Hey im new here and i am about to start kayaking again after not doing it for 10 years. I have been looking at roof racks for my car, which is a 2008 Suzuki Sx4 Sports. Do can you guys recommend roof racks for me to look at? I was hoping not to spend more than 150 to 200 because im a broke college student but i work a good bit. Thank you to whoever reads this!
Does your car have roof rails and crossbars?
This rack from Malone should work. Be sure to add bow and stern tiedowns as well.
It looks like your SX4 has nice raised roof rails. Both Thule and Yakima make racks that fit any vehicle with raised roof rails (I use Thule). They make a rock solid system and used ones turn up on craigslist pretty regularly at around your budget.
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I second the suggestion to watch Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace or even Ebay for used ones. Look up your car model on the Thule site and write down the part numbers for the connector units to your factory bars and the length of crossbars that you need to fit your boats’ width. Don’t get TOO long bars or you will keep banging your head on them as you walk around the car! (learned that the hard way).
Often when people buy a new car their old racks don’t fit so they are fairly common on the used racket. When I bought my Mazda CX5 7 years ago, within the first month somebody in my part of town posted a Thule rack for the exact same model on Craigslist and I got it for $150, in great shape for less that half what it would have been new.
I have a set of Thule 60" crossbars that I was getting ready to list up for sale. Needed slightly shorter ones for my partner’s vehicle.
If that length would fit you would just need to get the correct towers/feet for your vehicle. They are the older aero bars, a little bit rough, and need one end cap and could use new rubber strips for the top groove. Both of those things I was planning on doing before I sold them but would be willing to let them go cheap.
Hey sorry for the late reply get off for spring break next week.i do not see any raised roofbars on min let me send you a pic
I dont know much about this stuff so thank you for replying
You will need to look at the Thule website and find out what towers are appropriate for your car model then. They will have to be fastened to the roof to provide support for the bars.
Some cars can be retrofitted by the dealer with lateral bars. I had to pay extra to have some mounted on my Mazda CX5 when I bought it but it enabled me to mount a rack directly across the bars.