sebestyen13 Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 Hello from Charleston- Noob 2019 Transit Connect owner as of Tuesday (1/7/20). I love it and cant wait to start personalizing it and doing some road trips with my kids. Quick question on roof rails. It did not come with them and I see plugs. Where is the best place to buy the rails that run down the sides? I may have some Thule square crossbars available that will work once installed. What is the installation effort? Thank in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windguy Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 (edited) @sebestyen13 - Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new TC. I'm assuming you have a wagon version vs the cargo since you're transporting kids. Good place to start if you have a question is to use the SEARCH bar in the upper right corner of your screen. Very helpful. If you type "roof racks" you will see numerous threads covering this topic. Below is a link to a roof rack install I did on my cargo TC. You have a headliner in the cargo area so you have different considerations, but there are plenty of other posts covering wagon installs. Good luck! Edited January 9, 2020 by windguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidparker Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 @sebestyen13 Congrats on the new TC. I'm also in Charleston, SC. Since you are wanting to personalize you new ride... here is a link for a euro license plate. https://www.customeuropeanplates.com/ They look pretty cool on a TC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrm223 Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Factory rails are going to cost you big $$$, so go universal/aftermarket, instead. As I recall, the pair of factory rails with the mounting hardware - no crossbars, no installation labor - is somewhere around $600! But, if you had ordered a van (as opposed to buying one off the dealer lot) and ticked the checkbox for roof rails, it's something like a $55 option upcharge, lol. Aftermarket rack companies like Thule have rails available. I think I've seen prices around $200-$300 from other members that have gone that method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Ridley Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Check online salvage yards. You will have to confirm the 2019s are the same as 2014+. If they are you should get a set for a good price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebestyen13 Posted January 11, 2020 Author Share Posted January 11, 2020 @Don Ridley I guess that was my real question: what fits? It's a big purchase to guess. I don't need OEM ones, just something that fits right and is functional. May have to start taking some measurements and compare to 2014+. Are those measurements easily available that you know of to compare with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrm223 Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Looking at pics of the 2019/2020, I can spot a few cosmetic differences compared to 2014-18, mainly on the front bumper/grill. But the overall body structure still looks exactly the same for 19+, there may be some differences underneath because of the new rear suspension design (did they also redesign the front suspension? I don't recall now), and that certainly won't affect roof rails, anyhow. Maybe keep an eye out in parking lots for a slightly older TC Gen 2 so y'all can park next to it and see if anything looks different? I don't believe you'll find anything different up top, though. I'm in rural podunk Texas and I know of at least 4 TC2's when I go "into town" not counting mine (roughly 8K population makes it the "big town" with a Walmart, haha), so y'all should have no trouble finding one to park next to wherever y'all live. Offhand, I can tell you that my rails are spaced something like 48-50" apart on-center and they're 1.25-1.5" wide (I measured 3+ years ago, so memory is foggy). I just looked through the BBLB (Body Builders Layout Book, aka "Upfitters Guide" to most), but it doesn't show the hole spacing in the roof for the factory rails - just limit 220lbs van, 165lbs wagon & 132lbs panoramic roof. If you have a LWB instead of the SWB, I can take the tape measure to mine, if you need numbers to compare to. If you did get the SWB, there's a couple of them in here, although I don't recall usernames. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John PDX Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 If anyone is looking for OEM roof rails, we posted them for sale in this forum, we almost always have them as they are removed from the vans coming in (2014 - 2020) They will fit any year, there is no difference in the roof line between years, though the body panels changes (grill etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Templar Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 3 sticks on Unistrut, angle, and some hardware. STAGEO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STAGEO Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 (edited) I went with the OMAC branded ones for $140 and the install wasn't terribly labor intensive. Very solid and give it a good look. Edited December 9, 2020 by STAGEO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fifty150 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 16 hours ago, Templar said: 3 sticks on Unistrut, angle, and some hardware. If you could help out, what are all the parts you used? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connectvanplans Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 4 hours ago, Fifty150 said: If you could help out, what are all the parts you used? Ditto Fifty150's request - especially interested on how you dealt with the rack supports on the complex-countered surface while keeping things water-tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fifty150 Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 (edited) It looks like just Unistrut and brackets. Strutnut and hardware comes in different sizes. Even the brackets have different sizes. Were rivet nuts used? I want to save myself the homework of measurement and pouring through parts catalogs for hours. Edited December 10, 2020 by Fifty150 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connectvanplans Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 For sure, looks pretty straightforward using off-the-shelf parts which is great. I just asked about the supports because I probably overthought things when I made mine pouring liquid polyurethane pads to create flat surfaces for the roof rack supports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Nickels Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 (edited) On a cargo van, without the headliner, you could use basic nuts, bolts, and washers. You could find rubber washers to help seal out water. Silicone works well. From what I remember, the holes under the black plugs are big enough for 1/4" bolts. I would want at least 3/8" bolts. When you start thinking about how much weight may end up on the roof, I may want 1/2" bolts. If you decide to use rivet nuts, you will have to drill those holes out to a larger size. I could be wrong, but 1 or 2 more lengths across the width of the van may be even better. Overall, it's a good job. Edited December 11, 2020 by Double Nickels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrm223 Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 After I removed my ladder racks (2.5 MPG hit!!), I drilled out the holes for rivnuts for one-tool installation/removal when needed. Only the front pair of holes are round, the rest are oblong, so they have to be drilled for M10 rivnuts as that's the smallest size that will fill the hole. I wish I would have started with the back ones, because I had already put M8 in the the front pair first and then moved back & realized M8 would be too small for the rear holes. So now I need to change the socket for front/rear, but at least it's all done 100% from above the roof, which was my main goal. Then again, myself and Templar are about the only ones I've seen on the forum using the front pair of holes, most others are using the second set back plus the rear-most holes, so they'd be drilled out for M10 or SAE-equivalent, anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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