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Aerodynamic, aluminum crossbars let you build an aftermarket roof rack for your vehicle. Full-length bars provide plenty of space for carriers and accessories. Vortex strips in C-channels reduce wind noise. Theft-deterring plastic locks included.
Features:
Rhino-Rack Vortex Aero Crossbars - Black - 49" Long - Qty 2:Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hi, Matt with etrailer. If you're looking for an option to give you a little bit more storage space on your 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe, especially if you are trying to haul those longer items, anything like skis or kayaks, stuff that's not gonna really fit in the back of your vehicle or things that are just gonna be a little bit too dirty or items like that, then the Rhino-Rack roof rack is gonna be a great option for you. So let's check it out. To help illustrate what I'm talking about, we threw a ski carrier up here with a ski and you can really see the length of this, and that's something that's definitely gonna be an uncomfortable drive if you have it in your vehicle. 'Cause while the Santa Fe does have a lot of storage in the back, those longer items are gonna be pretty difficult. Not to say that you can't put a basket or a box up here, you're probably gonna be good on space most of the time.
But if the case ever does happen where you do need to just a little bit more space, you can put a box or basket up there too. It's also important that you're looking at the correct kit because what we have today is a roof with a flush rail on it. Now the Santa Fe is gonna have two options. Typically, that's gonna have a naked roof and a flush rail option. And you can tell the difference is with the flush rail, you have up top a rail that you can grab onto.
Now with the naked roof, you're not gonna have anything up here, it's just gonna be flush and flat. But we can dive a little bit deeper into this roof rack. And this is gonna be pretty nice because this is gonna come in this three parts. So we're gonna have the crossbars up top and then we're gonna have the tower that connects to it and then the fit kit that attaches the whole system to your roof. So let's take a closer look at the roof rack.
So these are gonna be 49-inch aero crossbars. So that's gonna tell you how long they are. And the aero vortex bar is gonna have the shape to it where it tapers on each end, that help would be more aerodynamic that help reduce that wind noise. Now if you look up top, we're gonna have these weather strips it comes with. And what these are designed to do is also help reduce any wind noise and prevent any debris from building up in here, because this T channel up top is designed to mount other T channel accessories.
And the downside to that though is with these strips, you actually have to cut those down the size to really work with any gear you have up here. And at the very end, we're gonna have this end cap. This end cap's gonna have this tool right here at the very end. You actually have to use an included tool to remove this and that's just built there or put there for some extra security so no one can come by and take off your T channel accessories. And beneath that, we're gonna have a tower that connects to our crossbar and we're also gonna have a T channel underneath here. And it does come with some extra weather strips so you can put it here so you don't have as much wind noise coming through. And this end cap really hides all the hardware behind here. And really the only hardware that is hiding is a bolt that comes down and secures your fit kit to your roof. I do like this because it actually does come with a lock just for that extra security so no one can come by and take your roof rack. And the fit kit is giving us a really good fit today. And this looks very flush to our flush rail and we're gonna have this rubber pad at the bottom which is gonna help prevent any scratching from occurring. Now let's get a few measurements just to see how this is gonna live on top of your roof. So the first measurement I'm gonna get is gonna be the distance underneath our crossbar and that's gonna be at a little bit above 3 1/2 inches, which is pretty good. Now it is something to consider if you have a sunroof on the front of your vehicle and if that sunroof expands up and let's say you have some pretty bulky clamps on your crossbars, they could make contact, but with how high this sits up, I wouldn't worry about it too much, won't be as likely. But if there is a chance, then I'd recommend just leaving your sunroof down. As with the overall height, that's gonna be about 3 1/2 inches, which is gonna sit up kind of high. What I'd recommend doing is taking the total height of your vehicle plus your crossbars and if you have any accessories on top of that, include that, so you know what areas you can make it under. Now another measurement we might wanna get to is gonna be the overall distance. That's gonna be from the front crossbar to the front of the rear crossbar about 27 1/2 inches. And since this is a fixed-mounting system kit and what makes a fixed-mounting system kit is how it attaches to your roof. We have bolts that grab on to specific locations so they won't be able be moved around any. That's important to know because you need to know if it's gonna work with whatever equipment or gear you have. And we are gonna