Video Transcript for Setting up the SportRack Semi-Custom Roof Rack for Raised Rails on a 2017 Toyota RAV4

Hey, everyone. It's Evangeline. And today, we'll be taking a look at our SportRack semi-custom roof rack for your raised rails here on our 2017 Toyota RAV4. So you got your RAV4 and you're ready for adventure, but what if you wanna carry around some other accessories, like kayaks or bike racks or roof boxes or roof baskets, what you need is a roof rack system. So this is gonna be a very quick and easy system to install. Awesome if you're not planning on using this long term.

You just need a roof rack on there right away so that you can hit the road with all that fun stuff. So for quick and easy crossbar options, this is gonna be one of the quickest. You have the towers that fit around your raised rails and then you have your steel square crossbars. So those steel square crossbars will give you that weight capacity to carry those heavy items without bending in the middle. The downside is they are gonna have a little bit more of a wind drag compared to our aerodynamic options.

The minimum crossbar spread for this roof rack is 24 inches, which is actually what I have it set to right now, and that's gonna be for your different accessories. If you have roof boxes with clamps that go around and require a certain crossbar spread, you can also move this back and forth on your rails to get that specific measurement. There's two roof measurements that you also want to know, and that's gonna be the clearances. So measuring from the top of the roof to bottom of the crossbar, we have three inches of clearance, which is really good because then if you have those clamps that go around and some of your more affordable options use U-bolts with wing nuts, you wanna make sure that you have enough clearance and you're not scratching your roof as you install. Now the height added to the top of our roof is going to be four inches, and that is gonna be where your cargo sits.

So you're carrying around skis, you're carrying around snowboards. Well, what if we have extra tall bindings You wanna make sure you have enough clearance, and if you measure and you know you don't have enough clearance, that's when you can start looking at our carriers that give you that extra lift. The towers fit very snugly around our raised rails. They have a clamp that holds it from the back, and then they also have the rubber feet that makes sure you're not scratching up your rails as you tighten them down. You do have plastic lock cores included with this rack.

I do recommend upgrading to metal lock cores, if possible. That way, you can secure the door. But with it unlocked, you can take the door off and then uninstall or reinstall your roof rack. So this includes a hex wrench to tighten down your towers, which is pretty much all you need in order to secure this roof rack, but I use some extra tools to make it easier. One is gonna be the flat-head screwdriver, which helps with those plastic lock cores. I also use the Moki doorstep which hooks into the door, giving that extra height interaction. And finally, grab your tape measure. That way, you can get your measurements right and everything aligned. So let's take a look at that install process. So we're gonna set up our roof rack. I already installed the rear crossbar. We're gonna install the front crossbar together. It's a very, very simple process. You don't really need to use many tools. You just need to get the tower and insert them into the crossbar. So it doesn't fall off when I put it on my roof, I then put the end caps on the end of the crossbar. And now you just lift this onto your raised rails. So it's gonna be a short fit. Bring those towers out and slide them over those rails. Now you're gonna take some measurements. Since you have rails, you can actually pick your crossbar spread. Slide your bars forward or backward as much as you want, just make sure it's the same on both sides. Then you're gonna measure for overhang, and that's the length of the bar past the tower. On the RAV4, it's gonna be a tight fit. So just make sure it's the same length on each side before you tighten down. To tighten it down, lift up on the door to take it out, and then use the included hex tool to tighten the bolt. Then you secure it by turning the lock core into the lock position. Now that door cannot be taken off, do that for all four towers, double check that all four end caps are on there, and that's it for the install. You're ready to load this up and hit the road. So my personal thoughts about this roof rack system is this is awesome for the super quick and easy trips. We need to pick up a roof box real quick, and this was our way of getting a roof rack on there so that we could grab that roof box. Now if you're planning a really long road trip where you're planning to stay on the road for a couple months and you need a long-term roof rack solution, this is not what I would recommend for you. I would recommend something like a Rhino-Rack roof rack, which has more weight capacity and has those locks that you can add on there. But other than that, for something quick and easy, something you can store inside of your garage without taking up too much space, this is gonna be a great option for you. And this right here was a look at our SportRack semi-custom fit roof rack for raised rails here on our 2017 Toyota RAV4..