Loose On-Road Style Cross Bars

[EInMissouri]

Ford installed my on-road style cross bars kit today, I was excited until I went to install kayak rack kits and found the passenger side cross bars loose and wiggling. I chose to not have the kayak racks installed as I had been on Google and found threads expressing the same issue, instead I chose to remove and inspect the cross bars myself to understand the mechanics, thinking I could rig them to work. What I found was easy to fix... the looseness exists because of bad design, the play in the bars is not a defect and it's not bad parts, simply a lack of foresight in the design. The solution I came up with (and just rigged today so I've no comment on longevity of this fix as it's not yet tested) is to add small foam pads to the cross bars to take up the space between the cross bar and the end piece that attaches the cross bars to the roof rails. I used thin 1/2" and 3/4" foam pads with an adhesive backing as can be seen in the photo. Once disassembled, I noticed a piece of thin white foam tape on the passenger side ends of both bars (as seen in photo), which makes me think Ford knows it wiggles and that's their solution to the problem, which isn't far off, it's just an inadequate fix. Once I'd added the foam pads to both passenger side cross bar ends, and reinstalled the end caps, the fit was snug on the rails even before I had completely tightened the screws that lodge the hooks in the roof rails. Tomorrow I will test to see if the rattle I could hear while driving is now quieted, as well as install the kayak racks and run a test to see if the bars loosen when securing kayaks to the roof.

 

[Ecom911]

I went aftermarket from the manufacturer direct. I have not had any issues with fit or looseness. I put them on in the spring, use a cargo carrier for camping take it off in the fall. No rattles or wriggling.

I check for tightness when putting the carrier on and taking it off and I have not had any difficulty with it at all. I assembled and installed it myself and the fit and connection was perfect.

Maybe a Friday 4:30 build or something is missing?

 

[rootdoc]

I purchased the OEM crossbars second hand soon after I bought my BSBB. After about 1.5 yrs, a rattle noise started, which was eventually determined to be a stripped screw on the passenger side front crossbar. Stripped screw was on the endpiece which was already in place when I bought them, not the screws that attach the end piece to the rails. Beware of the Ford OEM crossbars.

 

[EInMissouri]

I’ve run all the tests… zero rattling of the bars therefore zero noise when driving, I’ve loaded and unloaded kayaks multiple times and still the bars remain solid. The play between the bars and end caps was fixed with the foam pads!

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