To see if this custom-fit item will work for you please tell us what vehicle you'll use it with.
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 - Silver - 59" Long - Qty 2:Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
What's going on everybody, Adam here with etrailer. Today, we have a 2017 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and we're gonna be taking a look at the Rhino-Rack Backbone roof rack system. Well, for our Backbone system, it is gonna give us two different options. We can do one, which is just putting the Vortex Aero cross bars up on top here. But also, if you are a platform-style fan, you can get a Pioneer platform rack up on top of these as well. And the really good thing about this is it really gives you more bar space.
We have three bars up here now and you can get a larger platform tray. But the cool thing is it's just everything back, so we can still take off our top two panels, so we can get some sun but still have all of our accessories up on top here. There is some drilling required. So, if you're not really a fan of drilling into your hardtop of your Jeep, probably not the system for you. But trust me, it's well worth it.
It looks good and it will handle a lot of weight as well. So, let's go ahead and get into that installation process. The first thing we need to do is remove the hardtop on the back of our Jeep. So, once we have that done, then we can start assembling some of our support brackets for the inside of that hardtop. Now, it's time to assemble our support brackets.
And the one way we can find out if it's the right side, one, we want the Rhino-Rack to be facing in and we are gonna have all these holes line up really nicely. And another thing to notice is there's a little edge here, that is going to go towards the front of our vehicle. So, once you find out that you got the right size, we're gonna go ahead and start assembling. Now, we wanna go ahead and take our bolts here. We wanna put a lock washer on there, and then we have a normal washer.
And then what we're gonna do is we're gonna take the smaller hole of the two. So, this one that's a little longer, we're gonna use this later. We're gonna line it up, just like this. Let's put this on there. And we're not gonna tighten these down yet. We just wanna get them hand tight for now. The next bracket we're gonna install are going to be the one that has the threaded stud on it. So, what we wanna do is lift this up and we're gonna take that stud and go through the bracket. But you gotta remember, we have different types of brackets for each one, so we gotta make sure that we have the right one. Now, for our second bracket, we're gonna grab the one that has the threaded stud on it and we're gonna take a nuts and a washer. And what we're gonna do is raise this up and we're going to mount it to where it's gonna go through that hole. We're gonna have this hole up top exposed and it's gonna be going towards the opposite end of this bend. So, do that and put the washer and nut on it and just get it hand tight for now. And we're gonna do this for all two of these. And of course, the other two on our other bracket. Now, what we wanna do is take our bracket here and we're going to set it up onto the end here. Here's our back little tailgate. So, we wanna get it to where it's going to line up with this line right here. And you'll notice, as you start to bring it back, it'll fall into this little tiny pocket and it lines up really nicely with the back here. So, once you get it to where you want it, take a paint marker of sorts, and mark it with paint. So, now we know exactly where to drill our holes. We're gonna do the same exact thing for our second bracket. But with this one, it's gonna go right up to this edge here. And again, we would do wanna line it up with the top part of that channel and get it all in place. And then do the same exact thing and mark it up. And we're gonna do the same exact thing for the other side. So, now what we wanna do is take our piece of paper here. You're gonna notice a gutter, front and rear. So, we're going to take this and slide it down in this little gutter here. And we wanna make sure that this end of the paper is all the way to the outside of that gutter. We wanna keep this in place as best as we can, as best as we can. And what we're gonna do is take a little punch or something to mark our spots. And we're gonna do the same thing for the other side. Before all of our holes, what we're gonna start with is going to be an eight-inch drill bit and then we're gonna jump it up to a quarter-inch drill bit. And that's gonna be for all of our back ones and all of our ones up front. I always like to go in reverse so that I make myself a little hole, just because if you just start drilling, it wants to walk. So, with this, you don't have much problem. For our front holes, we are going to have to go through two different layers, so make sure you get through both of them. And again, I like just go in reverse, and then go in through. There you go. Perfect. Now, it's time to step it up to a quarter-inch bit. We can open up just these two holes and these two holes. So, the farthest back four holes on both sides. You really don't gotta push too hard. You kinda just let it go and let it slowly eat its way through. Perfect. All right, now for our front two holes on both sides, what we're gonna do is take a step bit and we're going to open up the top hole to 18 millimeters and then the bottom holes to 16 millimeters. It's gonna be the same for both different sides. So, go ahead and do that. And you know you're good whenever you got nice, tight fit around these. And now, we can go ahead and go underneath and drill those out too. Now, it's time to pad up all of our pieces. So, we're gonna have one that is gonna look kind of like glasses, a little bit. So, just take the center pieces out. Then what we're gonna do is put them down here. And we wanna get it right to that edge and as even across as we can. And we're good there. And then on our other bracket here, we're just gonna have a longer piece and just put it right there. And try to get it not overhanging the edge, but right up to it and push it down. And then what we are going to get now, 'cause we have a bunch of little rings, we're gonna put those right there to cover up those holes. Not cover them up, just surround them. It might be a little easier to maybe put on the ground the flat part down. