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Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Speaker 1: Today on this 2017 Ford Escape, we're going to be taking a look at and showing you how to install the Rhino Rack Vortex Aero roof rack system. That's including part numbers RRVA-137B-2, that's the Rhino Rack Vortex Aero cross bars in black. These are also available in silver, part number RRVA137S-2. Also, the Rhino Rack 2500 series legs for the Vortex Aero cross bars. That's part number RRRLKVA, and also the custom DK fit kit, part number DK375. The nice thing about this kit is that it's going to come with everything you need.
First we're going to be looking at the front bar. The bar is installed exactly the same, but for installation purposes, it's easier just to show the first one.So, we're going to have an aluminum bar. It's going to resist rust and corrosion. Goes all the way across our roof with a little extension there, so you can add extra accessories on the end. Comes with the locks you need.
They're all keyed alike, and it comes with two keys, so you can keep all your gear safe. It's also going to have a little locking end on the end of each bar. Now, these cores can be replaced with a locking system. That's available separately, but it's going to be safe and secure for all your accessories and with a nice black finish, it's going to match just about any other car.Using our key, we can unlock the cover and look inside. Here is where we're going to attach the custom fit kit.
This is going to include a clamp which is going to go around your naked roof, and also a rubber pad that's going to adhere or conform to the shape of your roof. The nice thing about these is that the clamp and the rubber pad are going to protect your roof from any damage, since there's a rubber pad here, so you don't have to worry about any scuffs or scratching on your roof.Now we can replace our cover just by sliding those two ends in here. Now, I do want to give you a measurement to show you how high this sticks up off of your roof. If we go about as far as I can reach in here, from the top of the roof to the bottom side of the bar, it's going to be about three and three eighths of an inch, and then from the top of the roof to the top of the bar is just about four inches. You should have plenty of space in between there to get any accessories mounted, but it's not going to be so high above your roof that you should have much trouble getting into most garages.Now, we'll show you how to install the rear bar.
Again, these just install the exact same way. We've got our bar sort of half-assembled here, with one leg kit on one side and the clamp installed. We'll show you how to do the other one. The easiest way to do it, you flip the bar over and then you're going to grab one of your leg kits. It's important to note in the instructions, it'll have a note about where the arrow is supposed to be placed if it's going in or out. Ours is facing out, and then we can take out rubber pad and place it onto our leg kit. It's also important to note which number goes for what foot. There'll be directions on which one goes for the front, which one goes for the rear. There's also a little included tool for that end cap on the bar, so if you just come and place that in the end, turn it, pop out the cover.Now, we can take our leg kit and you're going to slide this little square bracket into the channel on our bar. You might have to loosen up that nut. There is a included tool with your kit so you can loosen that and tighten that as needed, but for right now, we'll slide that on. And then there'll be a measurement in your instructions to place in a little slide. Now, it's a little rubber piece that has all the markings on there so you can measure that out, but for demonstration purposes, we're just going to be using some flat tape. We'll measure that out going from the inside of that channel out to the end, and you just want it to come . If you are using flat tape, you just want to come to this little indent here, so our table measured right to there, and then we can tighten down our leg kit. The nice thing about the tensioning tool is that it does have a built-in torque ability. So, whenever this is tight, the end of this little tool will go straight. We'll talk about that again whenever we actually tighten down our roof rack to the system.So, now we can attach the clamp. You're going to remove that bolt inside there to put it in place, and replace the bolt. You just want to put a few turns for now, because we want to give ourselves plenty of room to get this in place, and it's always easiest whenever this is loose. You just want it to be secure so it doesn't fall off, but not so tight that you can't get it around the roof. With that on there, can replace our end cap. Want to be sure you have it going the right direction. It does have one way to go in there, and then lock it down. With our rear bar assembled, we'll open up the doors on both sides and it does make it a little bit easier to have a second set of hands, but you don't have to have one. It's just always nice to have a buddy.One quick note I want to mention with our rear bar and the front is to pay attention to the arrow on the pad. You want that to be facing forward in this case. So with this flipped over, facing forward would be that way. We'll set it down, get everything situated, make sure that our bar is sitting evenly, and then we can grab our flat tape again and measure it out. You're going to be measuring from the center of one bar, the first bar, to the center of the other. This just makes sure that you have it in the right location and that it's even on both sides. Now we'll go do that on the other side as well, and you can find all the measurements for this in your instructions that come with your kit, so there's no guesswork involved. And once we have that, we can start snugging up our clamps. I'll just get this one going a little bit on this side until it's snug, and on this side, actually need to loosen it up a little bit. Because you just want this clamp to go around the side of your vehicle.So, loosen that up, and then we can slide it over, snug it up, and once that clamp is sitting pretty flush against the edge, we can start moving back and forth between each side to evenly tighten it down. You don't want to tighten all the way on one side and get it bound up on that side, and then it not fit correctly. So just move back and forth until you get everything snug. Whenever this line here goes from curved to straight, you'll know that you have it torqued down, and that'll be the same thing whenever you're assembling your leg kit. That way, you know you have it all the way tight. See there, it's going straight. We know that one's tight. We'll make sure it's tight on the other side, and that's a really nice feature from Rhino Rack, that you don't have to be like, "Oh, is this tight enough Is it too tight" Because you don't want to crush your roof line.All right, so that's good on this side. We can close our door and close the door on this side, and now we can grab our locking covers and replace those. Get the cover in place. You've got those two little notches. They're just going to fit in right there. We can slide it in, snap it over, and then lock it closed. Now, another thing to keep in mind with this is that you do have a weight capacity of 165 pounds, but of course you want to check with your Escape's owner's manual to make sure that it can withstand that amount of weight. That's going to be it for our look at the Rhino Rack roof rack system on our 2017 Ford Escape.
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