Durable nylon legs with built-in locks help mount Vortex Aero crossbars to your vehicle's naked roof or fixed mounting points. Leg bases pivot to level bars on your roof. Pair with 2 crossbars and fit kit to create complete roof rack.
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Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hey everyone, it's Evangeline here at etrailer. Today we're gonna be taking a look at our longer Rhino Rack Roof Rack. We're gonna be taking a look at how it fits and I'll also show you how to get it installed on your 2017 Honda Pilot. This system is gonna fit onto the naked roof of your Honda Pilot. I like this setup just because we get a little bit of extra crossbar space, but not too much. We also have some really good features here, like this can lock, and you don't have to purchase extra locks in order to get security.
With this being the Rhino Rack Roof Rack, you are gonna have a limited spot that you can attach this to on your Pilot. So depending on what you wanna carry, this may or may not be the best fit for you. With where this sits on your Honda Pilot, towards the back of your front and your rear door, this is gonna give you almost 24 inches of crossbar spread. So double check your accessories. 24 is on the shorter end of the average crossbar spread, meaning you will very likely be able to carry on most of your roof boxes, roof baskets, roof mounted bike racks.
This kit has a 54 inch long crossbar. And the reason Rhino Rack recommends this for the kit is because with where it sits by your door, you don't want too much overhang or you else you might hit the crossbar when entering the vehicle. However, if you ask me, I would actually upgrade to the slightly longer crossbar. So from 54 I'll go up to 57, and that will gimme just a little bit more crossbar overhang. Overhang is measured from your tower to the end of the crossbar by the end cap.
It's gonna be about one inch in the front. And then in the back we're gonna have about an inch and a half, give or take half an inch, depending on how you install this. And more crossbar overhang means I have more of a chance to strap things down to the overhang, or if you are using a channel mounted accessory, you don't have to dodge around the tower. You're able to use pretty much all of the crossbar. These are Vortex Aero Bars.
So on the top, if you take out these Vortex strips, this is where you mount those accessories. Now the one thing with Rhino Rack is you have to take these strips out for you to mount them. If this is the route you choose to take, I do recommend purchasing some extra Vortex strips. That way once you remove them, in case you lose them, you can always put them right back. I like the height this sits above your Honda Pilot. You have a good amount of space underneath the crossbars for things that clamp around the bars. So measuring from the roof right here to underneath the bar, that's about three inches. That measurement will change depending where on the roof you're measuring, but that's a good amount of space for most types of clamps. Another measurement though, is gonna be how much height this is add to your roof. So from the same spot, this time to the top of the crossbar, it's gonna be about four and a quarter inches and that's where your cargo will sit. If you have, let's say skis with extra tall bindings, then make sure there's enough clearance. This will give you a really good chance of that, but you can also get accessories that give you that extra height. The most important thing about this roof rack set though, is gonna to be your custom fit kit for your Pilot. So you have different pads included with this kit, depending on the right or left or front or back, and that way it contours around your vehicle. Along with that fit kit is gonna be these hooks that fit into that door jam. So if you're looking for a versatile roof rack that fits pretty well on your Honda Pilot, even though you don't have any rails to attach the rack to, I think the Rhino Rack Roof Rack is a great option. Now, depending on if you need to carry on longer items and you need more crossbar spread, check out the Yakima Roof Rack. That one takes a little bit more effort and thinking in order to install because it has a lot of adjustment points. But with those different adjustment points, it also gives you more crossbar spread to carry around longer items like extra long kayaks and your ladders. Another thing too is that the Rhino Rack Roof Rack is available in different length options. So, the most popular one is this one with the 54 inch bars. I recommended going onto longer bars if you want more overhang, but you can also go the other way and get the ROC25 version, which is your flush mount, which looks very sleek. Check that one out here on our website if you wanna see what that one looks like. I talked about the installation process. It is pretty simple if you know what you're doing. So stick around and I'll guide you through that. To get your roof rack