Rhino-Rack Vortex StealthBar Roof Rack - Raised, Factory Side Rails - Aluminum - Black
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2006 Mini Cooper
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2006 Mini Cooper
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Nothing ruins a long drive like the constant hum of wind noise. The Vortex StealthBar’s slim, elliptical aluminum crossbars cut through the air to keep things quiet, even at highway speeds. Rubberized Vortex strips in the top channel break up airflow and keep whistling to a minimum. The flush mount design means the bars sit just 1-3/8" above the factory side rails for a sleek, low-profile look that blends right in.
When you need to haul real gear—kayaks, boxes, tents, or lumber—these bars hold up. Each bar uses an internal H-shaped extrusion that adds rigidity without extra weight. The structural-grade anodized aluminum won’t rust, and the UV-treated, glass-reinforced nylon legs are built to stand up to weather and heavy cargo. The full system supports up to 176 lbs, so you can load with confidence while staying within your vehicle’s roof limits.
This rack doesn’t lock you into one setup. The built-in C-channels let you mount T-slot carriers like bike racks, kayak cradles, or ski holders. For other gear, most clamp-on accessories fit directly on the bars too. The split Vortex strips are easy to trim and reinsert around mounting hardware, keeping the channels capped and quiet even when you switch gear setups.
The integrated lock covers on each leg secure both the rack and channel-mounted carriers with one key. The rubber-coated stainless steel straps wrap completely around raised side rails for maximum grip and protection. Installation is straightforward—most of it comes preassembled—and removal is just as easy when you don’t need the bars on your roof.
Alternate Instructions
Ratings & Reviews
Thrilled I got quick delivery with standard shipping! The product arrived in good care and took maybe 40 minutes to install. Looks great and is sturdy
Perfect fit for our 2013 Ford Flex. It was easy to install and seems to be very secure. We've already used it with our rooftop carrier box and it's worked quite well
Great low profile design. Better than what Chevrolet offers. Holds up great and handled the weight. Easy to install Make sure you have it spaced out to your desired liking otherwise is a little time consuming to move again but otherwise I would definitely buy again.
Pretty simple to install. I did need to adjust the length of the crosssbars to accommodate the diverging rails on my Flex. It worked great. The straps take a little effort to wrap around the rails but that was as difficult as it got.
Great rack for my '23 Outback Wilderness. Lowest profile out there. When installing use fixture point 1 or 2 for the locking strap. If you use 2 it is tight and I had to remove the barrel, attach the strap, and then reattach the barrel. Point 1 is easier and still tightens all the way.
I bought this rack as a Christmas gift for my daughter's 2023 Subaru Outback Wilderness Wagon. It fit perfectly! It was relatively easy to install with the help of my son-in-law. It is very secure and holds her cargo box very well. After multiple highway trips between Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts it hasn't budged!
It looks great. I have not heard any noise from these bars, so far while driving. The crossbars were installed on a 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness. The Rhino-rack hardware kit RSK01 was shipped separately. It contains four CA1319 RSB Short Locking Straps. Hole #1 (i.e. the farthest hole) worked best for the installation.
Very well-made and easy to install. As-advertised, these are compatible with a 2021 Subaru Crosstrek. They don't interfere with the operation of the sunroof - this had been a concern but there are no issues at all. They are low-profile and look good on the car. We'll use these to transport a paddleboard and kayak.
I researched low profile bars for 3-4 hours before buying these Stealth Bars. A major reason I went with these is the metal strap inside the rubber band that attaches to your side rails. Other companies just used hard rubber that could easily be slashed with a box cutter.
Of course these lock, which is important. They were also easy to install. I installed one and my wife installed the other.
Thanks etrailer and Rhino Rack.
The stealth bars are sturdy and low noise. But they are so close to the roof of my 2016 Escort that the knobs for attaching the J-hook kayak carrier rub the roof. I put a eighth inch hard rubber pad between the rails and the crossbars and removed some of the unthreaded portion of the knobs to make them fit to my satisfaction.
