FRONT RUNNER BOXES.
I spend a lot of time on the road and especially off-road in remote and isolated places, more often than not the roads are as dusty as hell and no matter how hard anyone tries, dust always makes its way inside. My 4wd is 30 years old and keeping dust to a minimum can be bloody hard at times.
Now there’s literally dozens of storage solutions for the inside of a 4wd rig, no matter how they use it and what they want to carry. I’ve just started using the Front Runner Pro Storage boxes the past few trips and I just cant fault them. For me, I use them for clothes, towels and a spares box keeping my stuff dust free and sort of organised.
Their origin begin in the late 1980’s in South Africa, designed by a group of engineers frustrated with failures to their equipment every time they went on off-road expeditions across the continent. Like other great 4wd inventions and ideas, they guys came up with an idea to create tough cases around a campfire and the rumour goes they were camping under a Boab Tree.
Their initial plan was to make them as tough and as strong as an elephant, needing to withstand the rigorous demands of getting thrown around in the back of a 4wd. Stanley Illman was the driving force behind the product development and along with storage boxes his team of engineers wanted to create durable roof racks and a range of accessories using superior products.
With much trial and error using cad machines and different grades of plastic, the team created an expedition grade box system called the Wolf Pack and Cub Box. Designed specifically to fit in specified drawer systems, they would be stack-able, durable and an easy fit onto roof racks. Roll through to 2021 and the Front Runner company was bought by the world wide known Dometic brand, who wanted to broaden their outdoor portfolio by expanding their product range. Today, Front Runner storage solution boxes are still made in Johannesburg, South Africa.
BOX DESIGNS
The Cub Box was initially designed for inside a vehicle and primarily used inside a drawer or on a slide system. It has a sliding tab lock on the lid, they have been designed to be stack-able with an integrated base to fit on another Cub and are made from high strength HDPE black plastic. Weighing in at 2 kilo’s it has a inner capacity of 19 litres, coming in at 440mm x 315mm x 210mm. It’s a cheaper option in the range and is water and dust resistant, due to no rubber or foam seal between the lid and the box.
The Front Runner Wolf Pack Pro on the other hand, which is what I use, has been designed for outdoor use ( think on a roof rack ) and is made from tough, impact resistant polypropylene. The Wolf weighs 3.65 kilo’s and has a internal capacity just over 30 litres. There are four heavy-duty oversize latches on the box making it very secure, they are stack-able and have a rubber seal in the lip edge to make them water and dustproof, with a rating of IP66, on the outside they come in at 510mm x 400mm x 230mm, both boxes have integrated handles.
It has a 3D type outer construction, which makes it tough, gives the box its strength, and allows for other boxes to be stacked on top, clipping into place with cleverly designed feet. It also has several notches on the sides where if it was on a roof rack, straps can lock it down into place. The pillars on the sides and corners gives the box more strength and when strapped down tightly it won’t bow in or snap under pressure, making it very rigid. The underside of the lid has a honeycomb feature which gives strength but also allows heavier items to be placed on top without collapsing, the lid is fully removable to make packing and cleaning just that little bit easier. The interior of the box has straight lines allowing items to be stacked inside more efficiently and right to the top. As a personal touch, each box has a welcome card and who packed it, which is a nice touch.
OTHER OPTIONS
Like with all good things there are options to improve the storage system; there’s a high-lid option for the Wolf Pack Pro which adds another 60mm on the top ( going from 230mm to 290mm ), this still keeps the box stack-able if using multiple storage boxes. Front Runner also offer Foam Dividers for the more delicate items such as camera gear, or general fragile items. The kit comes with 3 dividers, a craft utility knife and a set of plastic clips to make the internals more rigid. Front Runner also offer a full frame storage solution where 4 of the Wolf Pack boxes can slide into neatly and securely, allowing the user to utilise the top of the deck for other gear.
These Front Runner Wolf Pack Pro storage boxes have been a game changer for me when I do my big trips away, they stack securely and everything stays dry and dust free. When I get home it’s as easy as unload them, hose them off and put them away till the next big trip. Before I came across these I was using those cheaper ones that tended to crack every-time someone looked at it. These are reasonably priced for a great quality box and to me the added bonus was they were designed, tested and made by 4wders who wanted essential and quality off-road items.
MORE INFO
Pricing, specs, stockists and short user videos for the range of Front Runner gear can be found online at www.Dometic.com. They can be bought online or through a range of outdoor stockists across Australia. At the time of writing, expect to pay $53 for a Cub storage box and around $68 for the Wolf Pack Pro box. The 4 Wolf Pack Pro Storage solution kit is around $1225 and includes all hardware to mount the frame plus 4 Wolf Pack boxes. A six tub box sliding drawer solution using the Cub boxes is another option costing around $1900. Check the website to see if these units will fit your 4wd or trailer setup.
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