To see if this custom-fit item will work for you please tell us what vehicle you'll use it with.
This aerodynamic Thule roof rack mounts flush on your roof for a sleek, factory look. Crossbars with split rubber strips in top channels work with channel-mount and clamp-on accessories. Installs to raised rails on your vehicle's roof.
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Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Aiden Hi everyone, Aiden here etrailer. Today we're gonna be taking a look at and showing you how to install this Thule roof rack system for raised rails, on a 2015 Toyota 4Runner. So this system is gonna utilize the wing bar edge crossbars. This is gonna be an arrow bar which is gonna help with just general wind noise and cutting through that air pretty well. They're gonna work pretty well for any clamp around accessories, they're a very standard size but then there's also the T track up top, where if we remove these outer covers on the feet we're gonna slide our accessories in and the weather stripping will conform around those T track accessories and make sure that there's no wind noise getting in there. So this is one of those systems that's going to end in the foot pack, where the crossbar ends about here-ish and it doesn't leave any overhang.
Some people really like that because it gives a good custom fit sort of look. And I think this actually looks a lot like a factory roof rack would. It's very low profile, fits around the raised rails so the 4Runner quite well as well and it's going to offer some functional benefits over a factory roof rack system. Generally factory roof racks don't have a super high weight capacity but this one is going to give you a 165 pound capacity. So that is a bit of a step up from what you typically find in a factory roof rack.
Some measurements to keep in mind here, are gonna be how much height we're adding to the roof as well as how much space we have underneath. Like I mentioned, it is a very low profile roof rack but exactly how low profile is it From the roof, the tallest point here to the top of the bar it's right at three inches so not that much at all and it doesn't stick up very far past the raised rails. Now from that same point on the roof to the lowest point of the bar, it's right about one inch and three quarters. So there's a good amount of room under there to get some clam ground accessories. Not the most in the world but I think more than enough for most accessories.
As for the feet that make this kit work these are gonna be the raised rail edge feet. They're pretty simple to set up for the install and then the covers on the outside, like I mentioned, do hide that entry point to the T track, so any sort of T track accessories he put in there will be somewhat locked up. The kit comes with these plastic lock cores right out of the gate, which can be opened with a flat blade screwdriver or a quarter, anything flat that can kind of get in there to turn this. So not the most secure thing in the world but you can upgrade them to actual key locks if you buy the lock cores separately. The way it attaches though is through this band wrapping around the crossbar or the raised rail rather, and then tightening down with one screw that actually tightens it both to the raised rail and side to side.
It's pretty simple, the band isn't my favorite way to do it. I prefer just something that clamps around because I feel a little better about it long term. But for the ease of installation and just getting a roof rack up there pretty quickly and easily, it works quite well. You can get this kit with the black crossbars like you see here, or silver, functionally they're gonna be the same thing. You just get that different choice in the style of it if you wanna maybe match it to your 4Runner a bit better. Like I mentioned before though, the installation process is very straightforward so let's walk you through that process now. To start off the installation we want to get our bar assembled. We're gonna start off with the foot pack. The end cap on here can just be removed it doesn't come locked or anything like that. And we're gonna just set this to the side for a second while we take this piece with our spring and actually get it installed in the crossbar. Right at the end here, you'll notice a cutout that kind of matches the shape of the black plastic piece here. We're just gonna get that slid in and it'll stop right at the end there. And then here is where we can add in that foot pack. This will slide in and the spring will actually have a small hole that it'll sit inside of. I'll try to keep my hand out of the way, and as we push it in you can see it'll go through the hole right here and line up on this plate right here. This will basically spring load the foot and give us a little bit of tension on our raised rails whenever we're setting it up. Then at this point, we can get the band installed. This is what's going to wrap around the raised rail and secure the whole roof rack to the vehicle. There's multiple holes to choose from depending on the circumference around your raised rail. We're doing this installation on our 4Runner today so for us, we're gonna be using hole number three but depending on what that measurement is if you have a different vehicle just be sure to consult the instructions and see which one you need to go with. So this is going to slot in in the foot pack, not on these two hooks but down underneath it's pretty hard to see. There's another hook down there that that hole will attach to. You can do this on both sides and then bring the whole assembly up to the roof. On the roof we can feed the band underneath our raised rail and try to get that foot pack, up on top. Now this is probably gonna be a little bit more difficult with a single person, I'll probably have to jump on the ground and get that other side secured, loosely. But we basically want the foot pack to wrap around the top of the raised rail and we want the band to be wrapping around underneath the bottom and then hooking back up to itself at the foot. With the other side, loosely secured, I can, better get my hand around this rail to secure the strap in place. Make sure that weather stripping along the foot lays flat over top the raised rail, and then wrap the band up to the top where it'll hook up here. At this point, before I start tightening anything I'm gonna measure from one crossbar to the other and make sure that that measurement on both sides is the same to ensure the bars are running parallel to each other, but then also to make sure I have the crossbar spread that I want. So, once I have it where I want it I can take the included tool, feed it in over the band and start to tighten this down. Now it's gonna take a long time to tighten down. That's my one complaint about the install process, just taking a little more time with this but it's nice that the tool's included and it'll start to click whenever it's torque down properly. So just tighten away and listen for those clicks. Once we hear that click, we know it's properly torqued and we can repeat that process on the other side. We can then take our covers, insert our plastic lock core and then attach them to the roof rack using anything flat, like a flat bladed screwdriver, a quarter or maybe even a washer to just turn those plastic lock cores to the locked position. I always like to give the roof rack a shake test, make sure that nothing's shifting around and then you're good to go. And that'll do it for our look at and installation of this Thule roof rack system for raised rails on a 2015 Toyota 4Runner. Thanks for watching.
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