How Much Can You Put in a Roof Box?
A roof box can add a substantial amount of luggage space to your car. At Midlands Roof Box Hire, our Large roof box provides around 470 litres of additional capacity, while our Extra Large option offers around 580 litres.
But what does 470 or 580 litres actually mean when you're standing beside the car with suitcases, coats, children's belongings and half the contents of the house?
There's no universal answer such as "four suitcases" or "six bags", because luggage comes in very different shapes and sizes. How much you can put in a roof box depends on its internal dimensions, the shape of your belongings, how efficiently you pack them and the applicable weight limits.
How Much Space Does a Roof Box Give You?
The easiest way to understand roof-box capacity is to compare it with the luggage space already available in your car.
Adding approximately 470 or 580 litres can make a major difference when your boot is already being used for holiday luggage, children's equipment or camping gear.
It doesn't necessarily mean you should take hundreds of litres of extra belongings. Often the biggest advantage is being able to move suitable bulky items out of the car so the passenger compartment remains comfortable.
What Does a 470-Litre Roof Box Hold?
Our Large Roof Box provides approximately 470 litres of additional storage.
That's a useful amount of space for many family holidays, weekends away and longer journeys. Depending on the dimensions of your particular belongings, it could accommodate a combination of suitable items such as:
- Soft travel bags and holdalls.
- Clothing bags.
- Coats and jackets.
- Sleeping bags.
- Suitable camping equipment.
- Footwear packed into suitable bags.
- Other bulky but relatively lightweight holiday equipment.
The exact number of bags will vary. Four small soft bags could occupy less usable space than two particularly large rigid suitcases, so counting items isn't a reliable way to measure capacity.
What Does a 580-Litre Roof Box Hold?
If you're dealing with a particularly luggage-intensive holiday, our Extra Large Roof Box provides around 580 litres.
The additional volume can be particularly useful for larger families, camping trips and holidays involving bulky equipment.
Again, the 580-litre figure describes volume rather than a guaranteed number of suitcases. The shape and dimensions of everything you're taking will determine how efficiently that capacity can be used.
If you're deciding between the two sizes, Which Is The Best Roof Box? provides further guidance.
Can You Fit Suitcases in a Roof Box?
Suitable suitcases can fit inside a roof box, but their dimensions matter.
A roof box is long and relatively shallow compared with a car boot. A particularly deep suitcase might therefore be awkward even if its total volume sounds relatively small.
Hard-shell cases can also leave unused gaps between them because they cannot change shape. Soft travel bags and holdalls can often make more efficient use of the tapered sections of a roof box.
Before planning to carry a particularly large suitcase on the roof, consider its actual dimensions rather than relying on its advertised litre capacity alone.
Soft Bags Can Make a Big Difference
If your priority is making maximum practical use of the available volume, flexible luggage can be very useful.
Soft bags can fit around one another and occupy spaces that would otherwise be wasted between rigid cases. They can also be easier to arrange so that the roof-box lid closes without obstruction.
That doesn't mean you have to replace all your suitcases with holdalls. A mixture of luggage types can work well.
How Do You Pack a Roof Box Properly? explains how to organise the contents once you've decided what you're taking.
Don't Measure Capacity by How Hard You Can Push the Lid
A roof box isn't properly packed simply because you've eventually managed to close it.
If luggage is pressing against the lid or you need to force the box shut, you've put too much into that particular space or arranged it incorrectly.
Reposition or remove belongings until the lid can close and the locking system can operate normally.
Leaving one item behind is considerably better than forcing an overloaded arrangement to work.
Litres Don't Tell You Everything
A 580-litre roof box sounds straightforward until you start packing objects with awkward shapes.
Usable capacity can be affected by:
- The dimensions of individual suitcases and bags.
- Whether luggage is rigid or flexible.
- The tapered shape of the roof box.
- The need to distribute belongings appropriately.
- Space required for the lid to close correctly.
- The applicable weight limits.
Two families using exactly the same roof box could therefore fit very different amounts inside it.
Volume Is Not the Same as Weight
This is the most important limitation to understand when asking how much you can put in a roof box.
A roof box can run out of permitted weight before it runs out of physical space.
The litre figure tells you how much volume is available. It doesn't tell you how many kilograms you can safely add to your vehicle's roof.
The vehicle, roof bars and roof box have relevant load specifications, and the lowest applicable limit must be respected. The weight of the box, bars and associated equipment can also count towards the vehicle's permitted roof load.
We've separated that subject into How Much Weight Can A Roof Box Hold?, which is worth reading before loading for a particularly luggage-heavy trip.
Should You Fill a Roof Box Completely?
There's no requirement to fill every available space.
If all the suitable luggage you need to carry fits securely into half or three-quarters of the box, that's perfectly fine. The contents should be appropriately secured so they cannot freely move around while you're driving.
Equally, a roof box that looks only partly full could already be carrying a substantial amount of weight if you've packed unusually dense objects.
Use the space intelligently rather than treating 100% fullness as the objective.
What Can You Put in the Roof Box?
Suitable bulky and relatively lightweight belongings are often particularly good candidates for roof storage.
Clothing bags, coats, sleeping bags and appropriate holiday or camping equipment can consume a lot of boot space without necessarily being especially dense.