have a little bit of overhang with this, which I'm actually kind of fine with because it's not a whole lot. You're not gonna be very likely of hitting your head on this. And what this is actually gonna offer you is if you have those ski carriers or kayak carriers, you can actually shift that over to the edge and you can place them up here just so they're a little bit easier to reach. And we're also gonna have a weight capacity of up to 165 pounds, which is pretty standard. I'd recommend though check what your roof is rated for and then go from the lowest rated component. You can actually find your roof's weight capacity in your owner's manual. Now something else to think about with this kit is gonna be the end caps. Now I was working with these end caps earlier trying to tighten or lock 'em into place, and I was actually is struggling a bit. I think part of that is just the location of how tight the spot is. I actually had to grab some needle nose pliers to lock this down. So definitely think about that. That might be a struggle that you might have to face too. And if that is gonna be an issue for you, then I'd recommend only installing this one time on your roof if you don't wanna keep dealing with it. Now there's gonna be another option out there too if you don't really wanna mess with these locks, then you could check out the flush option of this. That's gonna be the Rhino-Rack RVP roof rack. And what's nice about that one is it's gonna offer you more of a clean look. But the downside is that one's installation is kind of difficult as well, mainly about how the bolts line up with our flush rails. So each one is gonna have some difficulties to them. I think at the end of the day though, these are a bit easier to work with. And I don't mind a lock that is a little bit difficult to work with sometimes too. Especially since we do have this overhang, so if you want to access our skis or kayaks a little bit easier, then this is gonna be do just fine. But if you are curious to see what this installation looks like, just stay tuned and I'll walk you through the process. To start off the installation, we're gonna lay everything out and I already have the rear crossbar installed, but it's gonna be the same process on the front side too. So in front of me, I have a crossbar, I have two of our towers and their end caps along with a set of keys. We're also gonna have the hardware for our fit kit. Then we're gonna have some included tools and some tools that will be required. Now one of your included tools, or two of them, is gonna be, one, this is gonna be the tool that you remove your end cap width, and then this is gonna be the tool that helps you tighten down your towers to your crossbar. We're also gonna have this pin tool that I recommend grabbing just to remove the tabs on your flush rails and then you're gonna need a 10-millimeter wrench. Now you could grab a socket and a wrench too, but majority of it you would just need a wrench. Also recommend grabbing some masking tape just to make this a bit easier, so you don't scratch anything up, and some measuring tape so you can help make sure everything's even. The first thing I like to start with is just prepping the crossbar. So the way we're gonna do that is we're gonna make sure this is flipped over with the belly side facing up. We're gonna use this tool to take off our end cap and set that aside. We're then gonna grab the tower, make sure this block is pretty loose and place it in this channel. Just slide through and grasp on. Now before I put that all the way on, I'm also gonna grab this bolt 'cause you put this on later on but it's gonna be much more difficult. So I like to start off with this and then place it through. And another trick is just that when this does kind of fall down, just push it a little bit over to the side so it doesn't fall within that channel. And then I recommend tightening this down a fair bit. Now we don't wanna tighten it down too much, we just wanna tighten it down enough where we can still make our adjustments. So just loosen that up just a bit. Once this is done, you can repeat this process on the other side. With our crossbar prepped, we're gonna start prepping our roof, and this is where you're gonna want that masking tape. Now this isn't required, it's just to prevent any scratching from occurring, but I'm gonna grab that pick tool or pin, whichever you have. If you don't have one, you can find one on our website and we're just applying pressure inside one side and then go into the other side so we can release this and remove it. With that out of our way, I'm just gonna take off this masking tape. You see that there's a bolt in there. And now I can actually place this nut on here. It's gonna have a cylinder side on one side and a hard edge on the top. And we just screw this into place, hand tight at first. After when it's sufficiently hand tightened, then I can go in with my wrench and tighten it down the rest of the way. And this is where that socket might come in hand a little bit more than just a wrench. Now with our roof prepped, we wanna check out our fit kit and see what order you place everything. So on the bottom, you're gonna have this rubber pad and you're gonna have this opening in the center which is gonna go over that nut we just placed. On top of that, we'll place this flat-rounded plastic section and might kind of grab onto it and it should