Linda and Grant from MyAussie Travel guide – The Alubox

28th of August 2018

Our trip using the Alubox.

First impressions when unpacking the Alubox – We thought they were well constructed and the quality of the finish was very impressive. We certainly liked how light they were and the size is something we had been looking for. For this expedition, we wanted to carry a range of items in three of the Aluboxes on the vehicle’s roof racks. We fitted the fourth to the front carrier of our quad ATV.

Test conditions.

The boxes were subjected to a range of Australian harsh environmental conditions -

High speed 110kph bitumen roads

Heavy corrugated dirt roads with speeds varying from 20 to 80kph to try and find the optimum speed to reduce the shaking of the vehicle

Bulldust – this is fine red powder that gets in everywhere

Rain - we experienced some days of high speed rain driving and other times constant downpours, wind-swept angled rain

Temperature - not overly hot with a maximum of 35c and as low as -2c in the deserts

Insect Splatter - In Australia, you can’t avoid having your vehicle windscreens covered in insects after a day’s driving.

Holding down the Aluboxes.

Two of the Aluboxes were fitted to either side of the vehicle’s roof rack at the front. These boxes were carrying camping sleeping equipment and a range of small packages.

We attached these boxes using the box side handles, and for security, we placed a third strap across the lid using stretchy rubber straps.

The third box was fitted on our vehicle’s rear roof rack and was centrally located. This box contained a range of welding equipment and spare parts.

For the rear box we used a ratchet style webbing strap and this was lashed over the lid front and rear.

So how did they fair?

The 2 front boxes were going to take the full force of the oncoming environment - rain, wind, dust and insects, while the rear box was sitting lower and protected by some jerry cans (for fuel).

Water ingress - we had some heavy rainy days where we were doing high speed driving at 100kph in rain, and not one drop of water entered the boxes. We also had high gusty winds overnight with angled rain, and again no water entry at all.

Insects - As part of outback travel in Australia, you are going to collect your fair share of insect splatter. We can report at times the boxes were covered with insect splatter, but they seem to have cleaned up quite well. With some polish, we expect to remove the majority of staining on the boxes.

Dust Ingress - In Australia we have very fine powder dust, and at times when driving in a convoy, the vehicles following behind need to hang back as you won’t see through the dust.

We have to report the two front boxes had minor levels of dust entry. We’re thinking our lashing method could have contributed to this. The rubber straps possibly could have allowed the boxes to vibrate on the roof rack due to the corrugations. In addition, it’s possible that having the one strap across the centre might have placed uneven pressure on the lid and seal. This is something we need to consider in the future. The dust level wasn’t major considering the conditions we were driving in.

The rear box was a lot better off when looking at dust ingress. Although we had some minor dust (but much less). In fact, we feel the lid straps brought about the dust. When closed, we’ve noticed the straps folded back and sat on the seal which is something we have now learnt to be more observant about when closing the lid. I would say if it wasn’t for the lid strap issue we would have had zero dust entry. It’s also worth noting this box was located on the rear roof rack and was lashed down quite differently. It possibly wouldn’t have vibrated like the front boxes.

Quad ATV Box

The box located on the front of the quad was used as a “day” box….used to store items while we were travelling by the quad bike. Here it would hold items such as cameras, electronic navigation, medical kit, a small tool kit, our lunch and morning tea supplies. We sat this box on some insulating foam, and was lashed in place via the three box handles. This was held down very firmly and didn’t vibrate on the rack. The quad was driven over very rough tracks and roads, and in convoys of dust at times. It sat out overnight in sometimes heavy rain. This box had zero water entry and little to no dust entry, and worked perfectly for us.

Conclusion and Recommendations

There is a lot to like about the Aluboxes! They are lightweight, well-constructed, have reinforced edges, and the lid sits neatly over the box seal and forms like a gutter around the box. The over centre style latches provide that positive closing feeling you want in an all-terrain box, and by adding a small padlock, it can keep prying eyes away. We can see how these boxes could be used in a variety of storage style solutions from trailers to the back of vehicle canopies.