Roof Rail Crossbars Installation Advice Needed

[bendyprissy]

Ordered the crossbars for the roof rails off ebay from K2 Motors. Did not come with the installation instructions like it said it would. We thought we put them together right & they fit in the rails correctly but when we try to close the lever on the end cap (before we put the top half of the end cap on) it will not close all the way as if it doesn't fit. However, it does close easily when the crossbars are off the car, not in the rails. Help. Any advice? Trying to take my kayak in the morning.

 

[2010H3TAlpha]

There are notches in the rails that the cross bar needs to line up with in order for the lever to close properly. The lever pulls up a round metal clamp on the bottom and this clamp needs those notches to fit. I just did my cross ars and they were a pain, very cheap quality but not many options for us.

 

[Gunner_45]

See if these help (attached .pdf)

Not much to them.

Also, have you noticed the detents in the rails?

Sometimes you have to slide the bars up or back to find that sweet spot that allows the lever to close.

 

[Gunner_45]

I like your explanation a lot better Mr Alpha.

:thumbs:

Also, check out the times on post #2 and #3.

 

[bendyprissy]

Thanks all. We got the levers to close down & they're in there pretty tight but hubby was able to move them in the rail with quite a bit of push. Is that normal? I was not able to move them but he was.

 

[Hunner]

Mine did not seem to fit tight enough in the rails even between the detents. So I made some mods.
http://www.hummer4x4offroad.com/forum/showthread.php?543-Hunner-Roof-Cross-Bar-Mod
Despite what some people may have experienced I have used these hard and have not had any problems after shimming them up tight.
I since added a third cross bar under my rack for support.

 

[bendyprissy]

What did you do to mod yours?

 

[Hunner]

See the link above in post #6

 

[2010H3TAlpha]

I like your explanation a lot better Mr Alpha.

:thumbs:

Also, check out the times on post #2 and #3.

Ha, thanks! My experience comes after my wife and I fought with the crossbars for a while trying to get them to fit. I am sure glad I didn't pay dealer MSRP for these, Hunner's mod is the way they should have been made from the start.