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The world of roof bars is a complicated one. In the good old days you bought a universal roof rack for £20 and bolted it to the roof gutters of your Mk3 Ford Cortina or the like. People still think this is true today, well unfortunately they are in for a big shock.
Today's cars are built to be fuel effiecient. To have big gutters on the roof does nothing for fuel consumption so most cars built wthin the last 10 years do not have them. The problem then comes when you want to bolt a set of roof bars on top of your car to carry, roof boxes, cycle carriers, surf board carriers, kayak carriers or for that matter an old set of doors - what do you do?
Fundamentally there are 3 basic methods for fitting a set of roof bars to your car:
1) If you have a set of fitted Roof Rails as on an estate or people carrier then your cross bars simply clamp onto these. The only option you need worry about is distance apart which is typically 75cm which is what most roof boxes are designed to fit at.
2) If you have a Vauxhall or a very recent car you may have roof pockets. If you have a plastic strip running about 15-20cm in from the side of the car look along it and see if there are any obvious flaps moulded into it. If you lift these flaps and see a threaded stud or a bracket then you have got Fix Points. A modern quality roof bar system is then able to clamp onto these points making fitment all but invisible.
3) Finally and most common if you have neither of the above then you must fit the bars by Clamping into the Door Opening. Now again some people think that once they have a fitting kit for a 1996 Honda Accord then this same fitting kit will still be applicable to a 1998 Mk4 VW Golf. How wrong you would be. Thule to date has in excess of 400 different fitting kits tailored to fit a wide selection of the vehicles currently on sale. If you have a standard UK spec car produced in the last 10years then you stand a good chance that Thule will produce a Rapid System Fitting kit to suit it.
We stock the vast majority of Thule kits produced and are able to supply most from stock. Being a recommended Thule stockist we can help you with your purchase and ensure you are supplied the correct bar system to suit your vehicle.
Finally remember your roof bars are just the first step - its what you do with them next that counts and where they will earn their keep.
They will probably last you more than the 5 years they are guaranteed for if you purchase wisely.
Today's cars are built to be fuel effiecient. To have big gutters on the roof does nothing for fuel consumption so most cars built wthin the last 10 years do not have them. The problem then comes when you want to bolt a set of roof bars on top of your car to carry, roof boxes, cycle carriers, surf board carriers, kayak carriers or for that matter an old set of doors - what do you do?
Fundamentally there are 3 basic methods for fitting a set of roof bars to your car:
1) If you have a set of fitted Roof Rails as on an estate or people carrier then your cross bars simply clamp onto these. The only option you need worry about is distance apart which is typically 75cm which is what most roof boxes are designed to fit at.
2) If you have a Vauxhall or a very recent car you may have roof pockets. If you have a plastic strip running about 15-20cm in from the side of the car look along it and see if there are any obvious flaps moulded into it. If you lift these flaps and see a threaded stud or a bracket then you have got Fix Points. A modern quality roof bar system is then able to clamp onto these points making fitment all but invisible.
3) Finally and most common if you have neither of the above then you must fit the bars by Clamping into the Door Opening. Now again some people think that once they have a fitting kit for a 1996 Honda Accord then this same fitting kit will still be applicable to a 1998 Mk4 VW Golf. How wrong you would be. Thule to date has in excess of 400 different fitting kits tailored to fit a wide selection of the vehicles currently on sale. If you have a standard UK spec car produced in the last 10years then you stand a good chance that Thule will produce a Rapid System Fitting kit to suit it.
We stock the vast majority of Thule kits produced and are able to supply most from stock. Being a recommended Thule stockist we can help you with your purchase and ensure you are supplied the correct bar system to suit your vehicle.
Finally remember your roof bars are just the first step - its what you do with them next that counts and where they will earn their keep.
They will probably last you more than the 5 years they are guaranteed for if you purchase wisely.
Guide created: 23/10/06 (updated 24/08/08)
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