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So, we're gonna put these on the same exact spot for both the right and the left side of this bracket here. The next thing we wanna do is take the bigger circular pads right here. Take the middle guy out and set that to the side. And then we're gonna put it right here on this little section. And it is easiest, just to kinda keep it on the ground. Put that on and give her a good push. And then we're gonna take our square little pad and take the middle guy out. Take this off. I'm gonna put this over this hole. Perfect. And then what we're gonna do is we're gonna take this bigger square piece here. And that is gonna go kinda like this. We don't want it to be sticking out on the side or anything like that. And once that's done, we just have two more of these small little circles. And they just go right there and on the other one. And again, the same exact deal as all the other ones. This is gonna be the same on both the right and the left side. So, for both our very farthest back bracket and our bracket here, what we wanna do is take our hardware. It's got a little notched edge there. So, what it's gonna do is gonna sit really nicely in those holes. So, now that we have that on, those are gonna stay, and now we'll go on the inside and finish up some other connections. Now, it's time to take our bracket, remember this So, everything is all assembled. And we're gonna just place them down. The hole should line up, which they do. We're gonna take our bracket and slide it into place. You wanna kinda make sure that those screws don't go back through that hole. But what we're gonna do is washer and we have an nylon lock nut that goes right. It would be a little bit easier with two sets of hands, but I can do it all by my lonesome self. So, now that we have that, we'll do it for the rest of our bolts. Now, we just need a 10-millimeter socket and our Allen key that came with the kit. Allen key goes on the outside on that screw that we push through, and this one goes right here. And we're gonna do the same thing for the other side and our other ones on this side. Now, we're gonna take our bigger Allen key that comes with a kit and we're gonna tighten this one up. And then the top one, we're just gonna need a 13-millimeter to tighten that up. The next thing on our list is we're gonna take our quarter-inch drill bit and we're gonna drill a hole down through this hole here once it's all installed, so this bracket is not gonna move around at all, so the hole is exactly where we need to be. So, there we go. Try to get all that stuff out, whichever way you see's best. Now, all we need to do is grab our bolt like this and grab that little O-ring, and it's gonna go on the bolt before we put it through the hole. So, put it through the hole. And we're just pretty much going to take a washer and a nylon locknut to go on the underneath of this. So, now we wanna take our washer and we are gonna have a nylon lock nut. So, let's take the washer and put it on there first and then grab that nylon lock nut to follow. And we're gonna do this same exact process on the other side. And we can tighten these down right when we get them threaded on there. Now, it's time to take our other piece. We're gonna lay it down. And then we're gonna have a little bracket and that's gonna go underneath. And we are gonna have some screws to go into the threaded portions here. So, now we're gonna go ahead and take our little bolt. And we wanna make sure it has the pressure washer and the washer on it and start threading that in. And we can tighten these down all the way. So, now we have our brackets here. So, what I want you to do is go in between your front driver's side and your back door and pretty much just unzip this and you'll see these bracket here. You take this bracket. And if you put it up to it, we're gonna take one of the side bolts out and then these two top bolts. It'll line up. But don't put them anywhere far because once we get them out, it is going to be replaced with the same bolt we're taking out. So, be mindful of that. And be sure not to lose them. So, let's go ahead and put the bracket in place and start replacing the bolts. So, now that that's all done, pretty much all we have to do is just put our hardtop back on our Jeep. Now, it's time to replace our three little bolts on each side. So, now we can take our pads here and put them on these uprights right by the seat, just so we don't have anybody hitting their head or anything like that. So, now that we have the Backbone system installed, now, all we really have to do is either put up some cross bars or a platform rack. Well, everyone, that just about does it for our look at the Rhino-Rack Backbones roof rack system on our 2017 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited..