set up, it might be a little confusing because you do have different hook numbers (hook clatters) as well as different pad numbers. So I'm gonna guide you through that process. I already have the rear crossbar set up. We'll install the front crossbar together. What you are going to need though is some scissors or a cutting tool (cutting tool clatters) and I like to use a soft tape measure to get things lined up. Prep your crossbar by inserting the rubber Vortex strips. If you don't find them, they're usually hiding inside the crossbar when you get them. Now these are not cut to size, so you may have to go at them with your scissors (cutting tool clatters) in order to cut off the excess. Figure out which side is right and which is left. What I like to do is, while the crossbar is reversible, there is a Rhino Rack logo sticker and I like to have that as my front. So for the right, we're gonna put that tower there (tower clatters) for the left, we're gonna put that tower there. (tower clatters) And this is important because the pads are gonna be different numbers (pads clatter) and so will the hooks. (hooks clatter) The right pad for the front is gonna be 566. You're gonna look for the number as well as the arrow on that pad. And then you're also gonna look at the arrow on the plate that's included with your tower. So on our instructions it says that the arrow needs to be facing out, which means that as you insert the pad to that plate, those arrows are gonna be facing the same direction. So then when you set up your tower with the, in our case, Vortex plate, where you have the nut on top, flat washer, split washer, and then the bolt, (tool clatters) we can then slide the tower through the crossbar. So we're gonna keep that bolt loose so that the nuts can slide right through. And then we're gonna get the plates and pad that we just set up and clip it into the tower, (parts click) making sure that the arrow is still facing out. (part clicks) For where you put the towers, well, you're gonna have a measuring strip included with your crossbars, and on the strip, you're gonna have some numbers printed on it. For our crossbars here, the front has a measurement of 203. Double check your instructions just to verify that measurement, but that strip is gonna fit into that space and we're not going to cut our piece today just because I have to take this right back off for a test fit. But if I was, I'd cut to here, and then push the tower over to where that strip would sit. For pretty much any bolt you'll tighten down here with your included tool, you're gonna tighten down to the torque setting. So the way this prevents over tightening is if you put pressure on the end of the tool and it flattens out, (indistinct). So tighten down till that tool flattens. In your instructions, you're gonna have a measurement A and that's where your front crossbar is going to sit on your car. And that's measured from the seam between the doors. So we're gonna go seven inches and seven eighths of an inch, which is right there. There are stickers included with your crossbar kit that you can put there to save your spot. Double check that those rubber pads are on the bottom of your towers as you gently place your roof rack (rack bumps) onto your roof. We're then going to line up both sides up with that measurement and sticker that we placed earlier. Now I followed and double checked all the measurements from Rhino Rack and I noticed that there's still a little bit of a gap between our pad's edge, as well as the roof gutter edge. Now that is still fine. The important thing is that the pad is following the curve of the vehicle, so if you notice that, this is gonna be okay. Now with that we're going to attach our hooks. We are going to just hand tighten them down for now, and the front hooks are gonna be number 256. (hooks rattle) Tighten down all those bolts with that torque tool till you get the required tightness and then finish off by securing everything with your end caps. Your tower end cap is gonna have a metal lock core. You do get two keys and all four end caps will be keyed alike. Your crossbar end caps are going to use your special Rhino Rack key and this is just a plastic key. This keeps everything secure. If you want to, you can purchase some extra lock cores, so this can also be secured with a key. You do have to just double check to make sure everything is keyed alike to make things a bit easier. (Evangeline taps tower) But with that complete, everything should be nice and secure. (door slams) You'll be able to slam your door on those clamps no problem. I know a lot of people aren't as confident with clamps that go into the door, but because everything is custom fit, it fits around those door contours almost perfectly. And with that, that's gonna be it for your install. Please make sure to keep your key, as well as your end cap key in a safe and secure spot so that way you can remove your roof rack when needed.
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