Sometimes the
vehicle glovebox is not big enough to put your tissues, CD’s, maps and
sunglasses. The addition of a UHF/HF radio
can pose a problem if it will not fit in the existing dashboard of the
vehicle so you look for other solutions. Most vehicles today come with side
door pockets, centre console and cup holders but it never seems enough.
There are a range
of solutions available such as dash pods, overhead roof consoles, larger
door pockets, spare wheel storage packs as well as seat and cargo barrier
tidy’s.
Roof Consoles
There are various designs of roof consoles such
as the full fascia across windscreen console,
wide style centre roof console and designs that
will not limit head room. These roof consoles
provide storage for radios, UHF radios, maps and
sun glasses.
Two brand names are RoNo Roof
Consoles and Outback Roof Consoles.
When installing a roof console be
careful it doesn’t impede your rear vision
mirror or sun visors or your vision from the
driver’s seat.
Dashboard Pods
Apart from general carry-on items, permanent
dashboard pods are often added for gauges,
switches and to house a UHF or HF radio.
Door pockets
Door pockets can accommodate can
holders, speaker systems and a pocket
for the larger travel books and maps.
Cargo Barrier Organiser/ Seat Organiser
Cargo Barrier
Organisers attach to a cargo barrier if one is installed. Pockets
of the organiser can hold spray cans of say WD40, sun screen and
other gear.
Seat
organisers strap on behind the front seats and have an array of
pockets for storage of CD’s, drink bottles, maps, books and toys.
If you have children this seat organiser is a must for easy access
to all their gear such as drink bottles, coloring in books and
pencils.
Spare Wheel sacs or dirty gear bags
Spare wheel
sacks or bags are a bin like sack that attach to a spare wheel on the
back of vehicles like 4WD’s and SUV’s.
For those
who travel off-road it is important to protect the environment and
take your rubbish back with you so one of these
rear wheel rubbish sacks is a must.
These sacks can also be used to store your recovery gear, wet
clothing and fishing gear keeping them out of the interior of your
vehicle.
Look for
those dirty gear bags with a heavy duty harness system and made from
heavy duty material with a reinforced base.
Some brand names or suppliers of rear wheel rubbish
sacks are MSA 4 x 4 Products (previously Michelle Sacs), Rucksacker
and Infront Camping Gear.
Roof-rack Baskets/Roof-rack storage systems
There are a
wide range of roof-racks available to suit all vehicles and are
designed to fit vehicles with the traditional rain gutters or
permanently mounted to the roof. Mostly the choice of roof-rack
construction will be between aluminium or steel with aluminium being
the lighter of the two. Some roof-rack storage systems have
longitudinal tracks bolted to the roof of the vehicle that allow the
cross bars to move along the length of the track, separate single
bars and others come in a complete unit. Roof baskets can be bolted
to the roof-rack cross bars.
When
choosing roof-racks for your vehicle look for full length rails that
spread the load across the length and width of the vehicle. Look
for aerodynamic cross bars as this will minimise drag and reduce
wind noise. Check the vehicle roof load rating as well as the load
rating of the roof-racks themselves to make sure you do not exceed
their capacity.
Vehicle manufacturers usually specify the maximum
safe roof load for the vehicle in the owner’s handbook and roof rack
manufacturers also provide the load rating for their roof rack on
the packaging. Another thing to consider is that any load carried
on the roof is considered to be part of the ‘gross vehicle mass’ of
the vehicle and this must not be exceeded.
It is
preferable to pack lighter weight gear on top as storage on
top of the vehicle adds to the height and alters the centre
of gravity. Check if the vehicle with the roof-rack or
roof basket attached will fit in your garage or under your
carport. Measure the height of your vehicle with all
your gear on top and write it down on a piece of paper and
stick it to the dashboard so you will know if you will fit
when going into shopping centre car parks,
under low bridges
etc.
You
may want to keep the rain and dust off the gear stored on
your roof-rack so a roof rack storage system such as a
canvas storage bag or roof pod/roof storage box may be just
the thing you are looking for.
Some
brand names for roof-racks and roof storage canvas bags and boxes
are
Infront Camping Gear,
Thule Roof Racks, Prorack Roof Racks, Rhino Roof Racks, MSA
Products and Bushranger 4WD Gear.
Distributors of vehicle interior storage systems are Department of
the Interior, Michelle’s Sacs now called MSA Products, Automotive
Interiors & Accessories Inc, Infront Camping Gear, ARB and other
vehicle accessory and 4WD stores.
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Some
brand names for roof-racks and roof storage canvas bags and boxes
are 
