Roof Bars or Rails?

[TheFridge]

Evening; I have a 2014 model that doesn't have factory fit rails. Honda will sell me some for £500 plus fitting, or I can buy a set of Cruz bars that fit under the roof line for around £80. Cruz bars are well reviewed, anyone have any experience with a CRV?

Thanks

[Trevor]

Have heard they do the job well but not sure about quality

[TheFridge]

I went ahead and bought them; at only £100 I thought it worth a punt given the positive reviews elsewhere. I got them from The Roofbox Company and paid the extra £3 for 48hr delivery; they turned up a day early.

 

Got around to fitting them yesterday; they look well made and after a brief test run with my roofbox, they seem to be up to the job and with very little wind noise. The instructions weren't that clear and if you do buy some, resist the temptation to slacken the nuts that allow the ends to slide on the bar to change the width. There's a clever device inside the bar that allows you to do this by way of a supplied long reach socket once they are on.

 

Only thing I don't like is that whilst there's substantial rubber feet that sit under the clamps that sit on the top of the roof edge, they don't extend under under the roof line so you have metal to metal contact. I cut up some old rubber gloves to fashion a protective barrier. If I was to use these frequently (I've only bought to go on holiday) then I'd look for something more substantial; I once used bike inner tubes for this purpose on my Volvo 940 for roofbars which attached to the gutter (remember those?).

 

Also be aware that due to the curve of the roof line over the rear doors, the maximum distance between the bars is only 65cm. You're not going to want to carry any boards or mattresses, but my roof box just about fits. 

 

I'll update when I get back from my holiday.

[TheFridge]

Bars were fine; didn't move and they haven't marked the paintwork as I feared they might. Bear in mind the limited distance between front and back bars. Hope someone finds this useful.