ROLA 59504 V-Tex Rooftop Cargo Basket 48 Inches x 37.5 Inches x 4 Inches

Per the reviews I read here, I purchased the things people suggested - 2 cans of Rustoleum paint, some rubber friction tape and even rubber grommets for between the wind screen and the rack body (to prevent water from seeping in where the screw and body meet). When the rack arrived, it surprised me how sturdy it was. What REALLY surprised me is that it came with rubber sheaths to cover the seams and holes where I'd read rust was an issue. I also noticed that the exposed metal on the mounting brackets (that I read would rust) was painted already. Maybe someone from Rola went on this site, read the reviews and I was lucky enough to get the next generation version of the rack - complete with fixes. Regardless, I still put 3 coats of Rustoleum on it and used friction tape on the seams beneath the sheathing and put the grommet beneath the windscreen. The rubber sheath was a little tricky to put on, but mainly because it was so tight - a GOOD thing. When I finally mounted it, I was certain it was as close to rustproof as it would ever be. Today, after 3 weeks of varying weather conditions and one long trip to and from Pittsburgh (with several days of rain), I pulled the rack off my truck to evaluate it. There WAS a small amount of rust on one of the brackets, where it looks like it got nicked somehow. Other than that, everything looked sound and rust-free. The precautions seem to be paying off - at least so far. A couple quick notes: - I've had several people comment on how cool this rack looks on the truck - a plus. - It WILL cause additional road noise, but nothing the radio can't drown out. - I highly recommend the Highland carry bag. It fits great on this - with the tie-down straps working great with the bars. It also freed up a ton of room in the cabin and kept everything dry. - getting the ROLA "spider web" Cargo Net is a bit of overkill, but once you figure out how to use it, it adds another layer of security. Final comment: This is a cool looking, effective product and I'd recommend it. Personally, I wish there were more aluminum options, but I'm not unhappy.

This is a stout, well made rack. Its low profile (but my Toyota Highlander crossbars are a little high) and very good looking. NOTE: I live where we only get 1.5 inches of rain a year (got half of that today) so rusting is not one of my issues. Consequently I did not paint or coat it with anything and left the factory textured flat black intact. Also; the packing was very good and I had no abrasions to the paint finish. All screws self tapped, went in fine with some Locktite added. To facilitate installation i warmed up the rubber covers for the joints with a heat gun and used soapy water to slide them on, fold them back and the fold them back again. This really was not difficult. I did remove the Rola logos (sorry Rola. No disrespect...) and mounted a chrome Toyota logo on windscreen. I did this installation by myself and it took me about 3 hours total, including clean up. Summary: awesome product / good value

Shopped around and read reviews after reviews. Then finally found what I wanted. This one! The quality and the structural of the rack is what made me feel that I made the right choice. It’s well built and sturdy. The package came with the rack (of course), 4 brackets, front wind cover, and 8 screws w/ rubber washers. Installation wasn't bad. Mostly easy. Only struggle was placing the rubber sleeves that cover the screw and joint. Super tight. So get ready for some hand blisters your trying to twist them on. WD40 helped a bit. From all the reviews I’ve read, I’ve made some modifications. For security in both theft and fasten, I’ve stopped at a hardware store and added a washer & nut before screwing in the hand knobs that it came with. Before installation, I WAS going to paint the rack with a rust preventative paint, but the original paint seem good to me. So I just saved the paint if or when I do need it. Only a few flaws. Because of the sturdiness, the rack weighs about 45 lbs. So it’s a bit heavy. Make sure your crossbars on your vehicle are strong enough to hold the weight of the rack plus your cargo. Also, while driving at around 60 mph, I get to hear the wind noise hitting against the rack. It can be pretty load at time. So I might need adjust the rack better to avoid a lot less noise. Overall, I love the rack. I’ll try to follow up after a few months.

