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Video Transcript for Rhino-Rack Vortex Aero Crossbars Installation - 2009 Ford F-150

Hey everybody. Welcome to etrailer.com. I am Bobby. And today we are taking a look at the Rhino-Rack's Vortex Crossbar systems, here today on our 2009 Ford F-150. Now these are primarily gonna be for your Retrax XR Hard Tonneau Covers. So of course, you guys probably wanna go ahead and pick yourself up one of these guys.

This system is excellent of course. I am sure you guys already kind of seen a little bit about it. You have a nice little canister system to go ahead and store it. Locking system and of course the big one, these T-slot attachments on here. So normally with Tonneau Covers, you kind of limit yourself.

As you have that Tonneau Cover, really reduces the space and the things you can do on your truck. These guys are gonna be exact opposite. Allowing you to maximize the amount of gear and accessories. You can actually start utilizing with the bed of your truck. Now these guys are gonna have a 220 pound weight capacity limit, that actually exceeds the weight capacity that our hard Tonneau Cover on here has.

Well we have this guy open for you guys to see how it works. You can see we have this nice little H protrusion in here. What that's doing, giving you a nice solid support throughout this, that's giving you that nice support to actually go ahead and get that maximum weight capacity. At the top here, you have your Bore Tech stripping. You guys can see, it fills this little T-slot channel.