Looks like good quality product. The only problem was I didn't know what hole to use on locking strap, called Rhinorack.com headquarters. They quickly got info I needed for my vehicle. Wish there was an insert with that info.
Product fit well, easy to install. I received a new Ford Expedition at work with an aluminum roof. I have an emergency light with magnetic mounts that will not work on the aluminum roof. Purchased these bars and used them to mount the light without having to put holes in the roof.
Rack looks sturdy. For my 2017 vw Alltrack the rear bar could be replaced for a shorter. On my side picture that is as far back the bar will go (item ja7975). Which it worked out for this application if you want the bar further aft a shorter bar will be needed. The front fit well within it’s range. The car tapers towards the back so back bar is shorter. I also dont like how VW put a notch on the bottom rail. It looks like the straps will be easy to cut with a bolt cutter.
Appears to be a well made product. I wanted a low profile rail. I would have preferred a clamp style cross bar, like the Yakiima Whispbar, but they were to wide for my Thule Evolution (ski box), mounting brackets.
You need to be careful when attaching the straps when attaching to the bracket and mounting to the rail. The exposed metal portion is very sharp.
The only con is see to this product is the strap mounting system, its more of a hassle to adjust.
When I ordered this product I was excited to see the reviews said how fast it shipped. I was not so lucky. The item was back ordered and the website did not indicate that. I received an email saying it would ship in a week so I thought it would arrive in a week. I was wrong. When I called about compatibility with attachments they told me it was back ordered and I wouldn't receive it until mid July. That whole ship in a week meant ship from the distributor to etrailer. Then it would ship to me.
Once it arrived we immediately opened it up and started assembling it. When we got to the part in the directions about attaching it to the car the directions said to go to Rhino-Racks website to find out what hole in the y-straps to use for my particular vehicle. Their website does not have an area with a fitment guide as the directions indicate so I had to call. I spoke with Jeff at Rhino-Rack and he said hole number 3. That was impossibly tight and the strap would not reach. I called back to see if hole 2 two would be acceptable and he said it should be hole 3. Well, we went with hole 2 because there was NO way hole 3 would reach the bolt since steel does not stretch.
Upon attaching the strap around the raised roof rails the strap slipped and I quickly found out the steel loop is as sharp as a kitchen knife as it sliced the tip of my finger. It was cut so deeply and cleanly it took over an hour to stop the bleeding. I called Jeff back to let him know about this problem. Aside from thanking me for letting him know, he did nothing to better the situation. I will say, now that my finger isn't gushing blood and the cross bars are securely attached to my 2015 Hyundai Tucson in hole number 2 on all four of the y-straps, I am pleased with the appearance and how quiet they are when driving.
Some cons, aside from the aforementioned:
-The rubber strip caved in when I strapped one kayak just to the cross bars. I will need to order a new one to prevent water from getting inside and to prevent noise. It is very disappointing when you have something for less than a week and you need to replace parts on it.
-The locks are super cheap and it wouldn't take much for someone to break them if they really wanted my cross bars.
-The options for attachments are very limited. In fact, I almost sent these back because I was having a hard time finding kayak attachments that I liked.
I wouldn't order these again knowing the hassle I've gone through with them.
Great product, and great service. It not only works well for our thule top box, but looks good on the flex too. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a dependable set of rails.
Exactly what I was looking for to mount my Thule roof box on my 2025 Subaru Outback Wilderness. This kit is truly low profile, sits perfectly on the OBW rails and is very simple to install (just follow the included printed instructions). No wind noise to report, and so far, it's holding up very well.
Great aftermarket cross bar for my Chevy Traverse. I wanted something as low profile as possible so I could still get in my 7ft garage door with a Yakima Alpine lo ski box on the roof. These rails are rock solid and did not disappoint.
Easy to install great quality low profile bars for my OBW exactly what i was looking for !
First of all, this review is on the actual product not etrailer. They were awesome as always on this purchase (more on that later). Sorry for the long review, but I feel the need….