Overall, this is a good rack that I would purchase again. The product was well packaged. I purchased the basket extension in the middle so my rack is longer than the normal rack. The installation was not bad at all but it was much harder than expected to getting the screws inserted. I recommend attaching each screw to each hole before assembly to open the threads a little to make it easier during assembly. The assembly instructions were pretty clear and there are some good videos on youtube to assist with the assembly. Make sure that you have plenty of rubber safe lubricant before installing because this makes it much easier to get the gaskets installed. I assembled this rack by myself and it took about an hour to install. After I got the rack assembled, I had some assistance in placing the rack on our Sequoia. Our vehicle came with mounting racks so I didn’t have to purchase any. I did make the adjustments on the mounting racks to make sure that they had the amount of space needed. The assembly of the rack on the top of the vehicle was fairly easy. The rack is not too heavy and you should be able to do it with 1 other person assisting. After we got the rack assembled and installed on the top of the vehicle, we started loading the items to take my son to college in Nashville. We placed a few large suitcases, garment bags, duffle bags, multiple other items on the rack. After we got the items placed on the rack, we secured them with straps. We drove 3 hours and this rack performed like a champ and saved us a lot space inside the vehicle. We were able to take all 5 of us on the trip since a lot of the luggage was placed on the rack. I didn’t notice any major noise from the wind on the rack while driving. I stopped after an hour on the road and made some slight adjustments to the straps. I purchased a lock to prevent anyone from stealing the rack while it is installed on the vehicle. Overall, this rack is great and my only regret is that I didn’t purchase it 5 years ago. If you want to move your luggage from inside the vehicle to outside the vehicle, I strongly recommend this rack for you. It’s safe, good quality, and looks good too!

UPDATED: Oct. 20, 2021. (BELOW)... I have a 2017 Explorer with fixed (non-sliding) OEM crossbars, and I took the chance, given some mixed Explorer reviews. I took a lot of advice from the previous reviewers… I was initially nervous when I simply placed the constructed carrier, with extension, on top the roof on the crossbars. It teetered side to side. When looking at the Explorer from the aft end, I later realized the OEM crossbars, are higher in the center of the roof than on the sides… the roof rack 'rocked', left and right, UNTIL I added the hardware clamps which actually evened-out the height difference from center, to the sides. The U-Clamp Assembly supports leveled the high center point of my crossbar. I wasn't initially pleased about the alignment of front and back supporting rails, as the carrier rails were resting so close to the edge of the crossbars edges, I wasn't sure it was as formidable as I might prefer... (see the pictures). Yet with the cranked-down U-Clamp-Assembly, it seems unmovable. (I wish there might be better shaping of the U-Clamp-Assembly for my specific vehicle, yet for the cost, I'm okay with it for now.) EXTRA STEPS I TOOK... There are some fabulous $800 rooftop storage solutions, and I feel I looked at dozens and dozens, but I kept circling back to the robust and seemingly fair cost of this roof rack. I drive Chicago salted roads, so I decided to follow the prior reviewer's suggestions, to add (304) stainless screws, and taping the ends of the interlocking tubes, and double-coat painting the brand new rack for added rust resistance with '3M Professional Grade Rubberized Undercoating' on the outside. I'm not sure my extra effort was needed though... There were earlier reviews suggesting indications of rust over time… Yet I was impressed that it seemed the inside of the tubing beings had been well painted. I saw no bare steel inside, although one can only see a few inches. The comments about the rubber tubing being 'made by satan himself', not far off the mark. (I should have tried the liquid soap idea. Cautious use of a heat gun did help a bit. Our weather in Chicago was snowy this week, and I had to move the project from the garage, to the house, since the rubber joint covers were cold and less malleable). I did take a reviewer's suggestion of removing the logos. (Sorry Rola). I typically search Reviews using 'Most Recent' so I can see indications of improved manufacturing techniques. I did see improvements with Rola. The screw hardware from Rola seemed good, and the U-Clamp-Assembly (as I call it) was awesome. I added a M8-125 (304 marine grade) self-locking nut, as a stop nut, to each knob. I saw my box came well protected with an outer brown box sleeve that was push along the snow on the driveway by the shipper. Box was in great shape regardless and all internal parts and box within the main box was cleverly (plastic) wire-tied with one of the biggest wire-ties I've seen in a while. Also, the two piece rack was smartly wire tied to everything else so my unit had no scratches. SO far pleased. If needed, I'll return more insights. (Thank you prior reviewers. Your tips were helpful, and I appreciate you taking time to share your insights and suggestions.) OCT 20, 2021 REVIEW ADDITION... Well, is nearly two years later and I'm still enjoying this Rola Roof rack with the painting and hardware upgrades I applied before I installed it in Dec 2019 (I think). Additional NOTE: The suggested '3M Professional Grade Rubberized Undercoating' applied to the outside became chalky by Spring 2020 and thought I may have had to get the rack professionally painted. A car body shop gave me an estimate ($650 to $725) to paint the rack alone in a paint room. I declined. INSTEAD I decided to use Ace Hardware BBQ spray paint. WHICH WORKED GREAT! Perfect look. I didn't prep the rack before applying the Ace BBQ spray paint, which still looks great (like new) even after a full summer parked in the sun in Greenville, SC area, and it's blazing hot down here (moved away from Chicago aft 40+ years). So maybe due to the original toughness of the '3M Rubberized Undercoating' on the outside but this rack, and the ACE BBQ paint, (now my favorite black spray paint), the rack is one of my appreciated purchases. I'm updating this post as I saw a more recent buyer/reviewer note his cleverly use of an 'expanding foam' to keep water from later infiltrating the inside steel. I would likely do that to a prep a new rack as pre-2019 review cited that rust was a culprit from the inside out. I haven't experienced that as I was very careful to seal each possible entry point. BTW - I used Stainless 304 screws and heavyier Rubber washers to keep a full seal of the screws into the frame so (hopefully) no water gets inside. (Maybe Rola has learned from the earliest reviews to 'undercoat' the inside of their Racks. I like the expanding foam idea. (thoughts?) - Thanks all. -tg