just contours to the shape of that rubber pad. And then on top of that, replace your last piece that really connects you tower. And the way this is all gonna seat in together is you're gonna have this hole that's gonna go through that bolt. To really show you what I'm talking about, I'll just place it there now. Put in that opening and that bolt will go through and then attach to that nut that we just put on our roof. And now we can place it on top of our roof. Now I'm holding the fit kit in place on this side. You can do that if you want or you can just leave it on top of your roof like I did for the passenger side. I'm just gonna try to line everything up roughly and more than likely we will have to make some adjustments later on. Now adjust these so each side is kind of lined up with your fit kit. And what we really wanna do now is if I notice, if I try to push my bolt through, it's not going all the way. If I lift this up some, we can see. Lemme just, lemme just kinda try to realign this. There we go. We're still a little bit forward. That's why we left the tower a little bit loosened up, and now we can tighten this down. This can be a little bit tricky just to do with your hand 'cause it is a tight squeeze. You might have to rotate it a bit just to make sure everything's lined up. Right now we are grabbing slightly, but I'm gonna go in and out with my wrench, try to get this down a little bit more. As you're tightening in it, you're finally get to a point where it's starting to get a little tight. At that point, I recommend going to the other side and repeating this process just so everything is gonna cinch down, and then you can tighten them down everything so it's even on both sides. And then you'll get to a point where you're getting it all the way tightened down. And once it's tightened sufficiently, I can grab a tape measure and measure our overhang, 'cause we wanna make sure this is the same on both ends. If it's not, since we tighten both sides, we can make some adjustments pretty easy. All you have to do is just pull or push on it a bit and you can make your adjustments. Once things are even on both ends, you have two options. We have to tighten down this tower to our crossbar the rest of the way. You could either just take this off, making sure you keep the measurements of where the tower is placed and then tighten them down that way, which is gonna be a lot of work, but you can do it and then you can place it back up here and everything will be tightened down. Or the way I like to do it is we'll just grab a L Allen key and then just try to match it up underneath here and tighten it into place. Now this way can be a little bit tricky just trying to find or line up everything, but I think is a better option than having to take off your whole roof rack and then tighten it down that way. And when everything's tightened down, I recommend just pulling or pushing on it, making sure you have a good fit. If it feels good, then you put everything back into place, making sure we have our end cap back on there, tightened down, and then putting on our end cap. And then at that point, you can pretty much load it up with whatever gear you have and take it off for a ride. That was just a look at the installation and some of the features of the Rhino-Rack roof rack on our 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe. I'm Matt, thanks for watching.
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (173 Customer Reviews)
Aerodynamic, aluminum crossbars let you build an aftermarket roof rack for your vehicle. Full-length bars provide plenty of space for carriers and accessories. Vortex strips in C-channels reduce wind noise. Theft-deterring plastic locks included.Indeed they were the wrong parts in the box marked demo on them.
The new parts came and I was able to
Put it on my car with no problem!!
Thank you for listening to me and helping me problem solve. It looks great on my car and I'm ready to load the kayaks now!!
Kalie is a gal that sent me some return labels so I'm going to put that on the box and send it back to you guys!
Great bars. It's my second pair. Both on jeep Grand cherokee. The pair I put on my 2015 overland didn't whistle at all. This pair I put on my 2020 trailhawk whistled starting at 20mph and changed pitch throughout the acceleration process and while causing. I bought a fairing and the problem is solved. At least for now. I put the fairing on wit the label in. Looks better and Rhino Rack isn't paying me to advertise. The fairing they recommended seemed small but works so go with whatever they recommend.
etrailer.com's videos and additional customer support made the purchase of a Rhino Rack system from them for our 2010 Malibu a no brainer. The rack fit the car perfectly, and with the videos and clear instructions that came with the kit, I got it installed on the car with only one misstep. The instructions came the the measurements in centimeters and inches. I didn't have a metric tape measure, and ended up messing up converting fractions to decimal.
My Daughter is going to college 500 miles away and is moving into an unfurnished apartment and needed to pick up some small furniture that wouldn't fit in her Malibu. She purchased several items from Facebook Marketplace and was able to transport a twin bed and mattress, a medium sized desk and some dining room chairs (in several trips) with no problems.
