Rifle Box Overland Roof Storage

Rifle Box Overland Roof Storage – Creating more storage space with a low profile gun case.

The Shogun Sport is a decent sized 4×4 but its by no means the biggest/most spacious out there especially when you are travelling with three people, the back soon fills up so we ended up looking for a budget solution to create additional storage up top on the roof.

Plano cases appear to be the gun case of choice but with no Plano stock left in Spain [at least none that we could find] we looked at other cases on the market. The case had to be waterproof to a degree although we knew that we were not going to get a PELI option for a hundred euros either. It also had to be a decent size, with good depth and be of good quality, afterall, rifle cases are not really designed to be bolted to 4×4 roof racks and put through the rigors of overlanding.

The case we settled on was the TECTAKE rifle case, having looked all over the net there were probably around eight different designs of case available, all were sold out apart from two, the Tectake being one of them, there appears to have been a run on gun cases which makes about as much sense as the whole toilet roll thing during the pandemic, supply chain issues are affecting all products.

TECTAKE RIFLE CASE SPECS:

With the case arriving quickly it was time to set about the fitment which was a simple process, we drilled four holes into our square Thule bars [see post: can you drill into square Thule bars here] and bolted the box directly onto the bars for extra stability and without any unsightly U bolts or clamps underneath. In fact the box is so stable being attached this way you can rock the whole vehicle from side to side with it.

Why we chose a rifle box

Initially we thought we’d invest in a roof rack, a Rhino rack or similar. As time went on though we realised that we might not need one for our own personal circumstances so we just kept the roof bars. While storage space in the Shogun can be short a rifle box does offer an additional 48 litres of space up top and for it’s ideal for lighter items such as clothing which frees up space inside the Shogun for camping gear.

Gun cases are low profile and it’s suprising how much you can get into one, they also look the business bolted onto your roof and while nothing can be described as fully ‘thief proof’ a couple of padlocks make these boxes lockable and secure. For us, rifle box overland roof storage was a good option without the expense of a roof rack, additional boxes, straps etc all of which would have also added more weight.

One concern

As mentioned above the box is bolted on and solid as a rock, one concern we do have however is the rating on the temperature – specifically the high temp tolerance of +85 degrees. Spain gets well over that in the height of the summer so we’ll see how we get on, it may well be that we’ll be actively seeking out shade a bit more than usual which is no bad thing.

Fitting tips

For fitting we went the direct route as the box is going to be a permanent fixture, one tip we would offer though is to take your time getting everything lined up, this is the tricky part and while you can do the job yourself it would be made easier with a second person to help with alignment. We’d also stress that the tighter the box is attached the better to avoid movement, once the vehicle starts rocking or is over at an angle you’ll thank yourself for the rigidity, any movement will cause stress and wear, remember, these are gun cases not ‘overland roof boxes’!

Do we recommend this box?

Yes, very much so. At just over €100 euros it sits at a sensible price, it can be bought direct too and delivery is quick. It’s a sturdy box and at 10kg no lightweight either which means it’s not flimsy like some others ie: the lid does not bend or go flapping around when you open it.

For water resistence the rating is average so storms and pressure washers may need to be approached with a little caution, the seal does keep the dust out. The volume is good and the box holds more than you might think, it has three handles and wheels which obviously won’t be needed on the roof but they are there and everthing feels sturdy. We can’t compare to other boxes as this is the only one we’ve had but yeah, we’re happy it, it serves its purpose well, looks good and the quality for the price is excellent.

All we have to do now is decide what to do with all the foam inserts…