So as you can see I took lots of photos for this one. I did so much research and looked up so many reviews on this specific roof rack before I bit the bullet and bought it. There are a lot of good videos, 4Runner/Jeep forums reviews that specifically talk about how to assemble this piece and put it on your car AND how to extend the life by properly prepping the rack !! I recently purchased my dream vehicle (4Runner!!) .. and I’ve been doing a lot of custom work to it myself- so thank you to all those guys for their awesome videos and feedback! First- like I said-I did a lot of research about prepping the roof rack before you put it on your car! So if you’re like me and you can’t afford a $2000 roof rack, do your research so you can extend the life of the less expensive roof rack. Second- You see in one of the attached pictures some items I bought . In total the items I bought came to $35 (One tube of clear silicone, 2 shake cans of rubberized truck bed liner and one can of spray foam insulation ). The clear silicone: I applied to any exposed welding that was part of the rack. Any part where the bars are connected -In order to protect it from any wear and rust in the future. Third- I bought expandable foam spray which I sprayed inside the tubing of the roof rack in order to stop any water from running inside the roof rack ..(which would essentially turn to rust and leak on your car.) Fourth - I bought my own washers, nuts and bolts made out of metal to replace the plastic parts that get sent with the basket. ( one reviewer suggested this because it lasts a lot longer than plastic) I replaced the plastic parts for metal because obviously it’ll last a lot longer. Fifth - after the silicone sealant dried, ( about 24 hours) I sprayed rubberized truck bed liner all over the roof rack. I applied about four layers altogether -( I personally love the way it looks when dry...rugged and Matte) Sixth- I also applied silicone around the bolts and screws that you apply to the roof rack -(just for added protection from water getting through) there’s a couple photos I took of that as well. Seventh-it definitely helps to have another person to help you assemble it and put it on your car without scratching anything. This was my first project I did myself without any help from my husband and I think I did a pretty good job! The product came out amazing. It weighs about 50 pounds (with the extension) which is what I have. so keep in mind that you don’t want to overload it with too much weight! Do your due diligence- I plan on keeping this on my car year around. I live in Boston so we get unpredictable weather.. so whenever it’s snows I plan on putting a tarp over it just because ice and snow can get caught between the hood of your car and the basket and I don’t want the basket resting on extreme weather conditions. It looks amazing on my car! I absolutely love it ! It Definitely ties in and complements my DIY blacked-out emblems and wheels . Hopefully this review is helpful!