The only thing I can think of to improve the installation would be to have the Inches measurements in decimal or to include an inexpensive metric tape.
Rhino-Rack installed on my 2022 Jeep Cherokee. There was wind noise (whistling) when all the rubber spacers were not installed, now it’s very quiet. I also installed the Yakima fishing rod//Ski holder. I wound up deviating from the directions and using the third lot, so the clamps would close on the bar. So far so good, without the fishing rod holder it’s low profile enough to get into garages, etc. Fast delivery on the products.
Great sturdy rack. I put it together myself and have already started using it. I was concerned that it would cause leaks in the door the way it has to mount..but its Florida and its rainfall in the past few days and no leak! The weak link would be the end caps..two do not lock on and im concerned the will fly off at some point.
You have to order the cross bars and connector hardware separately. I also ordered the end cap locks.
I consider myself a pretty good DYI person and it took longer than I expected according to other reviews on here to get everything installed and overlapping the same on both sides.
Once installed the crossbars are very solid. I do get noticeable wind noise at say 70+MPH.
I installed these on a 2020 Jeep GC Overland and they look and function great! Was a bit concerned about the sun roof retraction with the bars, but there is plenty of clearance. No issue.
I for sure recommend the Rhino Rail crossbars. Etrailer is a great site to get the bars. Given the COVID issues and supply chain breakdowns retailers are facing, they still had everything I ordered to me in a very reasonable time frame.
I love it works amazing on my 2017 Hyundai sonata sport 2.0T
I bought the complete set (mounting points, mounts and aero cross bars) looking for a less expensive approach for a rack to carry my sea kayak. The equipment shipped quickly from or via etrailer. The instructions that came with the whole kit leave a little bit to be desired and a little bit of mechanical interpretation is needed to figure out what parts you need and which you don't. The whole set went together relatively easily in an hour or so. I remove the bars, mounts and mounting points when not in use which is a bit time consuming and fiddly. I had to replace the mazda 3's roof moulding which was continuous with one that had the necessary pop out pieces to accept the rack but this was not costly nor a big job. Overall, I am pleased with the rhino rack and it looks just fine. The one area it could be improved is wind noise - at some speeds there can be quite a heavy drone either off the bars or mounts. The bars do have rubber inserts to smooth out the surface across the width of the car. I suspect it might be the mounts which have the inboard side of them completely open so the air flowing along the car goes over this open space like you would have happen when you blow across the top of a bottle. I am going to try to cover the sides with gorilla tape to see if this makes a difference. Apart from that, I am quite happy with the etrailer ordering, delivery and the Rhino rack in general.
I bought this rack for my son who is a rower so he could take his single shell and oars to regattas using his new Chevy Cruz. First trip from Wyandotte, Michigan to Boston, Massachusetts and back was great. A learning curve to get in the right spot on roof but very sturdy & strong. He is looking forward to many regattas with this car and roof rack. Very Satisfied with etrailer and the rack itself and thank you for the quick shipping.
These crossbars were easy to install, are sturdy when installed and look great on my factory side rails when installed with the SX Series legs. The standard end caps are an all-plastic affair and use a little key to engage a cam lock. That plus the distance from the end of the crossbar to the nut that tightens the foot onto the rail keeps things relatively secure. Most people probably want to opt for proper locking end caps, though.
The rubber vortex strips look nice and give items something grippy to rest on. I haven't tried a load test yet but did drive around in moderate wind on the highway in multiple directions. Other than a slight whistle at 70 mph, you'd never know they were there. Overall, real happy with the product and looking forward to hauling some stuff around with them.
Easy to install. The pins on the legs clamp perfectly into the fixed points on the car's flush rails. This is a nice low profile set up. The top of the crossbar is about 4" above the roof glass and does not interfere with opening the sunroof. This is a very sturdy setup for our Thule Motion XT XL. etrailer shipped extremely fast. Very pleased with my purchase.
