... and every New Year's Day we are muttering and grumbling and nearly fighting as we try to figure out how to pack all that stuff into our van! Not this time!! The Cargo Smart Rooftop Cargo Basket is the answer to our troubles. Instead of packing the van so full that I cannot see the police officer behind me trying to get me to pull over because he thinks our van is over-packed and I probably can't see out of the van, we are able to load up the roof with a Cargo Smart Rooftop bag that protects our Christmas loot and travel home with plenty of space in the van. I can't quite give it five stars for a few minor reasons. 1. It is pretty heavy, not crazy heavy, but not as light as I hoped or expected. 2. It could be made better, some parts are plastic that should be aluminum or something stronger or thicker - especially the wind deflector. 3. It creates a not-so-aerodynamic lump on your roof, hurting mileage and adding wind noise and making the car handle worse at higher speeds or wind levels. Those sound worse than they are - first of all, all roof top add-ons will do some of those things. My biggest complaint is the feeling that it could have been made a little stronger or better. Still, it is pretty good and definitely worth four solid stars. I am so happy that we now have an overflow solution for when we can't fit everything in the van. Keep in mind that you need racks on the roof of your van in order to install this - or you will have to install them too. I hope you find this to be a helpful review. If there is anything more you would like to know, please ask. I try to check my reviews for comments and respond to them right away. If you ask something and I don't get back quickly, please check my profile page and email me and I will try to respond as soon as I see it. I think it is important for fellow shoppers on Amazon to look out for one another by letting each other know if a product is good, or if it is a stinker. I take reviewing very seriously and try to be helpful. Thank you! P.S. This is the amazon listing for the roof rack set I needed for my 2014 Honda Odyssey https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004FJPS5Y/