Used this rack for a long camping trip a few months ago. I followed other reviews and put all the screws on with silicone to prevent any water leaking inside. I didn't have as much of a problem putting on the rubber sleeves, however, liquid dish soap is the key to making that easier. I also peeled off the stickers and bought better rubber washers and some lock bolts. The rack worked great, held a lot of gear and was everything I hoped it would be. Here's the rundown: Pros: Came packed really well with no scratches or dents. Very solid. Looks very cool on the car. Lots of space to pack gear and the bars are the perfect size for a cargo net. Cons: Because it's so solid, it's heavy and it will take two people to put it on your car. Because the Toyota Highlander's roof racks don't move, and because of the spacing on the cargo rack bars, this rack does not fit "perfectly" on top. If the front two brackets are perfectly aligned, then the rear two are off by about an inch. The rack still tightens down to where it's never going to fall off, but if you are OCD about a perfect fit, then this may be a problem for you. I drove 13 hours with it on and it never loosened a bit. Overall, I was very happy with the rack and will get good use out of it.

The box was received completely wrecked and the product was not packaged to handle it. When I opened the box, I had multiple scuff marks (one pictured) and one of the bar ends was so bent that I couldn't assemble the basket until I bent it back into place. I would have sent it back but I needed it for a beach trip the next day, so I just dealt with it. The quality of the basket is not the greatest. As mentioned in the headline, I guess you get what you pay for. The could be of better quality and the welds are definitely ROUGH (see picture). I went on a beach trip that was roughly 4 hours away (one way) and was about a week. So all images seen are after 1 week use. I had a light load in the basket, which it handled well and the basket seemed sturdy for the duration of the trip. I didn't have to re-tighten the screws or adjust the load. As you can see from the images, while the basket did it's job it didn't do it without wear and tear. If you are looking for a long lasting and good looking basket, I would go with the higher end ones. If you want to save a buck and just want something to get the job done for trips and to be removed when not in use then this should work. If you want something to live on your vehicle, then go with Thule or Yakima.

Pour le prix, vous ne trouverez pas mieux! Belle finition, facile a installer, grosseur parfaite pour un mid size suv! Tout ce que je recherchais le rola l'avait pour beaucoup moins cher que d'autre marque qui sont pareil en tout point mais 3 fois le prix!

This rack fit great on my Jeep Grand Cherokee 08. Make sure to heat up the gasket sleeves so they will go on easier. Personally, I used sprayfoam inside the hollow tubes and screw holes so water had less room to get in. I also used a silicone paste on the seams and under the gasket sleeves.

Facile à monter, montage universelle. Disait que cela fonctionnait pas pour mon véhicule. Mais il est parfait, seule chose rubber de protection pour tuyau très dure à installer et le panier est quand même lourd. Mais super qualité et très satisfait et service clientèle extra!

Really nice roof basket looks durable for all kinds of weather, the only thing i dnt like is, it dosent fit 100 % in my 2016 highlander i dnt blame rola it mention that its not fit to my car but i still bought it the reason is this is the only roof basket that i reviewed that cheap compare to rhino or thule and its really durable.

Very nice construction. A lot larger than I thought it would be. Looks awesome on my Jeep Liberty and works well for what it was intended for. Easy installation and can come on and off without much fuss if I need to use my roof rack for a canoe.