My inital thought of these crossbars were that they were going to be too small. Two of the other big makers call for 53" min and 60" recommended. However after installing, 49" is a perfect fit for the Cayenne I feel. The rack is extremely quiet (make sure you use the channel rubber on top and bottom) The Cayenne is fairly quiet car inside and it was one of my big concerns but I only hear what sounds like a slight rush of air, no buzzing or whistling at all.
The downside to this rack is I think the black paint is too thin. Just laying it on the pavement while setting up caused scratches to appear. Silver would be the way to go if your getting these, or spray them plastic.
My Rhino-Rack Aero 2500 roof racks fit solidly on my 2007 Honda Civic EX. I was really impressed with the construction and strength of the rack system. Also the versatility of the 'legs' with a swivel pad allow them to fit any roof pitch perfectly. The clamps are so solid, nothing could knock these racks off. I added a paddleboard attachment and went surfing today. The black racks also look great with the black trim on my silver Honda. Great product at a much better price than Yakima or Thule.
Received the roof rack on the date promised, it was well packaged and all parts required were included. Everything fit together very well and the instructions were easy to follow. The rack looks good on the car. Once the rack is installed and the included decals in place it only takes a few minutes to remove it and reinstall. This is important for me because we will only use the racks to transport our kayaks the rest of the time they will be removed and stored.
There are two small items that can be improved. First the legs are different lengths yet nowhere in the instructions does it tell you where each size goes. Second I own 10 tape measure and not one of them is in meters and I do not care how good your eyesight is you are not going to be able to measure to 53/64". If the measurements are critical you should ensure customers in the US have measurements they can use or include a MM tape measure.
Overall this is a very good product that I would purchase again and recommend to friends.
Used the cross bars once with a kayak. Black paint easily scratched showing the metal underneath. Was told this was normal wear and tear. The product was bought less than a week ago. Would not buy again.
Love these aero bars. Perfect for on my 2018 Grand Cherokee Trailhawk. Run fairly quiet and perform as expected. As always the customer service from etrailer was top notch.
Easy to read instructions, easy to install. Watched the install video a few times just to be sure! They do whistle a bit at highway speeds, but certainly not unbearable. In fact, I was surprised as to how quiet they are. It's to be expected, especially when paired with kayak j-racks. So happy with this purchase and I would definitely recommend them!
Installed Rhino Rack platform on a Hyundai Kona. This kit made the transition from factory rails. Nice fit!
The only complaint I have about the crossbars is that it causes a high pitch sound. I've been meaning to contact you about a possible solution. Pls advise.
Other than that they are just fine.
The quality is very good. Ordering was easy and installation using the video made the process so simple. Glad I order them from here instead of somewhere else.
I spent a week reading reviews and forums to find the right one for my 2019 Jeep Cherokee that I just bought a few weeks ago. I just have to overthink everything but it paid off. I just received them this morning and installed them myself! First time for everything! It was really easy. The only part that was frustrating was the very first part... sliding the rubber pieces into the crossbars. They would not slide very well so I ended up using a bit of oil to make them slide better. Other than that, installation was easy and quick. I LOVE the looks of them. Very gorgeous!!! Thank you so much!! Very happy with the end result!!
The bars look and feel great. They have such a tough presence while still being aerodynamic. I love the look of the rubber grip strip on top and I like how the rubber strip on the bottom ends have graduations so you can easily match the overhang with the other side. They feel incredible strong, no bend in the them at all. If the platforms were a bit more robust this thing would outshine all the competition. However, it competes with every other system at a much lower price point so that gets 5 stars in my book.
Looks a great and we’re super easy to install.
2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L 4x4 Limited
These are cross bars ONLY and are useless without other hardware. This could be presented in a more clear way. I will be returning and buying a complete cross bar set elsewhere
I haven't extensively used this rack yet, but so far, it is excellent.
Avoid my mistake and buy this rack first... Last summer, I purchased a much cheaper off-brand roof rack that was supposed to fit my car. I figured the off-brand rack couldn't be that different from the more common brands, such as Rhino Rack. Long story short, I was wildly wrong. It was nearly impossible to install, and once installed, I didn't trust it with my wind surfboard on it. This rack, however, was easy to assemble and install and is rock solid. I have zero fear of my board or the rack leaving the party before we get there.
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