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Custom fit kit lets you mount Rhino-Rack RC or RV series legs to a vehicle with fixed mounting points. Legs mount to vehicle with attachment studs. Molded inserts cover bases when the legs are removed. Includes 4 pads, covers, and mounting hardware.
Features:
Specs:
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Today, in our 2016 Honda CR-V. We're going to be doing a test fit on the Rhino-Rack Vortex Aero Crossbars Roof Rack system. This system is specifically designed to fit your flush-mounted rails on your CR-V.With it in place, you're gonna be able to carry roof mount accessories, things like bike racks, kayak carriers, cargo boxes, and much more.Now, the aerobars are 49 inches long. You can see how they span across the roof of our CR-V. This is gonna allow us to carry multiple accessories on our roof. So maybe we'd like to carry two to three bike racks up there, or maybe even two kayaks.Now, the crossbars are made out of aluminum, so we don't have to worry about any rust or corrosion.
I've got the black installed, but they're also available in silver. So if the silver is something you're interested in, see etrailer.com.Now, you'll notice that they're aerodynamic. These are gonna be a lot quieter than your traditional round or square bars. They're gonna work with your standard clamp-on accessories as well as your T-slot accessories. You'll simply remove that end cap and we can trim that rubber strip, slide that T-bolt in to our desired location, and replace it, and it's gonna give us that nice, clean look.
When it's all said and done, we can put on our end cap and we're all set.Now, the crossbars are held in place by four Rhino Rack RCL legs. These attach to the fit kit that are attached to our flush-mounted rails. With everything in place, it's a nice, tight fit. You can rest assured your accessories and your roof rack system are gonna remain in place.Now, if we remove the cover. As you can see, it's lockable.
That way no one can access it.You can see how it protects our hardware so it can't be tampered with. It's also gonna protect it from the elements. It is stainless steel hardware, so we don't need to worry about it rusting or corroding.If you'd like to take the roof rack off sometime, you have that option. You'll simply undo the bolt on the inside, replace it with the cap, put the bolt back on, and then you've got the fit kit remaining in place for when you'd like to put it back in use.Now, I mentioned the fit kit. What's unique about it is they're specifically designed to fit the flush-mounted rails on our CR-V.
You can see here how the pad is gonna contour that rail. Two bolts hold that bracket in place on the inside and it's a nice, tight fit.Here on the opposite side, you can see the two bolts. Again, it is stainless steel hardware. And since they're bolted on, it is a fixed-mounted roof rack system. We cannot adjust along our rails.With the roof rack system in place, it gives us a crossbar spread center on center of about 31 3/4 of an inch. So, when choosing accessories, you'll wanna be sure that they will work with that crossbar spread.Now, this roof rack system has a weight capacity of 165 pounds. You do, however, want to check with your CR-V's owner's manual to see if the roof can support that much weight. You'll wanna go with whatever number is lowest.Now I'll give you some clearance measurements. This is gonna be an idea of how much you've added to the roof of your CR-V and it may also help you when mounting those clamp-on accessories.Now, from the top of the roof to the underside of the bar is about 2 1/4 of an inch. From the top of the bar, excuse me, from the top of the room to the top of the bar is about 3 3/4 of an inch.Now that we've got all the features, I'll go ahead and show you how to get it set up. I've already got my front crossbar in place, mounted to my flush-mounted rails on my CR-V, as you can see. The rear one installs pretty much the same way. In fact, I've got one side of my fit kit installed. Let's do the other side together.We'll need the pad. We'll need the bracket. We'll need two allen bolts and we'll need two flat washers and two lock washers.Since we're at the table here, we can go ahead and put the pad in place. It just connects to the bracket underneath, like this. And what I like to do is I like to push it all the way on first. That way that lip ends up on top, which is what we want.And then we'll push the tabs through, just like that.So we'll be mounting the bracket right here. First, we'll need to remove the rubber covers. You can use a flathead screwdriver or your fingers, whatever works best for you.And we can either put these in our glove box