Average Customer Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars (117 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.Wow! It's a real well made and engineered product and was delivered fast. I got it so I could remove it due to garage door clearance... It is heavy duty enough to carry our boat and 2 kayaks. The key lock, pivot system and removal system were well thought out and so easy.
The rhino rack is well made but suffers from the flat bottom rubber feet. Since nearly all cars and trucks have roof seams, foot pads should be stepped to engage the seam like other racks such as Thule does. It's unlikely that very many different shapes would be needed to fit most vehicles. Rhino tech didn't agree with my assessment.
The rubber molding easily compressed and served no purpose other than to fall into the channel and thus shred the aluminum gunnels on my expensive Kevlar canoe. I contacted Rhino rack and they were quick to dismiss my information with zero concern or questions. This is a product easily made better with modest changes to improve. Too bad customer service doesn’t exist…
Rhino-Rack installation was fairly easy. We’re using it on a 2012 model Ford Flex.
Recommand to every body rhino rack on my truck looking great thanks you
TLDR: It's a good product with (literal) strength, and some weaknesses. Its cheaper than the competitors, and its in stock now. I mainly bought this due to inventory issues from the other main competitors. That it costs about 100 bucks less is nice, but the reasons for the cost difference is noticeable if you've ever used Thule or Yakima products before.
Installation was not more or less irritating than any other roof rack (I've installed MANY over the years).
Materials are similar, but the plastic parts feel cheaper than Thule or Yakima, and they towers have exposed innards on the inside faces that make it look cheap, and may create more noise. The fit kit feet are good, but the hooks are 2 pieces pinned together instead of formed and cut to custom lengths. This makes them bulkier than the competition.
Apparently they are rated for 33% more weight than the others, and that's cool if you need to haul heavy stuff on top.
All said, I'd probably buy their stuff again in a pinch, or if I was trying to save money, but for fit and finish I would go with Thule or Yakima
Awesome cross bars
Very nice produce give props to the designer well build nice costume fit to my car easy too install even make the vehicle looks good and thank you to Melissa A at etrailer.com really helpful and awesome ty ten stars.
Strong, quiet, easy to install. Held everything from surfboards to lumber. Very impressed.
I like the Rhino Rack RTV track because is allows Vortex Aero cross bars to be easily moved and removed. However the appropriately sized rectangular track nuts (M6 24x21x5 part No. N057) used to mount items to the rack are no longer available or manufactured. Consequently RTV track cannot be easily used to secure additional items. Rhino Rack is unable to offer a solution other than returning the wrong sized track nuts so I will manufacture my own attachment nuts. After drilling 18 holes in the roof of my new car and installing the RTV track and cross bars, the lack of compatible nuts was a big disappointment. The product should not be sold if components are not available.
The racks look great and are solidly anchored.
I have yet to use them under load but I am pleased with the final product so far.
My only complaint was that the assembly process is difficult to understand unless you Google the help videos. The assembly process is confusing and tedious until you gain an understanding of the overall setup.
Great Fit and Great Looks. Great customer Service!!!
I have been a Thule guy for the last 20 years but thought I would give these a try based on reviews read.