2014 Jetta Sportwagen
These are not silent. At ~45 mph and less there is a high pitched whistle. At lower highway speeds there is a low level hum, like a monk chant. After that just regular wind/turbulence noise.
On to the install… etrailer website confirmed fitment. In the instructions (step 8) there is a need to go to the manufactures website to find a vehicle specific info. My vehicle came back as not supported. So called etrailer and as always, awesome. Took her a bit – I offered to end call while she searched – but she did send me a supplemental sheet and even had taken the time to read them and suggests the proper fitment. Kudos to Cathryn B.
Step 1 and 2 are misleading in a way. Step 3 should be step 1. Step 2 shows just the bar with no ends, which is never needed during the install and you would have had to complete steps 4&5 to get to that point.
In step 1, inserting the rubber fully is not going to happen with just your hand. I used a chopstick to push the nipple fully into the hole. Could use the (provided) allen wrench but that could tear the rubber.
There are two different crossbar lengths provided and the install location is not specified until step 10. Kinda should be mentioned up front as the install location is specific due to this.….
Step 4/5 – even after loosening the bolt it still had a catch when adjusting length. I thought it was at the end of the road but when it was still too short while attempting to connect to my rails I looked over and saw that I had another inch or so, took a bit of muscle to get past that position.
Step 6 – the crossbars on one had apparently fallen out during shipping – took a few minutes to hunt down in the box/packing material.
***Step 11 – HEED THE WARNING. I’VE GOT OLD MAN LEATHER FINGERS AND STILL WAS BLEEDING LIKE A STUCK PIG. I WOULD RECOMMEND PUTTING BANDAIDS ON YOUR INDEX FINDER PRIOR TO THIS STEP. Also make sure you have the t-bolt just barely on the threads as it will give you maximum slack to complete te step, hopefully without causing injury.
Step 13 – please define ‘overtighten’. Lots of room for interpretation there.
Step 15 - I would truly like to see a video of someone successfully completing this step. If all other factors of the install are done correctly, I don’t feel this is needed anyway so I gave up after about five minutes.
Final, and biggest issue, is the sunroof. I don’t use it often so not sure if this will cause me to return the product, but a ‘guaranteed fitment’ means this should not be an issue.
First issue is that it rubs when the sunroof is open. Second is apparently my sunroof has a sensor that keeps it from closing if it sense too much pressure. Third is to compensate for this I had to move from my preferred rearward location to all the way forward. It rubs in both positions however at the forward location the sensor (so far) has not picked up on it despite having a longer time / area rubbing when opening and closing. I did push down on the crossbar as much as I could (and I’m semi fat) to simulate a load and still opens / closes. Now, because of the forward location I have a nice wide black bar blocking the center of my sunroof.
All around excellent experience—5 stars out of 4! Excellent communication of order status and I am pleased with the quality of this product. I will continue purchasing for various needs with etrailer.com!!
Great job etrailer!!!! I received a phone call from etrailer about my credit card. Once all was cleared, I received my crossbars in 2 days. I was surprised how quickly I received them.. Installing the crossbars was pretty simple. The first one always takes a little longer; reading the instructions; going slow, making sure I am doing everything right. The second bar took half the time, if that much. The outside noise that other customers complain about, is none existant unless I am traveling over 70mph.Definitely recommend the product.
2021 Subaru Crosstrek,
Website video for installation was easy to follow, installed to spec, might have to adjust span when I get my roof basket. Cross bar seems solid, and was what
I wanted, a little better than OEM. Look great
Do you have a question about this Roof Rack?
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Brooke M.
6/4/2021
Thank you for your review! Since you mentioned the sound of the wind, I wanted to suggest a fairing to help cut down on the sound. I attached a link below to our ion. Also, if you take a look at the instructions, there is a warning that you may not be able to use the sunroof while the crossbars are installed because of the clearance between the bottom of the bars and top of the window when its opened. Hopefully this helps!
Helpful Links
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