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Roof Rack Guide
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- Top Brands
- {{ brand.name }}
- Roof Rack Components
- Towers & Tracks
- Kits & Clamps
- Load Bars
- Cargo Platforms
- Travel Gear & Luggage
- Backpacks
- Bike Panniers & Racks
- Luggage & Bags
- Travel Gear
- Baby, Kids & Pets
- Bike Trailers
- Strollers
- Vehicle Recovery
- Traction Boards
- Trail Gear
- Recovery Accessories
- Vehicle Lighting
- Vehicle Lights
- Vehicle Mounts
- Lighting Accessories
-
Roof Rack Guide
-
Bike Rack Guide
-
Watersport Guide
-
Trailer Hitch Guide
-
Cargo Carrier Guide
-
Rooftop Tent Guide
-
Ski & Snowboard Rack Guide
-
All Guides
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Roof Rack Guide
Your roof rack, your way
Different cars require different Base Roof Rack Systems, so the first step is to assess which roof rack options are available for your car and then select the type best suited for what you want it to do for you. Once you figure out which type you would like, assembling the base roof rack system will be straightforward, and you will be off and running (or riding) in no time.
The easiest way to find the right parts to fit your vehicle is to use our handy gear wizard:
Bar Styles
ALUMINUM AND AERODYNAMIC
These are the most popular bars that perform well, reduce the wind noise, and are compatible with most accessories, including those requiring a T-slot.
ALUMINUM AND HEAVY-DUTY
Suitable for heavier loads.
- Yakima HD bar - includes tie-down points on all caps
- Thule ProBar - tri-slot for multiple accessories
STEEL Bars
High-performance but missing some of the advanced features like T-slots. The Yakima Corebar is still aerodynamic, while the SquareBar and Round Bar are a very basic, but functional shape.
- Yakima CoreBar
- Thule SquareBar
- Yakima RoundBar
Roof Rack Components
These car rack systems are best dissected into the components that combine to create the complete solution.
Towers, Feet, or Legs sit on the four corners of your roof and attach to either your bare roof (with the addition of a specific kit/clip), or to your existing factory roof rails or factory mount track/fixed points.
Load Bars or Crossbars attach to your towers/feet and run from the driver-side window to the passenger-side window to create a mounting point for your accessories. There are a few different types of bars - scroll down to see a breakdown.
Fit Kits, Clips, or Landing Pads are vehicle-specific parts that mount the tower to your vehicle. Some vehicles do not require these, such as a vehicle with factory-installed raised rails.
Different cars require different towers/feet, and deciding which ones work for you can sometimes be complex. If at any point you find yourself confused, check our Rack Builder and enter your car's year, make, and model, and then we will do the thinking for you.
ROOF TYPES
The majority of vehicles fall into one of the following categories:
If your vehicle does not have rain gutters or a factory roof rack installed, this is the option for you.
While most bare-roof vehicles (like a Toyota Corolla) will mount inside the vehicle's door jams, some vehicles (most sedans from Mazda, BMW, and Tesla, to name some) have fixed mounting points factory installed on the roof. These points are usually hidden by a little plastic door or strip.
Regardless of whether or not there are fixed mounting points, using these towers will require the use of a vehicle-specific fit kit - these are always sold separately.
TOWERS FOR BARE-ROOF VEHICLES
- With overhang (providing more space for accessories):
- Flush (for a sleeker look)
TOWERS FOR FIXED-POINT VEHICLES
- With overhang (providing more space for accessories):
- Thule Evo Fixpoint
- Thule 460R Rapid Podium (older model)
- Yakima SkyLine
- Flush (for a sleeker look)
If your vehicle has rails running from the front to back, this is the option for you. Some vehicles come with a roof rack installed by the vehicle manufacturer that, in most cases, falls short on functionality or lacks crossbars altogether. Factory-installed roof racks generally come with either a raised side rail or a continuous side rail. In order to determine which style you have: if you can slide a finger underneath the side rail, you have raised rails; otherwise, you have flush rails.
Note that raised and flush rails are different from a track. If you have grooves running front to back on your vehicle, your vehicle will use a track-mounted system.
If your vehicle has raised rails, your towers will mount without any other parts needed. Flush rail vehicles will require a clip or kit to fit to your vehicle.
TOWERS FOR RAISED RAILS
- With overhang (providing more space for accessories):
- Flush (for a sleeker look)
TOWERS FOR FLUSH RAILS
- With overhang (providing more space for accessories):
- Thule Evo Flush
- Yakima SightLine
- Yakima RidgeLine (older model)
- Flush (for a sleeker look)
If your vehicle has tracks (factory or aftermarket) running from the front to back, this is the option for you.
Tracks on a vehicle are very similar to fixed points in how the racks mount. The only difference is that you can adjust the bar spread on a track-mounted system.
Since roof tracks will vary in width and depth, a vehicle-specific fitting kit is required to secure the tower to your roof.
If your vehicle has no available roof rack option, or you want something that looks factory, this is the option for you.
There are two ways to do a permanent custom installation on your vehicle roof:
- Track Install: The most common way we install custom tracks at Rack Attack. By mounting a track to the roof, you can use a track-mounted rack system and have it look just like a factory job.
- Landing Pad: Slightly cheaper and easier to do, is installing four landing pads to your roof. These landing pads work as permanent fixed points for a fixed-point rack install.
Contact us to get a quote and book your install today:
If we take care of your custom install, we guarantee it for however long you own your vehicle. If you want to do the installation yourself, we sell all the parts you're going to need to get it done.
- Yakima TrackTower
- Yakima RibCage JL - for Jeep Wrangler hardtops
- Rhino-Rack Backbone - for Jeep JL Wrangler