Now that's great for when it's not in use. You can go ahead and prevent any of that wind whistle that you might be getting from some of your other bars. If you have that open space, you're definitely gonna hear it. Now that's the one caveat with it. When you do go ahead and actually set your accessories in here, one thing to kind of watch, you will actually have to cut these guys to get them to fit around your accessory. Now that's not gonna be the biggest deal if you do find yourself consistently taking out some accessories. But if you don't really find yourself really needing them on your bar all the time, one thing I'd suggest, go ahead and utilize in the clamp system. Just to go ahead and go around this arrow bar. Now a lot of clamps systems are designed for these guys. They are gonna be pretty much what you see going standard in the future of the industry, which is great. And it's definitely gonna be easier to go ahead and clamp on this guy, if you find yourself, just kinda maybe throw it up on here. Something like that. The clamp style just seems to be working easier. But like I said, if you're really gonna be utilizing a bike rack carrier all the time, something on the side here, a T-slot is definitely gonna be awesome. And then you guys should cut that to size, to go ahead and cut down on that whistle. Taking a closer look at the bars here. We do have a nice black powder coat finish, that's gonna give you this nice look for itself. Also gonna make it hold enough well to corrosion. Now it also does have just an aluminum base, so you know it's gonna be resistant corrosion innately, which is great. Now with any black powder coat finish, it's gonna be really easy to start tarnishing this. So, if you do find yourself throwing up your gear, just kinda willy-nilly, you might start seeing some scratches and dings in it. However, if we're just being concise and methodical and we actually are getting our accessories on here, it's really not gonna be, hard to keep this in nice working order without adding those scratches and dents. Now if you're not liking the black, it does come in silver as well. So go ahead and check our store at etrailer.com to get the color that fits you best. While we take a look here, we do have a nice little locking core to go ahead and make sure that our roof rack stays attached to our vehicle when you leave it unattended. To access that, you are gonna take your included key, simply turn it to unlock. That'll take that front plate out, exposing these guys. And we kinda break down how we can actually get this installed. So you have these little red levers here. All you want to do, bring them to the inside. What that's doing, is actually pulling these guys in. So, that becomes really easy to go ahead. And what I really like too, you can store these guys in the inside right there. And that way they'll actually stay nice and not condensed. And then you can pop them like so. And really, it just takes a few little shifts really, to go ahead and get that to pop over. Just like that. And there you are nice and installed for the crossbar systems. Now, how our foot pad works. We go ahead and position these guys one more time. I think I'm binding myself up there. I did have it released and just pushed it over. So that's gonna go ahead and pop that out. You guys can see how this is actually held in here. So, these bolts are going to our T-slot attachments, those little square brackets just simply latch onto here. You want to keep them loose and then you just slide them down guys to where you want them. Now, what a good thing to do is go ahead and measure yourself a distance from your cab. Especially if you do have accessory you already know that you want to keep in mind, give yourself that front distance here between the front of your Crossbar System, to your cab, to go ahead and have that properly spaced. And then all you have to do is tighten it down with the included tool. That's going to secure your foot pad here and make yourself a nice little mounting point to go ahead and slot in your roof rack system. Now some important dimensions to keep in mind is how much clearance you are gonna have from the bottom of your rack. So, on our Tonneau Cover, is gonna be in the way. We are going to be putting ourselves right at about three and a half inches there to the bottom. Maybe just a little bit below that. But as you guys can see, that's going to give you that necessary clearance to go ahead and get your clamp styles on. Now I will say that's a lot of space. I don't think you're going to run into any issues with your accessories, interacting with your Tonneau Cover there, which is definitely great. Another important one to keep in mind though is gonna be from the top of the corrugate of our bed, to the very end here of our rack, because maybe we have some longer items we want to put in here. Maybe you got a dishwasher you're moving for somebody. Could be a pain, to take those T-slots out. Now, what's kinda nice about them, that installation doesn't take too much time. But that is gonna be putting you right on about 26 and one quarter of an inch there, between your top of your corrugate to the underside of your rack. Now, one other thing I want to go ahead and show you guys, you do have just a little bit of an interaction here, with our locking latch here. So you guys can see that does butt up just a little bit, really, really easy to overcome that right, by just simply pressing that just a little bit. And I really like being on this side see here especially with our Tonneau Covers because we can lock this guy, the XR, almost anywhere which becomes really nice, right I can lock it there, get it in, and you're really gonna be on this side a lot of the time, in my opinion, I found myself moving it a lot this way, because you do have that nice little gap to kinda get a hand in and move it. So while yes, it's kind of a slight inconvenience. It's really easy to overcome by simply pushing it down and sliding it around. Now we have seen some reviews, some of the other neighbors have already gone ahead and purchased one of these. Now after just a few months of using it, they actually have talked about how you do have a little bit of water intrusion just on this track. Now that doesn't go to your bed of course, but it does go to those T-slots. So right in there, we just have our little steel holders. All it is a little bracket right, that our threads are rolling in into. And then it pinches up and holds it in place. Now that stuff is actually just made of steel. It is going to be rusting. It is going to have a little bit of corrosion. How you can combat that I've seen a couple of people, just take a little clear coat on the bracket itself. And of course, just helping it kinda slide on here. A little paraffin wax can be a great thing. And of course, just servicing it every now and then, is gonna go a long way of actually making sure that they stay usable for the years to come. Now, if you don't find yourself adjusting your crossbars that much. It's probably not gonna affect you. But when you do want to go ahead and take these off for your bigger loads, definitely can become a problem. So, hopefully a few of those steps are gonna help it to make it easier to take them on and off. Well guys, I really do like the Rhino-Rack Vortex System. They're one of my favorite racks, just through out a variety of different vehicles. I think Rhino-Rack is really committed. Of course, it's kind of in the name, of making sure they have a high quality roof rack system for yourself. Definitely gonna last you for the years to come because it's really gonna allow us to do a variety of different accessories on here. One thing that's great about it. We have that 71 inches of space to go ahead and throw a variety of different accessories. I know a couple of times here, we've actually gotten three carriers to fit on here. And that's definitely excellent, allowing you to really maximize the amount of gear you can bring yourself to your destination with your truck, which is definitely awesome. Pretty hard to beat. Overall, gonna be great little system guys, go ahead, get your accessories to where you want to go. And otherwise, I think that about does it for our look at the Rhino-Rack Vortex Crossbar Systems here today on our 2009 Ford F-150. I'm Bobby. Thank you for watching..