Ordered the following for my 2016 Chevy Silverado:
1 Rhino-rack Vortex Aero Crossbars - 59 - Silver - Qty 2
1 Rhino-rack 2500 Leg Kit For Vortex Aero Crossbars - Qty 4
1 Dk Fit Kit For Rhino Rack 2500 Series Legs - Naked - Qty 4
Received the order from etrailer and upon opening the crossbar package I noticed that the rubber inserts were not in the box. e-mailed customer service and Carol C responded within an hour and said she would have them sent out within 24 hours.
About 30 minutes later, Carol called me as she was getting the order ready to ship and said that the Rhino racks typically put the rubber inserts inside the bars and not in the box. She waited on the line while I checked and sure enough she was right.
Installation instructions were good but I recommend watching the installation video on youtube that makes the directions easier to work with.
Fitment was perfect. And these are fit to my truck so reinstallation is a breeze especially with the small marker arrows for alignment. (unlike my old thules with the crossbars that had to be remeasured every installation) They also hold my thule kayak racks and my bike racks.
Thank you Carol and etrailer for a great product and experience.
Unfortunately it only lasted a few months! It has been a huge disappointment and kinda confirmed my concerns about using bars on a vehicle with no rails. I have kayaked for many years and never had any issues with transport until using these bars. They are now taking up space in my garage, can't use them...there are some parts missing now
Works awesome and was the best solution for carrying bicycles while towing travel trailer
Great rack.
Really has come in handy as I installed this over my truck bed on top of a retractable bed cover that came with T -tracks. I can load the truck bed with smaller items and use the roof racks to hold a Thule box or just strap on heavy and larger items. Great product.
The bars were great. The mounts I did not like. The bars themselves were quiet, solid, and aerodynamic.
great product. sturdy easy to install and held my thule cargo box (also an etrailer purchase), really well! Fit perfest in my 2002 Excursion roof rack factory rails and easily adjusted. One note for excursion owners is to mount the front leg of the rack more directly over the rear door vs moving it up towards the front. I was tempted to move it as far forward as I could so I could stand in the rear door opening to access the inside/contents of the box and the weight of the box and contents actually bowed the roof steel in and out while driving, causing a popping noise, once i moved it back a little it was fine. Also making note that I have one of the biggest boxes you can buy so weight was at a max for the roof/roof rack for me YMMV depending on what you have on top of the crossbars. overall good solid product and the cost savings for the Rhino rack vs other brands is a BIG plus for me.
Strong, looks great, and super easy to remove & re-install cross rails.
I think these look better than the OEM rack that I ended up installing...however, using them would have required drilling my roof and putting rivets in. I went to 3 shops that refused to do so because they didn't want to be responsible for any leaks.
I love the Rhino-Rack Quick Mount Legs for Vortex Aero Crossbars. At first they were a pain to crossbar on, but they I used my thumbs correctly on the lock, and haven't had an issue since the first alignment. They really served their purpose and lifted the old Sears Sport 20-SV cargo top carrier off of the roof for easier mounting and for now hold the kayaks. I do need longer crossbars, but that's a future problem that etrailer.com will be glad to provide a solution to.
I'd give these a 3.5. I think they work just fine but in comparing to my Yakima towers these are not as easy and convenient. The pinch style legs can be hard to use if the bars are not lined up right or hard to manage in cold wet conditions. I didn't like that the locking mechanism and face plate come out completely. Just too many pieces and possibility of something getting lost. Overall, I think they are strong and although not as convenient as Yakima they are far better than some other alternatives.
Nice design.
Quick, A+ thanks
Do you have a question about this Roof Rack?
Info for this part was:
At etrailer.com we provide the best information available about the products we sell. We take the quality of our information seriously so that you can get the right part the first time. Let us know if anything is missing or if you have any questions.
Thank you! Your comment has been submitted successfully. You should be able to view your question/comment here within a few days.
Error submitting comment. Please try again momentarily.