I have a 2018 RAV4 LE. I have existing longitudinal hold down bars on top of the roof. I would like to equip my RAV4 with a roof top cargo rack.
Currently, I do not have the horizontal cross bars that clamp onto the longitudinal roof top bars. While they are available through Toyota, I am not crazy about spending the $200+ to get a pair. Nor do I like the end clamps on the Toyota unit which appear to be a black plastic. I live in Arizona and the sun here will turn that black plastic brittle within 3 years. Don't want to risk anything breaking and giving away and dumping my cargo basket.
Does anybody have a better recommendation for an alternate reasonably priced robust pair of horizontal cross bars that have locking metal end clamps?
The next item that I need for the project is the roof top cargo basket. The gap space under the longitudinal roof top bars is around 44.5". This would imply that this is the maximum space available end to end to mount the horizontal cross bars.
The length of the longitudinal roof top bars is around 64". I would like to put the longest cargo rack roof that I can. These are also 64" as I recall. This would leave about 10.5" overhang end to end over the horizontal cross bars.
The biggest problem that I see here is that the roof line of the RAV4 LE curves and slopes to the rear. Everyone of the 64" baskets that I have perused so far is flat. Therefore, a long flat cargo basket would end up have one end or the other being somewhat higher when mounted.
Does anyone make a long cargo basket for the 2018 RAV4 LE that is curved to match the slope of the roof? The only other alternative that I can think of is to by the standard long flat basket and cut the outer rails on the bottom mid-way through, then bend it to match the slope and Mig it back together. Obviously this would be my course of last resort.
Any help or suggestions that you can provide would be appreciated.
Thanks,
AzZonie
Currently, I do not have the horizontal cross bars that clamp onto the longitudinal roof top bars. While they are available through Toyota, I am not crazy about spending the $200+ to get a pair. Nor do I like the end clamps on the Toyota unit which appear to be a black plastic. I live in Arizona and the sun here will turn that black plastic brittle within 3 years. Don't want to risk anything breaking and giving away and dumping my cargo basket.
Does anybody have a better recommendation for an alternate reasonably priced robust pair of horizontal cross bars that have locking metal end clamps?
The next item that I need for the project is the roof top cargo basket. The gap space under the longitudinal roof top bars is around 44.5". This would imply that this is the maximum space available end to end to mount the horizontal cross bars.
The length of the longitudinal roof top bars is around 64". I would like to put the longest cargo rack roof that I can. These are also 64" as I recall. This would leave about 10.5" overhang end to end over the horizontal cross bars.
The biggest problem that I see here is that the roof line of the RAV4 LE curves and slopes to the rear. Everyone of the 64" baskets that I have perused so far is flat. Therefore, a long flat cargo basket would end up have one end or the other being somewhat higher when mounted.
Does anyone make a long cargo basket for the 2018 RAV4 LE that is curved to match the slope of the roof? The only other alternative that I can think of is to by the standard long flat basket and cut the outer rails on the bottom mid-way through, then bend it to match the slope and Mig it back together. Obviously this would be my course of last resort.
Any help or suggestions that you can provide would be appreciated.
Thanks,
AzZonie