or throw them away.Then we'll take the bracket and we'll set it in place.From there, we can take our allen bolt. We can put on our lock washer, and then our flat washer, and start threading that through.It's a good idea to get them both started before you tighten them down. We'll take our included tool and get those tight.Now, there's no reason to over tighten here. Just tighten them up to where that lock washer flattens out.Now, back here at the table, we need to install the RCL leg onto our crossbar. First, let's remove the end cap. We'll set that aside. And we'll need to make sure that this T-bolt is loose. So, you can loosen that up with the allen bolt on the bottom. I think we've got it pretty loose here.We'll also need to rotate it to where the long side is horizontal with the leg.From there, we're ready to slide it onto our crossbar. I'll turn it over, just so we can easily see what we're working with.Now, if you haven't removed the end cap, just go ahead and do that. Take our included key. Then we'll take that leg, and we're gonna slide it on. So, I like to put pressure on the bolt on bottom to push it out, and we'll slide it into that channel.Just like that. From here, we'll take our included tool. We don't wanna tighten this down all the way just yet, but I'm taking out all that slack. That way we've got a little bit of resistance when we push it. This is gonna help us set it up on the roof of our CR-V. So, don't tighten it all the way. Just get it loosely installed.Then we can replace our end cap and lock that up.From here, we'll wanna test fit it to our roof. That way we can get our bar overhand set.Now, when you rest it in place, you want the legs to sit directly on top of the brackets. So we want it to fit down into the slots on each side.And then, before we tighten anything down, we wanna adjust our bar overhang. So we want the same difference from the underside here to the outside of the crossbar. Now, you can either use a tape measure or you can eye it up, whichever'd be easiest.And since we left those legs loose on our crossbar, we can slide that to the left or to the right and make sure it's right.Once we've got it set, then we can take it back off and tighten them up. So we'll take our included tool and just tighten these up, being careful not to move them, since they're already set.Again, no reason to over tighten. Just flatten out that lock washer. Now we'll set it back in place on the roof of our CR-V, make sure it's right, and then we'll fasten everything down.Looks like it fits good. With everything set, we can then take our bolt, take a lock washer, and then a flat washer, and we're going to hand tighten into the hole on top of the leg here.Now we'll leave it loosely installed. Let's get both side set up first.Then we can take a 10 millimeter wrench and tighten up the bolt. Now this you'll have to provide yourself.Again, no reason to over tighten. Just tighten it up to where that lock washer flattens out. And we'll do this for both sides.Last thing to do is to put on our covers.Once everything's assembled and installed correctly, we're ready to load up our favorite roof mount accessory and hit the road. But that's gonna complete our test fit of the Rhino-Rack Vortex Aero Crossbar Roof Rack system on our 2016 Honda CR-V.
Average Customer Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (179 Customer Reviews)
Custom fit kit lets you mount Rhino-Rack RC or RV series legs to a vehicle with fixed mounting points. Legs mount to vehicle with attachment studs. Molded inserts cover bases when the legs are removed. Includes 4 pads, covers, and mounting hardware.Update to my review: etrailer sent additional strips to set into the gaps on the bottom side of the rails and there is no longer any whistling, so I've rerated my purchase to Excellent. I'm not sure if the strips for the bottom side (the side that faces the roof of the car) should have come with my rails to begin with or if they need to be purchased separately (etrailer sent them to me at no charge after my initial review). Covering those gaps with duct tape will also do the trick.
I am glad that etrailer puts the bundles together so you get all the parts you need for your vehicle. This is one part of three needed for my Honda CRV. Other sites make you figure all the components on your own with suggestions and it gets super confusing. etrailer all the way for me!
I like the racks. They were extremely difficult for Me to install. I had trouble getting them to line up from left to right with the factory holes on my Honda Crv Touring. Also, I am getting a great deal of road noise but I am afraid to remove them for the summer in case they are difficult to reinstall for ski season.
