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

This is a wonderful cargo basket, we;ve had it on our Pilot for about 5 years now. There is some paint deterioration, due to weather and pollution, I'm sure, and a few places where the basket has rusted a bit. Our car is old and dark, so it hasn't messed up the car that we could see. Great for freeing up the inside of your car on road trips.

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.

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 valueTHE 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.