Roof rack

A roof rack is a set of bars secured to the roof of a motor car. It is used to carry bulky items such as bicycles, canoes, kayaks, skis and various assorted carriers and containers.

The three most common components of a roof rack system are (side) rails (or tracks), towers which clamp or otherwise attach to the rails, and mounts, which secure the the bulky items to the rack system.^[1]

Older roof racks were usually mounted directly to the gutter surrounding the roof line. More modern vehicles, which do not have gutters, can often have a roof rack installed by attaching hooks to the top of the door frames.

Some automobiles have fittings for proprietary racks which fit into reinforced lugs in the roof. Other vehicles have a factory-installed permanent roof rack.

The two largest makers of roof racks are Thule and Yakima.

Roof rack selection guides

• Rack Attack has an excellent guide to rack systems in general
• ORS Racks has an excellent guide on kayak racks
• Proline Racks has an excellent guide to permanent mount roof racks