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Roof Rack Rails

RichSNJ

RichSNJ

Well-known member
Has anybody purchased a set of Roof Rack Rails for their L? I can't seem to find a mopar part number on mopar's site, but I have found the HEKA Cross Bars on Amazon for $189. I see that my roof looks like it's set up for rails, so I would think mopar would sell them. If you have rails or mopar rails, do they look like these? Anybody have a mopar part number?

61iYILfP4ZL._AC_SL1000_.jpg
 
Sarge

Sarge

Well-known member
Rhino Rack low rise towers make them sit a lot lower (but bar ends stick out). Others have found some cheaper Amazon options that don't stick up as high as the stock ones. Thule makes the stock ones, and Yakima offers a similarly tall option, FWIW.
 
S

SweetAndLow

Well-known member
Sarge said:
Rhino Rack low rise towers make them sit a lot lower (but bar ends stick out). Others have found some cheaper Amazon options that don't stick up as high as the stock ones. Thule makes the stock ones, and Yakima offers a similarly tall option, FWIW.
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Do you have any close up photos of the rhino rack on a GCL? I was looking at the Yakima option but still open to others. The Thule seems to have switched their suggested solution to a clamp style and not the hard mount solution like the compass.
 
RichSNJ

RichSNJ

Well-known member
Sarge said:
Rhino Rack low rise towers make them sit a lot lower (but bar ends stick out). Others have found some cheaper Amazon options that don't stick up as high as the stock ones. Thule makes the stock ones, and Yakima offers a similarly tall option, FWIW.
Click to expand...

It would be nice if one of them was a clamp on option so you could easily install it when you need it and take it off when you don't.
 
S

SweetAndLow

Well-known member
RichSNJ said:
It would be nice if one of them was a clamp on option so you could easily install it when you need it and take it off when you don't.
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The bolt on method is easier to remove and install imo. Same location and no possibility of it sliding like the clamp version.
 
P

Peppers

New member
RichSNJ said:
Has anybody purchased a set of Roof Rack Rails for their L? I can't seem to find a mopar part number on mopar's site, but I have found the HEKA Cross Bars on Amazon for $189. I see that my roof looks like it's set up for rails, so I would think mopar would sell them. If you have rails or mopar rails, do they look like these? Anybody have a mopar part number?

View attachment 2338
Click to expand...
It looks good
 
Sarge

Sarge

Well-known member
For some reason I can't post photos, but all I have at the moment is a photo on the compass. It clearly shows they sit about half as high, though. I haven't put them on my car because I can't find my security bolt key for the Yakima bolts to remove that rack, and my lemon is most likely going to be bought back soon anyway, so it will likely wait for next year by the time I get my new car. (I will likely only use the rack for my rocket box for skis).
 
C

CaliforniaDreamin

Member
RichSNJ said:
Has anybody purchased a set of Roof Rack Rails for their L?
Click to expand...
Yes I have these bars from Amazon on my SR. I like them. They are NOT from Mopar but rather are sourced from China. There are at least 3 Amazon vendors selling what appears to be identical bars. I like the lower profile and the fact that there are no plastic parts. The end brackets and main tubes are powder coated Aluminum and the fasteners are stainless.
 

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RichSNJ

RichSNJ

Well-known member
CaliforniaDreamin said:
Yes I have these bars from Amazon on my SR. I like them. They are NOT from Mopar but rather are sourced from China. There are at least 3 Amazon vendors selling what appears to be identical bars. I like the lower profile and the fact that there are no plastic parts. The end brackets and main tubes are powder coated Aluminum and the fasteners are stainless.
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So you've got those exact bars that I posted? I would probably order the Mopar's, but they seem out of stock everywhere. Was there any prep work to make them fit or did they just bolt on?
 
RichSNJ

RichSNJ

Well-known member
RichSNJ said:
Has anybody purchased a set of Roof Rack Rails for their L? I can't seem to find a mopar part number on mopar's site, but I have found the HEKA Cross Bars on Amazon for $189. I see that my roof looks like it's set up for rails, so I would think mopar would sell them. If you have rails or mopar rails, do they look like these? Anybody have a mopar part number?
Click to expand...

