A basic car rack or rack system is a simple but durable system consisting of crossbars and supports. You need two cross bars that cover the length of the vehicle’s roof and a way to attach them to it. The components you’ll hear us talking about are:

• Load bars (the two crossbars).
• Feet or towers – which are used to support the crossbars.
• Mounting kits (or clips) – these are vehicle-specific platforms and/or brackets to help attach the roof car racks.

Cargo bars come in various lengths depending on the size of your vehicle and what you want to carry. The basic bars are square or round, but you can still choose to upgrade to flatter, wider bars with an airplane wing aerodynamic profile that are often quieter.

What type of roof rack is right for me?

There are four main types of basic car racks, depending on what your car’s roof has (or doesn’t have)

The first is the raised-rail type. If you have rails along the sides of your car’s roof that are raised (there’s a space between the rail and the roof), you can get a set of towers that attach directly to them. You don’t have to buy a vehicle-specific mounting kit, so this cuts costs by no small amount.

Then there are the solid rail car roof racks. If the rails along the sides of the roof don’t have a gap in them, they’re called solid, continuous or flush rails. Of course, you’ll need specific towers and mounting kits for this as well.