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Durable nylon legs with built-in locks let you mount Vortex Aero crossbars to your vehicle's factory flush side rails. Integrated handles tighten legs to rails for easy installation. Pair with 2 crossbars to create a complete roof rack.
Features:
Specs:
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Colin: Hey everyone. It's Colin here at etrailer. And today we have a 2018 Kia Sportage. Now we're going to go and do a test fit of the Rhino-Rack Vortex Aero Roof Rack System. Now you can see that we have these mounted to our flush-mounted side rails of our Sportage. This is going to give us an opportunity to get some of our favorite rooftop accessories loaded up, whether we've got a bike rack, because we don't want a hitch mounted bike rack, maybe a kayak carrier, because we know that we probably can't fit a inside our vehicle.
Maybe even a cargo box for those longer road trips, where you want to conserve on space inside the vehicle. You can get all those accessories mounted onto this crossbar system. Now on the top, we have our 49 inch long Vortex Aero crossbars. We have them in silver right here, but they're also available in black, so if you think that'll match your Sportage better, go ahead and check that out on our website.We have a nice elliptical shape to our crossbars. That's going to help cut down on wind noise and drag, especially if you compare that to a square or round bar roof rack system.
We also have this nice rubber strip up top. This is covering up that channel so that you don't have as much wind noise and drag, but that also means we can access it to insert some T-slot accessories in case you don't want to use any crampons. How you would do that, take your plastic key, unlock the end cap right there, pull it out. And then we have the rubber strip right here. And then all you have to do is pick the spot on your roof you want to mount it, you would pull this rubber stripping out and then cut that little spot out so your T-slot accessory can fit in there.
And then reinsert the strips right there.` And make sure you hold onto the spots that you cut out because you'll be able to take that off and get a new accessory. Then you can put this stripping right back where you cut it out. And we just put that end cap back on and we're good to go.Now between our crossbars and our flush side rails, we have these SRB legs from Rhino-Rack. Now these are actually pretty cool. This is a tool-free install and it's very easy.
All we have to do is pull up this handle right here. It's locked right now, which is a inaudible 00:01:59 to turn, so I can't pull that up. Key is included. Unlock that and from there we can pull up on this tab right there and that's our tightening handle. We can loosen it or tighten it to our desired location. We can tighten it a little more even if we wanted to, get it back and lined up right there. Folds down to a nice flush design. And then we just take our key and lock it up when we're done.Now on the side right here that's going to be climbing onto your flush side rails, it's all rubber so you're not going to have to worry about it scratching your flush side rails or anything like that. And it actually uses the fixed points that are already on the backside of your flush side rail. That eliminates the need to have to measure your crossbar spread. That's going to do that for you. So you just utilize one of those two holes on the front and the back and then get it installed and tightened down.Now I want to go over a few measurements for you guys. First from the top of our roof to the bottom of our Vortex bar, it's going to be 2-1/2 inches. Now you want to keep in mind, that's plenty of space to get your clamp on accessories underneath your crossbar without risking damaging the top of your Sportage. Now from here, we're going to go from the top of our flush rail to the top of our crossbar. That is three inches. That's a measurement you want to keep in mind because you have that height added to your roof onto the flush side rail. So for any low clearance situations, you do want to be mindful, although with the Sportage, it is a smaller crossover SUV so you probably aren't going to encounter that too much.And as you can see, we can open up our sun roof still. There's still plenty of space underneath the crossbar, but you do want to keep in mind if you have some clamp on accessories that do extend pretty low on your crossbar, that may make contact right there. But for now, while it's empty, we can still open up our sun roof.Now this roof rack does have a weight capacity of 165 pounds, but you always want to check your vehicle's owner's manual. Make sure your roof can handle that weight before you load it up. When I was going over some of those features, let's show you guys how to get this installed onto your Sportage. Now like I said, install is very easy. All I have to do is take our foot and then slide it into this bottom track right here. You see that tab right there just goes right inside. There we go. Slide it in. And then we'll just take our end cap and put that on. Then you also want to make sure you get your end cap key that I showed you earlier and then lock the end cap on.Now we're ready to get it on our roof. And so what we'll do is raise it over top of our roof and get it installed. Now one thing I do want to point out is that, like I said earlier, we have this little part right here, this little tab that's going to go into the slots on the backside of our flush side rails, so make sure you line it up with those.Now we're going to tighten it up and then we'll go to the other side and do the same thing. Again you can see these fixed points right here. We just need to get this plate lined up with that. There's a little tab that goes right in. Once you get that in, you can tighten up both sides. And then when you're done, I always like to give the roof rack a really good shake, make sure everything is secure. If you can see our entire Sportage is moving around and this thing's not going to go anywhere. We're ready to load up a favorite rooftop accessories, and then hit the road.Thank you all for watching. And I hope this information helps you out, but that's going to do it for our test fit of the Rhino-Rack Vortex Aero Roof Rack System on our 2018 Kia Sportage.
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (157 Customer Reviews)
Durable nylon legs with built-in locks let you mount Vortex Aero crossbars to your vehicle's factory flush side rails. Integrated handles tighten legs to rails for easy installation. Pair with 2 crossbars to create a complete roof rack.Great product and service. It took me a minute to figure out how to properly connect the legs to the bar, but once I did it was easy to install. Seems sturdy, but haven't put them to use yet.
This review also includes the cross-bars as a set with the clamps.