Heavier belongings may be better carried securely and low down inside the vehicle where appropriate, subject to the vehicle manufacturer's guidance and its other loading limits.
For a detailed item-by-item guide, see What Can You Put in a Roof Box?.
How Much Extra Space Does a Family Holiday Need?
That depends heavily on the family.
A couple taking a week's clothing in two compact bags has very different storage requirements from a family taking children's luggage, coats, footwear, camping equipment and a folded pushchair.
Instead of choosing a box according to the number of people travelling, look at the actual equipment you expect to take.
If your normal boot is almost sufficient and you simply need somewhere for several bulky bags, around 470 litres of extra capacity could make a substantial difference. If you're regularly dealing with much larger volumes of suitable luggage, the approximately 580-litre option provides more flexibility.
Can a Roof Box Free Up the Back Seats?
This can be one of its most useful benefits.
When a boot fills up, luggage often starts migrating into passenger areas. Coats appear on seats, bags end up around passengers and footwells become storage spaces.
Moving suitable belongings into a roof box can help reclaim that cabin space.
For a long drive from Coventry or Bromsgrove to Cornwall, Scotland or a European destination, having more usable space around the passengers can be just as valuable as being able to take additional luggage.
How Much Can You Carry for a Camping Trip?
Camping is a good example of why litres can matter so much.
Sleeping bags, clothing, outdoor equipment and other suitable items can be bulky even when they aren't exceptionally heavy. Moving appropriate equipment onto the roof can leave valuable boot space available for denser belongings.
However, don't simply put every piece of camping equipment into the roof box. Consider the size, weight and suitability of each item individually.
Can You Use a Roof Box for a Weekend Away?
Absolutely. You don't have to be packing for a fortnight abroad to benefit from additional storage.
A weekend involving several passengers, walking equipment, coats and overnight bags can fill a normal boot remarkably quickly.
A Large box can give you considerably more flexibility without requiring you to hire or buy a larger vehicle solely for the trip.
How Much Can You Take on a European Holiday?
Longer trips often encourage people to pack more, but the same limits apply regardless of how far you're travelling.
Don't fill the roof box beyond the relevant weight limits simply because you're going away for two weeks rather than two nights. Plan what you genuinely need and distribute the luggage appropriately between the roof box and vehicle.
If your journey continues beyond the UK, Can You Take A Roof Box To Europe? covers the additional considerations. Travelling by sea? See Can You Take A Roof Box On A Ferry? too.
Does the Type of Car Affect How Much You Can Carry?
Yes. The roof box doesn't determine the complete carrying capacity on its own.
Your vehicle has its own roof-load specification, and compatible bars and fitting equipment are also required. This applies whether you're driving a family hatchback, estate, SUV or 4x4.
A physically larger vehicle shouldn't automatically be assumed to have a higher permitted roof load.
We can provide compatible Roof Bar Hire where required, and professional fitting is included with our roof box hire service.
What If Your Car Doesn't Have Roof Rails?
Don't assume the absence of raised rails means a roof box isn't an option.
Vehicles use several different roof-bar mounting systems, and many cars without traditional raised rails can still accept compatible equipment.
Our guide Can I fit a roof box to a car with no rails? explains the different possibilities.
Don't Forget the Space Above the Car
Adding hundreds of litres of storage above your vehicle also changes its external dimensions.
Once the roof bars and box are fitted, your vehicle will be taller. Remember this when approaching multi-storey car parks, garages, underground parking and height barriers.
Read How Much Height Does A Roof Box Add To A Car? before travelling somewhere where clearance could be an issue.
470 Litres or 580 Litres?
There isn't one capacity that's right for everybody.
The approximately 470-litre Large Roof Box can provide substantial additional storage for many ordinary family holidays and road trips. The approximately 580-litre Extra Large Roof Box provides another 110 litres for journeys where bulky luggage is a bigger part of the problem.
Rather than automatically choosing the largest option, think about:
- How many people are travelling.
- The type of luggage you're taking.
- Whether your bags are rigid or flexible.
- Any pushchairs or suitable holiday equipment you want to carry.
- Your vehicle and its applicable roof-load limit.
- Whether the smaller box already provides enough space.
Roof Box Range gives you an overview of the available choices.
Roof Box Hire for Extra Holiday Luggage
Midlands Roof Box Hire helps motorists create more usable luggage space without buying equipment they may only need for occasional holidays.
Based in Tamworth, we provide roof box hire for customers travelling from Lichfield, Solihull, Nuneaton, Hinckley, Birmingham and other parts of the Midlands.
Our premium Thule roof boxes are professionally fitted, with compatible roof bars available where required.
So, How Much Can You Put in a Roof Box?
Our roof boxes provide approximately 470 litres or 580 litres of additional storage, but there isn't an accurate universal answer in terms of a specific number of suitcases or bags.
What actually fits depends on the size and shape of your belongings, how efficiently they're packed and the applicable weight limits for your complete setup.
The best approach is to use the roof box for suitable bulky luggage, make good use of its shape without forcing the lid, and stop loading when you reach either the physical capacity or the relevant weight limit, whichever comes first.
See Our Prices, browse our Roof Box Range or Contact Us with your vehicle registration and travel dates to discuss the right option for your trip.