Trailrax Half Rack vs OEM rails for cargo box?

[AmericanYidiot]

Searched the forums and couldn’t find an exact answer to this.

Looking to add some sort of roof rack to my 2023 OBX 4dr. The goal is to mount one of those Thule/Yakima cargo boxes to it a few times a year as needed (toddler, baby and dog means we’re fairly tight on storage space for road trips and such).

Torn between ordering OEM roof rails vs the Trailrax Half Rack. The appeal of the Trailrax is mostly aesthetic, but I also like that I could theoretically just lash a duffle or two to it if needed for a shorter trip. I just worry that the full cargo box would sit too far back and a) get in the way of opening the rear glass, and b) be a pain to get to — since it’s so far back, I feel like you’d have to step up on the rear tire to get to it, rather than opening the rear door and stepping up that way.

Any thoughts or experience? I did see this thread, but I’m not interested in doing the full-size modular Trailrax: https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/mounting-a-thule-yakima-cargo-box-on-a-half-rack.111117/

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[TxBriley]

We have this half rack https://a.co/d/e9SjH22as I didn’t want to make it difficult to remove top when we wanted to. Haven’t put our Yakima box up there yet but I have used it for ski/snowboard rack and my snowboard sticking off the back some didn’t cause any issues with rear window. The Yakima box we have also has forward/rearward adjustment so should be zero issues when we use it. You are correct about standing more on rear tire but this rack has handles and makes it super easy to climb up onto rear tire of our wildtrak!

 

[maliu]

We have this half rack https://a.co/d/e9SjH22as I didn’t want to make it difficult to remove top when we wanted to. Haven’t put our Yakima box up there yet but I have used it for ski/snowboard rack and my snowboard sticking off the back some didn’t cause any issues with rear window. The Yakima box we have also has forward/rearward adjustment so should be zero issues when we use it. You are correct about standing more on rear tire but this rack has handles and makes it super easy to climb up onto rear tire of our wildtrak!

I have that same rack. Easy to put on and take off. I step on the corner of the bumper and can reach stuff with the hand holds. But it does create wind noise. I only put it on when I need it.

 

[Keith0374]

We have this half rack https://a.co/d/e9SjH22as I didn’t want to make it difficult to remove top when we wanted to. Haven’t put our Yakima box up there yet but I have used it for ski/snowboard rack and my snowboard sticking off the back some didn’t cause any issues with rear window. The Yakima box we have also has forward/rearward adjustment so should be zero issues when we use it. You are correct about standing more on rear tire but this rack has handles and makes it super easy to climb up onto rear tire of our wildtrak!

I also have this rack and have been very impressed. At the price point I don’t think it can be beat. Install was easy and I could easily remove it by myself if needed.

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