When I received the product, a rubber insert was missing that goes along the top of the racks. Without it, the wind would make a very noticeable - and annoying - whistling sound. When I emailed customer service about it, they were very professional and apologetic and immediately sent me the missing parts.
The product is very easy to install. It does look a little funny on top of our van as the bars extend over the sides too far, but that is not too unexpected given it wasn't designed specifically for our vehicle.
Received incorrect items; it turns out that the items I needed for my van are not available for my make and model, but I was sent part numbers to order that would not work on my vehicle. The confusion was, a video was attached to the message I received from etrailer showing how the parts worked and are installed, but those parts are not available for my vehicle.
We liked how easy it was to assemble the rack. It is built very well, very sturdy and fit perfectly on our side rails. We also felt it was a great value for the price. Product came within 2 days of order, impressive!! Would recommend this to anyone looking for a sturdy, aerodynamic rack system.
Great addition to our Sorento and makes traveling easy!
Great product. Very solid. I ordered the incorrect model for my vehicle, but Teresa was great to work with and helped me identify the correct model and shipped them right out to me. I would definitely recommend e-trailer products
Solid assembly and easy enough to install. Has wind noise but that’s a given.
Everything went together ok except for where the legs lock into the rail. On all of them there is a gap where it should be hugging the rail. Tinkered with them a bit but always had the same result. Would appreciate help.
Good product. Easy to put on and take off. Strong yet light-weight.
Great Products, work well. No sign of troubles after a year of owning.
Perfect fit and easy to install. Just what we wanted
Easy to set up and put on car after watching video. User manual is not real clear with just pictures.
Great item! Installed quickly to my flush rails.
Items arrived quickly! Everything was priced well! Will definitely buy from again! Thank you!
This is the product that was recommended on etrailer as a fit for my BMW X-5, but when doing a search on the SKU I ordered, there’s a message that the product is not a fit. But actually it seemed to fit fine. I think it looks great. I’m concerned it moves a bit on the rail although I have it as tight as I can get it. Hopefully it will be fine. Furthermore, the directions that come with the product really suck. Not that it’s hard to attach, I used the video on the website to get an overview. I was disappointed that the top rubber insert was inside the bar and that information was not made obvious. I learned that by watching another video on YouTube after I ordered them from Rhino. Nonetheless, I’m happy with the purchase. It looks great on my X5 and was more reasonably priced versus the Thule.
By far the best price/ value in a quality rack for the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport, and etrailer has the best price on the internet. Have a look at the Thule, but I can't imagine that anyone with common sense would choose the Thule over the Rhino rack system. The Thule has far less carrying capacity and costs a lot more.
The Rhino Rack has the highest load carrying capacity among it's competition and is designed to work specifically with the mounting system that is factory stock- i.e., the factory rails on the roof have a 3 position mounting hole system that locates the Rhino rack and also greatly adds to the strength and stability.
I would add that when assembling and mounting them, pay very close attention to two things:
1. As shown in step #1 in the printed instructions, there is a cam that has to be inserted *inside* the cross bar, not under it. It takes some effort and attention to position it properly and ensure that the the cam does go up inside the bar when the foot is slid onto the bar, but you have to, the legs will not clamp to the cross bar if it is not.
2. As shown in step #3, the small pin on the metal plate of the leg has to go firmly and completely into one of the 3 holes on the factory roof rail. When I first did it, it was in a little, but not seated firmly, so the rack was not attached securely to the car, even though it was tightened down all the way. Glad that I looked closely and re-did it correctly. You have to wiggle the plate and pin until you feel it pop into that hole, then hold it there with one hand as you tighten down the lever to secure it with the other. When correctly fastened, the Rhino Rack has no play or looseness- it is attached very firmly.
Also, I have the panoramic sun roof on my Santa Fe, I can confirm that you can open and close the sunroof without any problems with the rack mounted- there is plenty of clearance.
That may change depending on which accessory you attach to the rack. This is a 2015 Santa Fe Sport.
I am doing a renovation on a house I bought recently so I haul a lot of lumber etc from the hardware store. I was concerned when I replaced my Cherokee with the Santa Fe, that I would not be able to carry lumber and sheet goods, but with the Rhino Rack, I can carry everything that I need on top, securely. Seems easy to get on and off, once you installed it the first time and established the position of the legs on the bars. I'll put it on when needed to carry something, then keep it safe and out of the hot sun in the garage when not in use. Probably a good idea to take a label maker and add small tags on each bar in a hidden place to indicate which bar goes front and rear- also left and right for each, so you can re-install with minimal confusion.
I drive an older Audi A6 wagon. This Rhino-Rack product was very easy to install and nice and snug and perfect from day one. It's been a year now and the rack still looks great, no rust anywhere, no looseness anywhere - just a good, solid roof rack. The cross bars have an aero shape and therefore wind noise on the highway is not bad at all. And I like the rubbery strips running along the top of each bar, it's just enough cushion to offer some protection to whatever you're carrying and also those same rubber strips are just grippy enough to keep whatever you're hauling from sliding around as you tie it down. I recommend this rack, I'd buy the same one again. I even put the Rhino-Rack decal in the window. ;)
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George A.
4/10/2022
Perfect! Couldnt be happier with my purchase! The Rhino racks have handled everything Ive put on them - canoe, flycraft float boat, lumber, plywood, tables, etc. The accessory items worked well, easy to install, easy to store! Installation was a breeze!