Subaru Wagon Tailgate Hits Ski Box: DIY Modification

Tilting Ski Box

When we replaced our Subaru wagon, our old ski box didn’t fit the new car. The rear hatch door on the new car has a visor that keeps the door from fully opening because it hits the ski box. If the ski box was shorter, the rear door would open without interference.

Since ski boxes are expensive, I didn’t want to replace ours. Also, I like having lots of storage space as well as the ability to carry long items up top. If I could move the whole box forward, there would be room for the rear door to open, however, even when I moved the Thule carrier bars as far forward as possible, it wasn’t far enough. So I tried the idea of making new mounting holes in the ski box, leaving the Thule carrier bars where they were. That idea didn’t work out, since our ski box isn’t flat on the bottom. Also, when we haul heavy gear in the box, I wanted the support bars centered under the load.

Then I realized if the box where hinged up at the back just a few inches, it would clear nicely. Since I had some left over aluminum scraps from when I made a kayak rudder, I made a new mount for the front that has a hinge. If you’re going to make one yourself, I suggest you make the hinge end first, so then you can figure out how much the rear must lift to clear the door. The hinge is just a pair of ¼”x20 stainless-steel machine bolts. I bolted a scrap of 2” aluminum angle to the box and another bit of angle to the carrier bars and drilled a bolt hole where I wanted the pivot.

After getting the hinge installed, I could lift the box to see how high before it was out of the way of the rear door. In my case, it had to raise up about 6” to clear. At this point I discovered that the ski box is way too flexible when not bolted to front and rear carrier bars. I needed something bolted to the inside to stiffen the box. For me, the perfect solution was a lightweight pair of nordic skis! I drilled mounting holes clear thru my very first pair of nordic skate skis - 205 cm long. It can be wet inside our ski box, so to prevent the skis from wood rot, I sealed the bolt holes with epoxy, to keep the water out. (Actually, I glued short pieces of aluminum tubes for each bolt, then filed the tubes flush to the ski.) The skis are light and keep the box from racking.

One clever bit that I’m proud of is the Lexan plastic that snaps over a bolt to keep the box in place when closed. To lift the box, I flex the Lexan over the bolt and lift the box. The pivot the support legs into position. That’s it. In the video you can see I’ve put a cross-bar that connects both support legs, so you raise and lower them both at the same time. The legs are 1”x3/16” flat stock stainless-steel. I put another piece of aluminum angle bolted cross-ways to the box, which rests on top of the support legs when the box is tilted up.

Lexan is cool stuff. It bends, cuts and drills easily. I had some scraps, so I cut a piece 2”x2”x1/8” and drilled two holes in the top to mount it to the box. Then drill a ½” hole in the center of the lexan, to coincide with a ½” tube bolted to the rear carrier bar. That way, the lexan flexes forward when closing until the tube can pop thru the center of the lexan. Clamp the bottom ½” in a vise and bend about a 30-degree angle in the plastic. This is a lead-in to guide the Lexan over the bolt that holds the box in the down position.

That’s about it. I used stainless-steel machine screws, bolts and nuts to hold the aluminum and stainless materials. I used NyLock stainless-steel nuts everywhere to keep it from vibrating loose. It’s been in use now for about 4 years and still working great. A few times we’ve lifted the box when full of stuff and then driven away with it still perched on the support legs! We’ve driven a fair distance with the box tilted up, no harm done. Nice to know everything is plenty strong. It was about $600 less than buying a replacement ski box!