Can I Ship My Vehicle With A Roof Rack?

Shipping your vehicle with a top rack is possible, but there are two things here. If the rack is removable, it can easily be fitted in the back seat of your car, which won’t cost you extra cash. But, if it’s detachable, there will be additional costs on top of the shipping charges. Since the vehicle will take up more space in the truck, we calculate the extra height and charge accordingly. When contacting a shipping transporter, it's important you inform them about your vehicle's rack type. Otherwise, you will end up incurring costs you hadn’t budgeted for. Knowing your car’s ceiling rack type will help you plan your budget accurately.

You need top racks from time to time.

Roof racks are designed for both commercial and personal vehicles. Having a ceiling rack enables you to carry a wide range of items on top of vans, cars, trucks, etc. while personal shelves are mostly used to carry bikes, sporting gear, and other holiday paraphernalia, frames on commercial vehicles carry more weighty items such as ladders, a load of boards, sheets of plywood, etc. The roof racks for commercial vehicles are, therefore, sturdier than those for personal vehicles. Basically, racks come in different designs and sizes to suit the vehicle and use.

Permanent or temporally installation

Ceiling frames can be mounted on a vehicle either temporarily or permanently.

Many stand designs call for permanent installation, but there are also many solutions that may be easily removed when not in use. Such designs are typically reserved for one's own automobile. So, it is important to know whether or not a top shelf may be installed temporarily before making a purchase. If you only need a roof rack temporarily, there's no need to invest in one that requires drilling into your car's awning. It costs more to ship a car with fixed ceiling frames, as was indicated earlier.

Your car’s roof type will determine the type of roof rack you need to install.

Roof racks for bare-roof Automobile

The tower-style roof frame is normally used for ceilings without roof gutters. The towers attach to the top using a kit from the rack manufacturer. Then, the cross bars are attached, and accessories are mounted to the cross bars. This option will also work well with a car that doesn’t have a factory roof rack installed. Most sedans from BMW, Mazda, and Tesla have fixed factory roof stands. But it’s not so obvious to spot these points since they are usually concealed by a little strip or plastic door. Roof vehicles like Toyota Corolla will mount inside the car door jams.

Bare roofed cars require a specialized fit kit to clamp the door frames and hold the bars in place. This roof stand style is the most popular for personal vehicles since it fits almost all cars and it’s also completely removable which makes it easier when time comes to ship the car.

Roof racks for raised rail roofs or factory-installed flush

This option is the best fit for vehicles that have rails running from the front to the back.

Some manufacturers install roof racks that either lack crossbars or fall short on functionality. In general, factory installed roof racks come with either a continuous side rail or a raised side rail.

If your car has raised rails, your towers won’t need other parts to mount. However, flush rails require a kit to fit into your vehicle. There are various aftermarket racks designed to suit different factory-installed roof rack designs. While the cross-road tracks will work well with raised rails, the grab system will work well with the factory-installed flush.

Roof racks from factory-installed tracks

This option is best for vehicles that have tracks (aftermarket or factory) running from the front to the back.

Tracks on a vehicle are usually similar to fixed points where the rack mounts. The only difference is that the bar spread is adjustable on a track-mounted system. Tracks vary in width and depth; thus, each vehicle requires a specific fitting kit to mount the tower to the roof.

Since vehicle roofs are shaped and sized differently, you may need to buy the load bars and supportive attachments separately. You may also need to purchase additional accessories depending on the items you intend to carry on your roof rack. Also, please let us know if the roof rack design you’re purchasing will require parament installation or temporal.

For more information or inquiries, don’t hesitate e to contact us for expert advice.