A cargo body of the light motor vehicle (built-in compartment for luggage) often can not contain all you need when moving or on a car trip. Moreover, a load may be too bulky if you have to transport sports equipment (skis, snowboards), bicycles, garden tools. To accommodate everything, we recommend you using a rear trunk. In this article, we are going to tell you about the types of car trunks as well as their advantages and disadvantages.
Requirements for the car trunk model
Before you choose a specific type of a car trunk, aside from the car brand, model, production date, body type consider the following:
- The size of the car and cargo you are going to transport help you decide in advance what are the best dimensions of the trunk.
- We recommend you buying trunks from the real shops instead of online. That will be great if you have your car at hand while purchasing since you need to make sure that the fixture and the car correspond to one another since in most cases, modular fixture rarely fits.
- If you have a bicycle and would like to transport it, take this into account.
- In cars with box van, station wagon or hatchback body type, a trunk should not prevent the opening of the rear door.
- That will be great if the car has base fixture. Thus, it will be easier for you to mount the trunk.
- Choose a trunk according to the permissible weight restrictions. Thus, if the load capacity of the cargo mirror on the top is 150 kg, while that of pillars and latches is 100 kg, the maximum load may reach only 100 kg.
- When choosing a trunk consider what it is made of since metal is more solid and durable. Plastic is also okay, however, while moving at a high speed, it may vibrate. The best option is a product made of aluminium with the screws of stainless steel.
- If the car is very high, you’d better choose a trunk which opens from all sides. It will be easier for you to load and unpack the luggage.
- Just like with many other products the quality of the trunk depends on its price. A cheap trunk may quickly grow rusty or reveal problems with fixing quality while an expensive product attracts thieves making you constantly remove and mount it.
- The trunk’s manufacturer is also one of the key factors when choosing a high-quality trunk.
- After you have bought a car trunk and started to use it, you should properly distribute the mass to ensure the balance. The manufacturers say that the mass should be distributed at the rate of ½ of its value between the bars and ¼ at the front and rear of the trunk. Moreover, when driving on the highways you should also take into account the vehicle speed that shall be consistent with the mass and dimensions of the goods carried and the traffic situation.
Trunks for bicycles
The trunks designed for bicycle transportation help to protect the interior against dust and prevent any damage to both the interior and bicycle.
Bicycles may be placed on the top, inside, on the back door, tow bar of the car:
A cycle carrier is placed on the standard axles on the top of the car and mounted with proper rigid joints. You may mount four bicycles at once the same way. All parts of the bicycle are securely and rigidly fixed. This type of the trunk is the cheapest one. However, the height of the car significantly increases due to the height of the bicycles on the top. It’s not that easy for you alone to fix the bicycle on the top (as well as get it to the top). As a result, due to this the windage grows significantly aerodynamic qualities of the car decrease.
Bicycles may be put inside the car only if we talk about SUVs and offroaders since in such a case, a bicycle occupies the entire amount of the interior trunk. Undoubtedly, it minimizes aerodynamics impact and also protects the bicycle against the negative effect of mud, dust, UV, moisture. Moreover, this type of fixing is inexpensive.
There are also trunks to be mounted on the rear door of the car. The fixing is made using proper clamps with rubber strips. This type model is difficult to mount and yet not popular. However, this type of transportation does not affect the car aerodynamics. By the way, the dimensions of the car almost stay the same. In the meantime, car trunks on the rear door are still too expensive while their capacity is limited to three bicycles.
Offroaders and SUVs allow for fixing the bicycles on the tow bar up to five pcs.
Below are the advantages of the car trunks mounted on the tow bar:
- Secure and rigid fixing.
- An option of transporting up to five bicycles.
- Minimum effect on car aerodynamics.
- Car dimensions stay the same.
However, there are some disadvantages:
- High price.
- Elongates the car from the rear.
- Requires a tow bar.
- A risk of damaging the bicycles (stones, dust, mud and water).
Car trunks also help you to transport snowboards, skis, small boats and long ladders, etc. When choosing a car trunk you’d better pay attention to well-proven brands. The latter stand out from the crowd due to secure fixing made of high-quality materials.
Whether you have a trunk or not you should always hold an International Driving Permit. If you still have none, apply for it here on our website!
