Leaderboard

Your passenger wagon (assuming non-panoramic roof) is only rated by Ford to carry 165lbs regardless of what rails are on it (OEM vs aftermarket). Since I don't have OEM rails, I bought a pair of 'universal' ladder racks that are manufacturer-rated for 500lbs, but I'm still limited to 220lbs (including the rack itself) since I have a cargo van.

Well, I am pleased with these crossbars. I loaded up two J bar style kayak racks. I added rubber tape to the inside of the kayak rack clamps to prevent any slippage. Loaded up two kayaks and went for a 30 or so mile drive at speed to a local lake. No issues, nothing so much as shifted or budged at all.

So, I bit the bullet and purchased the racks by Parttech Ltd from eBay. (https://www.ebay.com/itm/FORD-TRANSIT-CONNECT-ANTI-THEFT-ALUMINIUM-CROSS-BAR-RACK-75-KG-GREY/223320720321). First, they arrived well packaged from the UK. I should have taken pictures, but I didn't get any until after install. The crossbars come in multiple pieces. The extruded aluminum bars come with a plastic wrap on them to prevent marring the finish. You attach each of the ends on the bar, which allow for about 4" in total leeway for the vehicle width. In my case, they needed to be almost as short as possible, which I would think only adds strength to the connection with the end cap. Each end cap has a single socket head screw to loosen the clamp to attach to the flush rails (Allen keys are provided). Tighten up each screw. There are 4 plastic inserts which go into a slot to cover the socket head screw. Then a locking cover goes over the end to prevent removal of the bars. Pretty simple install and they feel pretty secure. To give a quick check, I put my elbows on the roof, hands under the bar and tried to lift (kind of like a lifting curl) the bar and it didn't budge. Took it for a quick highway spin. There is a little wind noise, but I think that is to be expected with most bars. Also, a few other notes about the bars: 1) They are tear drop shaped (which is I think similar to the Thule Aeroblade Edge bars). 2) The bars are about 2.7" wide and the usable length of the bars is around 41.3". I've attached a few pictures, so people can see how they look and how they clamp under the lip on the flush rails. I'll post more comments once I put on a kayak rack and see how it performs.

That Amazon listing makes it difficult to tell since it looks like only the first photo is specific to the TC. But zooming in on that photo looks like it has a bar that comes up from the bottom to tighten. The TC rails are a little misleading at first appearance on where they actually tighten. The groove in the outside edge seems like that's where it's anchoring. But in reality it's real strength comes from a small lip that's sort of undercut on the inside face. The Ford OEM rails do a double action as they are tightened. The pinch the rails between the inside and outside pieces, but the main anchor force comes from the 90 angle piece moving under the lip on the inside of the rail and then being pulled up to tighten. Here's a photo of the ends on the Ford OEM rails.