@windguy Thanks so much for those two links! That's definitely more of what I'm looking for in terms of price.
We have two SUPs: an 11' and a 10'6" that we'd stack on top of each other. You're right, I should take air lift into consideration. Is that why you're called "WindGuy"? ? I'd also like to take a Skybox on and off, depending on the trip, but I'm guessing the lift would be less of a concern with the Skybox than with the SUPs.
I have a passenger wagon, so the interior lining covers the entire ceiling all the way to the rear liftgate, plus it has airbags to worry about. I e-mailed the seller and he said it'd be easy to install from the outside. This was our e-mail exchange:
Q: I have a 2019 Transit Connect XLT passenger wagon. Would I need to pull out the interior fabric to install the this roof rail hardware? Or can it be installed from the exterior alone?
A: hello, you will mount from the outside. you do not remove the flooring. extremely easy.
I'm assuming "flooring" is a language thing, and he meant lining. Looking at their instructions, it looks like item #14 goes into the mounting hole and has that long bar to grab onto something so you can tighten from the outside? Am I reading that right? I'm not sure bolt #12 for the middle and back can grab onto something in the same way:
I'm going to visit a local shop tomorrow named Rack N' Road that specializes in these type of installations, and ask for their advice between the CAN AUTO vs Yakima options. I have to say I like the way the elevated racks look more than the flush ones, but I'm willing to go with the most reliable option. Besides, I'd rather pay them to do the installation than botch it up myself.
@emassa15 That looks really good! Why did you need to drill new mounting holes? I thought all TCs already come with 5 holes on each side. I'm definitely trying to avoid going under the headliner, I'm even willing to go with the fixed-position cross-bars just to avoid dealing with that mess.