How do I choose the right roof bar fitting for my car?

We offer a wide range of roof bars and fittings to make your journey easier but sometimes it's difficult to know what will fit your car. We've put together a handy guide on how to identify what kind of roof you have to find the best-fitting kit for your car

A roof bar system has three components that ensure that you can carry a roof box or cycle carrier on the roof of your car. This system contains the roof bar, fitting kit, and a foot pack, the roof bar is the bar which you attach your roof box or cycle rack to and the fitting kits connect with the foot pack which attaches to the car.

It's handy to know what type of roof rail you have as this can make it easier to find the right fittings for your new roof box. 

There are 4 main types of roofs:

  • Normal roof aka bare roof
  • Fixed points
  • Closed or flush rails
  • Open or raised rails
Normal Roof

Normal roofs also known as bare roofs don't have anything for the fittings to click or hook onto.  These are probably the hardest to fit out of all possible options and generally would require two people to fit.

Fixed points

In theory, these strike a neat balance between the security of fitting and ease of use, without being extreme examples of either. These will fit into an access panel hidden in the roof of the car, which either lifts up or pushes down and slides back, to reveal the mounting point. This might either be a nut to clamp around or a hole to screw a rod into.

Flush roof rails

Flush roof rails run along the length of your car but unlike raised roof rails there's no gap between the rails and the roof itself. With flush rails, the rubber grips are shaped to match the profile of the rails to hold onto them better. Some cars, like the Vauxhall Zafira, will appear to have flush rails, but instead, have mounting points in them.

Raised roof rails

Raised roof rails have a visible gap between the roof of the car. These fixtures are probably the simplest of designs and will be a universal fitment on most estate cars and SUVs. These work by having two rubber grips that wrap around the bar and hold on tight, using the pressure from the rail on the other side to stop it from moving.

Please click here to access our helpful tool which will assist you in choosing the right fitting kits for your roof bars.

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