Everything was there as it should be. Added bonus though was the youtube video on how to install the entire roof rack on my specific car. While the assembly is fairly straight forward, I was very grateful to watch and learn. And the product arrived pretty much when they said it would. Overall, very happy.
Easy install
Fit well and great customer service
These were the only mounts I could find to fit a 2019 Toyota Highlander LE factory roof bolts. Have never used Rhino Racks before but was very happy to find their sturdy mounts for aero bar legs.
These Rhino-Rack products are solid. Installation was quite simple. It took me no more than 2 hours from taking off the OEM rails to getting the crossbars to tighten down.
Keep in mind that these legs were designed for the Toyota Prado (it even says so on the installation guide). Once you remove the Lexus OEM rails, you will notice a groove, about 3/4" deep and 1-1/8" wide, alongside the roof. If your GX does not come with the OEM rails, the grooves might already be covered up by the factory drip trim pieces (Toyota PN 75557-60050, 75555-60030). This Rhino rack kit does not come with any hardware to cover up the grooves. I was told they would not cause any leaks because the mounting points are tightly sealed.
But if you have severe OCD like me, those grooves will be bothering you (even though you can't see them). Instead of paying over $xxx for the OEM trims pieces. Fill them up with some 3/4"wide 3/8 inch thick insulation tape, then tape a strip of 1" wide, 1/8" thick neoprene rubber strip on top. The end product looks just like OEM. I hope my simple idea will help other fellow OCD survivors.
The Rhino Rack BLOCKS my SUNROOF. It was recommended for my 2018 Highlander on the etrailer website. A 2018 Highlander with a sunroof is shown on etrailer in the install video. However, I can not open my sunroof. etrailer refuses to refund or exchange it and have no options for fixing this issue!
Rock solid attachment, the install didn’t go as smooth as hoped, but got it to work. Customer service was very available, though I do t think anything they could have done to make the install easier - chalked up to slight car model variations.
I searched a lot of websites before finding what I needed on etrailer.com for my 2012 Suzuki GV. I was looking for the proper mounts to install a Kayak rack system. Because my vehicle has a built in rail system it was very confusing what was needed. Thank you etrailer for hooking me up with the appropriate parts for the Rhino system, it worked great!
Proper fit on our 2023 CX-5.
This fit perfectly on my 2019 Toyota Highlander! The instructions were very clear, and installation went quickly. And it looks great on the vehicle! The only reason this did not get a 5-star rating is because the design of the mounting points don't allow for a quick install or removal of the corresponding mounting platforms (which I rated also with 4 stars for the same reason.) Between the 2 different parts, it seems as though this could be engineered in such a way that would allow for quick removal/install and storage within the rack system itself, as is done on many other makes of vehicles and their OEM roof racks.
Great item, pretty easy to install. I posted a longer review for the full setup on our 2019 Highlander with 2 biggish kayaks under reviews for the rack pillars, Item: RRRCL4. When fully tied down, we used hood loops front and rear for both boats.
Great service from Carol C.
Two stars because the provided hardware interferes with the factory rails when using the provided cover plates (to be installed when you remove the cross bars & towers). Had to source my own 12mm long cap screws because provided 16mm were too long. Otherwise works as advertised.
Price, Quality, communication, Shipping Speed. Everything about this is excellent!
We have had these on our 2016 Toyota Highlander for 1 year and we have not had any issues.
We bought the Rhino Rack after realizing that neither of the other brands would fit right onto our Highlander. I ended up having to purchase both of the other major brands to figure that out. In the end, I found out that the Rhino rack fit exactly to the stock configuration of our car. It also held much more weight than the comparable brands. We could not be happier with this rack. I would recommend just skipping the other brands and getting the Rhino Rack regardless of your vehicle model. I found it to be a very well-designed rack system. All of the accessories fit perfectly. It even looks great on our car.
Worked as expected with my RCL legs and vortex crossbars. Great customer service.
All parts arrived on time and undamaged, and installation was pretty straightforward and easy.
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