A way to enlarge the trunk

Artur Owczarek

Brand Product Manager Moje AutoHe has been involved in the automotive industry for years. He is passionate about cars and detailing. On his blog, he shares his knowledge and experience, offering tips on how to effectively care for your car and extend its life.

Packing vacation gear into the car is becoming a specialization. And since my car is not made of rubber, I use additional solutions. Like most drivers, by the way. There are many possibilities, we will always find solutions that meet our needs. And this is also the basis for a successful vacation.

For an extension

The most popular way to increase the load capacity of our car is a classic roof rack. Or rather, it was, because today we choose boxing much more often. First of all, it has the form of a closed box, which perfectly protects the contents against weather conditions and (unfortunately, there are also such people) lovers of other people's property.

Leave the selection and installation of a rack or roof box to specialists from the point of sale. Owners of cars equipped with railings, i.e. station wagons and all types of SUVs, are in a better situation. Thanks to them, there is no need to purchase feet that attach the entire structure to the car body. In turn, on the crossbars we can flexibly decide on the arrangement of, for example, the number of bicycle holders or even a tourist kayak.

(photo: My Car)

Generally, when filling the interior of the box or using the trunk, we must remember the expected maximum load. Detailed values can be found in the owner's manual, e.g. of a car. Ignoring these recommendations may result in the structure breaking down, which in an optimistic scenario will result in scratching the roof.

A larger car allows for further solutions for transporting holiday equipment. Even with such a compact car, a box can be placed on the roof and a bicycle rack can be placed on the hook. This extremely practical patent finally found recognition in Polish regulations. Since January 2016, we have been able to obtain it third board registration number intended, among others, for such a trunk. In the case of a roadside inspection, the excuse will not be lack of time to obtain it. There are still regulations in force that prohibit covering or removing the plate from the car body. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure efficient external lighting of the vehicle's outline enlarged in this way.

And one more thing - what to do with an unused towbar. In older cars it was permanently installed and physically cannot be hidden. In newer versions, it is a design with a removable hitch ball, so it must be dismantled. The most convenient solution is an automatically foldable and unfolding hook.

Regardless of the solution chosen, driving with such excess baggage requires us to limit the speed. Additionally, we should devote each stop during the trip to checking the quality of the fastening. And remember to raise your car before attempting to enter a garage or underground parking lot!

Luggage space

Before we move on to packing the trunk, an important tip about the passenger compartment. Let's limit the things transported in it to a minimum. Even an ordinary plastic bottle with a drink thrown by the force of a collision with another vehicle or a rollover gains not only speed but also mass. Hitting the head with it can have very tragic consequences. The same goes for other items, take for example the cockpit cleaning spray hidden in the door pocket. If we like to have such cosmetics at hand, we should choose it in a form soaked cloths.

Before packing things into a suitcase or bag, I think about their arrangement in the trunk. I definitely prefer to have one large piece of luggage (plus the organizer mentioned many times) than dozens of loose items stuffed in corners. Yes, this way I limit the use of every free space, but…

(photo: My Car)

Firstly, in the event of a breakdown, e.g. a punctured wheel, I can easily reach for a spare or a repair kit. Secondly, fewer items are easier to secure during transport. And when they hit the back of our car, they will move towards us. So if there are appropriate mounting brackets in the trunk mesh or elastic lines, don't hesitate to use them.

When arranging things in the trunk, I always try to fit them under the shelf. While traveling, I look into the rearview mirror from time to time, thus monitoring the road situation and the behavior of the bicycles attached to the back. The driver should simply keep his eyes peeled.