Just wondering if it is possible to (temporarily) remove the bottom cushion of the back seat with simple hand tools. I want to be able to sleep in my OBW, and I'm fairly tall (6'1"), so the 4-5" depth of the back seat, when folded against the back of the front seats, takes up some much needed space. I'm planning for my next-summer Alaksa Highway trip, and if I could sleep in the OBW easily, then it would make for much easier "camping" arrangements.

 

Also wondering what kind of experiences people have had with car-top boxes (rocket boxes and the like.) I was thinking of getting a medium-sized one (not one of the long ones) to carry stuff in on my trip, but I'm worried about the effect it may have on gas mileage, as well as not wanting to make the car too top-heavy. How well do they work? How does it affect handling, particularly in high winds?

I don't know anything about removing the seat, sorry.

 

 

We have a 20 cubic foot sears car top box. It isn't as fancy as the thule boxes, but I figured since I use it about once a year and it cost about a third as much it would suffice. Getting it on and off is pretty easy, even by yourself. I always try to put the heavy stuff in the car, and the light stuff in the box. When I first bought the box we took a trip to Vermont, two adults, two kids, rear of car loaded with full coolers etc., car top box fully loaded, we averaged 27.7 MPG at about 70 MPH with the A/C on. I don't think it has a negative effect on fuel economy.

 

We took a trip to Tennesee using the box, the car was more heavily loaded, the terrain was much more up and down, the O2 sensor was tired, driving 75 MPH we averaged about 24 MPG. We saw some winds and windy roads on that trip, and while it does affect handling, I don't think it's so bad I would worry about it.