Can You Safely Strap Cargo On Your Roof Without A Roof Rack?

Picture this: You've landed your dream job and are moving all the way across the country to live in a brand new apartment in a brand new city. You have 2,000 miles of open road ahead of you and plenty of time to get to your destination, so you pack everything you own in your car and strap the roof to the gills with luggage, "National Lampoon's Vacation"-style. But wait. Didn't they drive a station wagon? Yes, they did, and you don't drive a cargo champion like the three-row Kia Telluride. You don't have a roof rack, so how are you planning to move all that gear? Is it even possible to strap cargo to the roof without a proper roof rack?

While today the market offers plenty of crossovers with surprisingly large cargo capacities, not everyone has the combination of good interior cargo space and external hardware for a rooftop carrier. Without both, packing your car to move across the country or to go on an extended road trip gets a lot harder. Fear not, though. No roof rack doesn't mean these tasks are impossible. There are indeed safe, reliable ways to strap cargo to your roof without a rack.

When a car or SUV comes without roof rails or a built-in rack, the roof is said to be "naked" or "bare." Naked roofs can be found on cars and SUVs alike, and there's no immediately apparent way to safely load cargo onto a roof without rails or a rack, but thankfully several companies make universal roof attachments and crossbars designed to work with bare roofs.

The primary method of strapping cargo onto a bare roof involves installing your own crossbars. Some of the big names in car storage systems, namely Thule and Yakima, make universal crossbars that stretch the width of your roof and hook directly onto the frame of the vehicle. Usually, you do this by hooking the bracket just inside the door, but sometimes you'll need to pull back the weather strip on the door frame and hook the bracket underneath it. Once these crossbars are installed, you can use them exactly as you would any other crossbars. Just be sure to mind your roof's weight limit (which you can find in the owner's manual).

You can also anchor soft carriers directly onto the roof without using crossbars. These rooftop bags usually feature a roof mat that you'll place underneath the container to protect the roof and keep the container from sliding around. You set the carrier on top, load it, and then place straps over the carrier to hold it securely in place. Usually, these hook onto the frame using a bracket just like bare-roof crossbars. I have some firsthand experience with this from when I made a cross-country move with all of my gear in a 2002 Mustang named Eliza. She was super fun to drive, but cargo was an issue until I found a compatible rooftop bag. 

In my case, I had to run the straps through the inside of the car, which meant they made noise and were obnoxiously close to my head, but the setup got me and all my belongings across the Continental Divide safely. Whichever method you go with, ensure that you follow the product's instructions carefully, as doing so will minimize the risk of failure, which means minimizing the risk of scattering all your belongings down I-80. Another thing to be warned about: While handy, having cargo strapped to your car makes a big difference in your fuel economy.