We just received our V50 T5 AWD following an excellent factory delivery experience that included a driving tour to Oslo and Flam, Norway, the ferry across from Oslo to Denmark, driving to Copenhagen, then Stockholm, and finally back to Gothenburg.

We have the factory roof rails but no cross bars. Would like to get a medium sized roof box and need some advice. Are the factory roof rails supplied by Thule? Which box would folks recommend? Which cross bars would be needed to a) fit the rack and b) attach the box?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I bought some Volvo cross bars for my V70 a few years ago. They fit my V50 roof rails also. I bought them at the Volvo dealer, and although they appeared to made by Thule, neither Volvo NA or Thule NA will support them.

I've had big problems with the attachment bolt head stripping. The bolt has a tamper-resistant torx head that should be almost strip-proof, but the supplied tightening tool was crap. The tool's handle kept slipping off as you applied downward pressure while tightening, causing the tool to slip and strip the bolt head. I took the rails apart and found the bolt was easily replaceable, but niether Volvo NA nor Thule NA will even look at it. They will only sell me complete new bars. So I'm stuck with bars that I can't tighten down to safe levels now.

I don't recommend getting the Volvo bars. Buy some Thule bars at a local dealer and then at least you'll be able to get spare parts/support if/when you need them.

Hi there!

I have the same car with facotry roof rails. I looked at the Volvo, Thule, and Yakima cross bars and the towers (the part that connects the cross bars to the roof rails). The Volvo system is one piece with square tube, I didn't like it because there is a special tool that is used to fasten the towers/cross bar assembly to the roof rails. If the tool get stripped, you will be in for trouble. Also, there is no way to lock the system to the car. Ok one needs the special tool but big deal...

The Thule towers were kinda cheap. There is a thin metal band that fastens the towers to the roof rails. It didn't look very sturdy to me.

I went with the Yakima, much better towers and they are lockable. The bars are round compared to the square Thule and Volvo (or even the wing shapped version, stay away from this one, not as strong). I bought a Thule cargo box as it was similar to the Yamika but was bit longer and was on sale (about $70 cheaper as a result). I went 3,500 miles with this system without any adjustments to the box, or cross bars. I recommend the Yakima tower and bars. Be sure to get the fairing, it dramatically cuts down wind noise.

Cheers....

Hi,I have a 2.4 v50 and have fitted Thule 755 footpack and 861 aero bars on them,they look great, the roof box i have is a Mont blanc triron 450 in gloss black which i found a lot better than thule even though they made by the same company but i needed a black one and Thule don't make one only the spirit bur it has a small capacity.

Cheers
Nick

Hi - I've just fitted a Mont Blanc Triton 450 box in gloss black with Mont Blanc aero bars, the combination looks great and was easy to fit in less than an hour. First trip down the motorway tomorrow so I'll see how it feels!

Leisureshack.co.uk is where I bought mine and delivery was prompt and arrived as described.