So I ordered the HEKA's off of Amazon, they shipped from China and came in 4 days... I installed them today to get them aligned and then took them off for when I need them. There were no instructions whatsoever, but pretty straight forward. It had a picture showing smallish washers for the screws that held the supports to the rails, but they only had largish washers which I wound up using with the larger bolts that go into the top of the Jeep, so I used some washers I had in stock for the support to rail screws. Overall, happy with the result...

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Sarge

Sarge

Well-known member
I'd say that's the nicest-looking bar setup I've seen for OEM style (no protruding bar ends). They aren't rear as tall as the OEM and other options I've seen.

Do those bars say the load capacity? I'd imagine they're fine for roof boxes and the like, but probably not strong enough for roof top tents and such. Curious if they have a rating.

Make sure you use stainless steel hardware (bolts and washers). It's also a good idea to use the security style bolts (they have a pin in the center so you need a special tool to install them), as that makes it harder for a thief to steal the whole rack setup if you find yourself parked at a hotel in an unknown area, have to leave the car somewhere, etc. Yakima includes those bolts in their kit, so you could probably source them from etrailer or Yakima directly. Just make sure to reference the Yakima 'landing pad' kit that works with this car (or Jeep Compass too).
 
RichSNJ

RichSNJ

Well-known member
Sarge said:
I'd say that's the nicest-looking bar setup I've seen for OEM style (no protruding bar ends). They aren't rear as tall as the OEM and other options I've seen.

Do those bars say the load capacity? I'd imagine they're fine for roof boxes and the like, but probably not strong enough for roof top tents and such. Curious if they have a rating.

Make sure you use stainless steel hardware (bolts and washers). It's also a good idea to use the security style bolts (they have a pin in the center so you need a special tool to install them), as that makes it harder for a thief to steal the whole rack setup if you find yourself parked at a hotel in an unknown area, have to leave the car somewhere, etc. Yakima includes those bolts in their kit, so you could probably source them from etrailer or Yakima directly. Just make sure to reference the Yakima 'landing pad' kit that works with this car (or Jeep Compass too).
Click to expand...
If you're talking about the Heka kit I put on, the stated load capacity is 165lb. I don't know whether that's each or combined, but I would say that they are sturdier than the OEM rails our Tahoe had. I don't know what kind of load rating a roof top tent needs, but most of the rails I've ever seen would probably not hold more than the 165, so maybe you need the big square rails for tents...?

As far as the stainless and security bolts, it's not a big concern for me because I don't plan on ever using them on any kind of extended basis, but if I were, I would probably get stainless bolts and paint them black, even though I'm probably the only one tall enough to see them :)

PS, I also like that the rails have a 1 inch wide rubber strip running along the top of the rails, which seems like it will be useful for keeping things from slipping...
 
Sarge

Sarge

Well-known member
Well, it turns out the GCL's roof rack weight rating (where your racks attach) is a very paltry 150 lbs anyway (I was very surprised to see it that low, I would have thought at least 200).

Most Yakima/Thule/Rhino cross bar setups weigh around 10-15 lbs, and my Yakima CBX-18 roof box weighs 65lbs... so it seems if you want to put a roof top tent on it, you'll have to remove the stock rails and install a different setup (which means removing the headliner).

I found this system from Offroad Animal for the WK2, which increases the dynamic rating from 150 lbs to 264lbs on the WK2, with a static rating of 528 lbs (which is what you'd need for a RTT, or heavier overlanding offroad gear). That's the heaviest I've seen for the WK2. Otherwise you damage the roof (the heavier steel base spreads the load out more).
 
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Blackbird76

New member
I didn't really care for the height of the Mopar cross bars and decided to try the Rhino Rack vortex aero cross bars, as the height is much lower than the Mopar ones. Attached to them is a Thule Motion XT XXL cargo carrier, I probably would have went with a XL but none were is stock and needed for an upcoming trip. Overall I'm happy with both products.

No wind noise at all, don't even know that their is something up there.


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Sarge

Sarge

Well-known member
Are those the low-rise towers or the regular towers? Can you measure from the roof to the bottom of the rails next to the towers?
 
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