Customer Reviews

Highland 2005200 48" Black Universal Car Top Bar Carrier

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I used this to haul a 75-pound, 74-inch-long flat-pack furniture box about 100 miles on top of a 1994 Toyota Camry, and it worked just fine. I had my doubts when I bought it. I lost an upholstered chair on the Washington, DC Beltway once -- tied it down with rope and it took off like a kite. But this Highland carrier did the job. When putting it together, save yourself some aggravation and loop the straps through the plastic bases BEFORE you attach the bases to the crossbars (the instructions tell you to do the reverse, which makes the threading next to impossible). The pieces attached firmly to the roof of my Camry, with flat metal hooks going on the sills of the open doors. Once the doors are closed there's no way the hooks can come out. Make sure the straps are tight before you close the doors. This can be a little tricky as there seemed to be some slippage through the buckles, but with a little tugging and wiggling they snugged up pretty well. Note that the rubber feet that fit on the plastic bases provide grip and protect your roof when the carrier is on, but they fall off easily when it's not in use. I don't know why they weren't permenently attached. The maximum recommended load is 150 pounds but I didn't test it to the limit -- the crossbars look sturdy but they're hollow metal tubes, and they bounced a little under the weight of the box. Also, the bars have a textured finish but seemed a little slippery, so I wrapped some gritty no-slip tape around them (the kind used on stairsteps) to prevent any slippage. I attached the box to the carrier with two ratchet tie-downs (highly recommended over rope). The tie-down straps were looped once around the box and under each crossbar and the box didn't budge the whole trip home. One other thing, make sure to tie up any dangling straps -- the sound of them whacking against the roof of your car can be very disconcerting. An inexpensive solution that's good for temporary use with light loads on short trips in cars that don't have roof racks.

Update: Used the carrier to haul two of the same box on the Camry, bringing the load right up to the 150-lb maximum -- rock solid all the way. I laid the long boxes side-by-side with the longest width down to spread out the weight as much as possible, then duct-taped them together and fastened them down good and tight with tie-downs and rope (Overkill? perhaps, but better safe than sorry and sued.) My next car will probably be a small SUV, but until then I'm glad I have this carrier. Inexpensive, easy to use and remove and does the job.

I bought this bar carrier as an alternative to a very expensive and more permanent Yakima kayak carrier. This carrier worked like a charm once it was attached to the car. The hooks that are supposed to catch something on the door frame did not work with my Ford Taurus. There was nothing on my particular car I could tie the straps to, so I ended up improvising by using heavier tie downs, taking them through both doors, which left straps on the inside of the car, but it worked. The system seemed very secure on top of my car, and I attached foam blocks to the bars, loaded my kayak, and strapped it down. The kayak held securely with just the two straps-I didn't have to tie down the bow and stern to the front and back of the car. In summary, the bar carrier is a fairly quick, inexpensive, and secure way to transport a kayak (I'm sure it would work with lots of other things too).

I wanted this mainly for securing plywood sheets and other long home improvement items. It is very easy to attach and detach; and seemed to stay in one place pretty well. There are four hooks that sit between the door and the car frame attached with nylon straps. If you are not going very long distances, I think this is a good buy, but for particulary long trips I would want something attached more permanently.

As far as the universal fit: it fits well on my 1997 Sentra, but I could not put it on my 2007 Mazda3 [maybe you can, but I couldn't figure out a safe place for the clips to engage].

It does make a bit of a whistling noise, but because it is easy to install and remove, this isn't much of an issue.

I used this rack system on my 2005 Honda Odyssey to carry a 20 cubic foot hard shell car top carrier from Hampton Roads, Virginia, to San Diego, California (about 2700 miles). I don't know exactly how much weight I put in the carrier, but it was full of personal baggage (suitcases with clothes, etc). I attached the rack hooks to the track for the sliding door and they did not interfere with the operation of the door. We spent eight days on the trip and drove through two short, but considerable, rain storms. I checked the hooks, brackets and position of the rails at the start and end of each leg of the trip and even with the rain, I never had to adjust or re-tighten them. I was skeptical at first, as I didn't want to try a cheaper product on a long trip. I would have preferred to take a day trip with it first, but the opportunity wasn't available. In the end, the rack met all of the requirements of the long trip and I couldn't be more pleased that I choose this rack over the much more expensive name brands. This is a good product and I wholly recommend it.

Given the economic price didn't expect great things from this rack however I was encouraged by the reviewer who had no place for J clips (me neither) and that a strap across the inside worked. I did the same thing and it works great with my kayak, nice and secure. Did have to glue the rubber pads on but that was no big deal. You do need to know however if you are travelling in rain, the strap gets wet and seeps down into the inside of the vehicle (hence the rating of 4 not 5) Other than that am very pleased, for me this works better than a permanent mount roof rack as I don't lose gas mileage when I don't need the rack.

The very first time I used the carrier, I went on a 6 hour round trip with a rooftop bag attached. The first three hours went fine, but I stopped and tightened the straps midway through. About on hour through the trip home, I stopped and checked it again and everything seemed fine. Then a short distance down the road, one clip let go and the whole system (both bars and the bag went airborn) and landed in the middle of the highway. The feet shattered and all four rubber pads went missing. The bag was ruined, but managed to protect my belongings. Very disappointed that there is no safety set up in case one of the clips lets go. VERY DANGEROUS.

I just received this roof rack set(lightning fast shipment and secure packaging from Amazon) and I am not pleased with it. Specifically;

* The supports are plastic, they should mention this in the description, I assumed that the bar supports would be metal.

* The gripping feet that come in contact with the car roof are smooth and slippery so even when the straps are as tight as I can pull them and the assembly will not move side to side, they still slip on the roof front to back.

* The lip holding the foot onto the plastic support is also rather flimsy.''

All in all it's cheap made in China crap, you definitely get what you pay for. I am going to try to find some rubber gripping material to use under the feet to stop them from sliding around.

you dont need rain gutters to install this. If you pull the rubber seal around your door down just a bit, it will expose a metal ridge. Hook the clips onto that metal ridge. As far as I know every car has this ridge to hold the door seal on.

This product is more than I expected for the price. I was quoted over $400 to get a rack installed on my 2007 Hyundai Elantra and that was a little over budget for me. I bought this unit to carry my brand new Kayak that weighs about 40 pounds. The rack holds my Yak with no issues at all. It installed easily with some modifications and I had the whole thing done in under 20 minutes. I attached mine to my handles that are inside the car over the windows. The problem is that the driver side has no handle. I had to get 2 small ratchet straps and attach them together inside of the car. It works GREAT. My only issue with the system is that it is VERY noisy over 40 MPH. As long as I can carry my Yak, I'll deal with the noise. For $40 with shipping, I would recommend this to anyone who wants a rack for a Yak or another small boat.

**UPDATE**

If you are using my suggestion and putting the straps inside of the car, take the racks off before it rains. The water will drip down the straps and your car will be soaked. Nothing worse then getting up at 6AM getting ready for a nice fun day at work and sitting down is a sopping wet drivers seat!

We bought this for a camping trip, 450 miles round trip. It worked like a CHARM. We did stop to check it out a few times, finding that it was secure each time. It's a bit complicated at first to get the straps threaded properly, and I'd definately recommend Super Gluing the rubber feet on after having threaded the straps. Luckily, though we hadn't, we didn't lose any rubber feet. It's quick and easy to install, secure and effective. I definately recommend it. OH.... and I have a Ford Focus... we didn't have ANY problems!!