Your Honda CR-V can haul more luggage or gear with compatible roof racks and roof-mounted cargo carriers. With compatible roof racks or crossbars, you can install roof-mounted cargo boxes, bags, baskets, ski carriers, bike racks, or a rooftop tent on the roof of your Honda CR-V for different outdoor adventures. However, choosing compatible roof racks or crossbars is a challenging job that requires professional knowledge to compare things and make decisions based on your situation.
Related Topic:
How to use roof racks? What can you do with roof racks?
Should you put roof racks on your Honda CR-V?
Roof racks can create extra storage space on the car roof and increase your vehicle’s overall loading capacity for outdoor activities. However, every car, including your Honda CR-V, has a roof-loading limit to indicate the maximum weight you can load on the car roof without potential safety risks. You can find the exact roof loading rate in the car manual.
Most people are confused about dynamic and static roof loading rates, but you should understand these terms before building a roof rack system on your Honda CR-V. A car’s active roof loading limit means how much weight you can carry on the car roof when the vehicle is in motion; otherwise, the static roof loading limit indicates the weight limit the car roof can hold when the car stops. You can find a formula in the article behind the link above to calculate the static roof loading limit with the dynamic loading rate.
When using rooftop cargo carriers, you should follow the active roof loading limit; otherwise, you can follow to static roof loading rate to know how many people can sleep in a rooftop tent on your Honda CR-V’s roof.
Honda CR-V has two types of car roofs: roofs with flush roof rails or bare roofs without roof rails. Consequently, each type of car roof works with specific crossbars and fitting mounting accessories. We find these roof racks or crossbars for your consideration.
Quick-Pick List of 5 Roof Racks or Crossbars For Honda CR-V
Honda CR-V with factory-installed flush roof rails – Option One
| Image | Info | Links |
|---|---|---|
 | Aluminum aerodynamic Rhino-Rack Vortex 49-inch crossbars with plastic anti-thefts endcaps | Check Price On Amazon |
 | Four lockable RCL mounting towers | Check Price On Amazon |
 | A set of Custom RCP Fit Kit for fixed points | Check Price On Ebay |
Honda CR-V with factory-installed flush roof rails – Option Two
| Image | Info | Links |
|---|---|---|
 | 50-inch Thule WingBar EVO roof racks with wind diffuser strips | Check Price On Amazon |
 | Four Thule EVO flush rail mounting feet | Check Price On Amazon |
 | Vehicle FIT KIT for Honda CR-V | Check Price On Thule |
Honda CR-V with factory-installed flush roof rails – Option Three
| Image | Info | Links |
|---|---|---|
 | Yakima LockNLoad Rooftop Tray with six slats for mounting other roof-mounted cargo carriers | Check Price On Amazon |
 | Four Yakima lockable SkyLine towers | Check Price On Amazon |
 | LockNLoad SL Adapter | Check Price On Yakima |
 | Landing Pad 19 | Check Price On Amazon |
Honda CR-V with bare roof – Option One
| Image | Info | Links |
|---|---|---|
 | Thule WingBar Edge Aluminum 41-inch crossbars | Check Price On Amazon |
 | Four lockable Edge Clamp Feet | Check Price On Amazon |
 | Honda CR-V Fit Kit | Check Price On Amazon |
Honda CR-V with bare roof – Option Two
| Image | Info | Links |
|---|---|---|
 | Yakima JetStream 50-inch Aluminum roof racks | Check Price On Amazon |
 | Four lockable BaseLine Towers | Check Price On Amazon |
 | Vehicle Fit Kit 6188 | Check Price On Amazon |
| Vehicle Fit Kit 6189 | Check Price On Amazon |
There are some reasons why Honda CR-V drivers need roof racks on their vehicles:
- Roof racks or crossbars can create additional storage space on the car roof to transport bulky items like luggage, sporting gear, equipment, furniture (like mattresses), and more. Things, which you cannot load inside a car trunk, are perfect to be loaded into a cargo carrier for transportation.
- Most outdoor enthusiasts need roof racks to carry their outdoor needs for hiking, skiing, camping, traveling, cycling, kayaking, fishing, golfing, and other outdoor adventures.
- Roof racks or crossbars can work with different roof-mounted cargo carriers to carry a wide range of items. Roof-mounted cargo boxes, bags, and baskets are perfect for luggage, camping gear, golf clubs, skis, snowboards, or hiking equipment. Roof-mounted bike carriers are for bicycles with different wheel sizes.
Detail of 5 Roof Racks or Crossbars For Honda CR-V
Rhino-Rack Vortex Roof Racks or Crossbars
Rhino-Rack Vortex crossbars are the first option we pick for Honda CR-V with flush roof rails running from the front to the rear on the car roof. Rhino-Rack Vortex crossbars are popular among Honda CR-V drivers because of their high-quality, broad compatibility, aerodynamic designs, durability, and popularity.
Vortex roof racks have multiple sizes from 41-inch to 71-inch, but you better use the 49-inch model on Honda CR-V for roof width matching. You cannot use shorter crossbars, but you can use longer roof bars, not longer than the distance between two outside edges on the side mirrors.
Rhino-Rack Vortex roof racks are aluminum-made crossbars with rubber wave-shaped wind diffusers on the top channel to distribute the wind flow to minimize wind noise and waste of gas consumption. There are ruler marks on the bottom side of the Vortex crossbars, and the ruler marks can help users to evenly locate the roof bars on the roof rails for accurate installation. When installing crossbars on the roof rails, you can adjust the distance between two bars to meet the requirement of specific roof-mounted cargo carriers. We call the distance between two crossbars as Bar Spreads.
Rhino-Rack Vortex roof racks are low-profile crossbars with oval and thin bodies to effectively overcome the most common wind noise problem and make no impact on a vehicle’s overall performance.
Rhino-Rack utilizes an advanced H-shaped structure with aluminum materials to build Vortex crossbars to make these bars ultra-light without losing sturdiness and durability. You can use them for heavy-duty jobs. Each Vortex bar has lockable endcaps with a universal key. If you want to increase the security of the Vortex crossbars, you can replace those rubber-made endcaps with metal ones.
According to Rhino-Rack, it is possible to load up to 165 pounds or 74.84 kg on the Vortex crossbars; however, you should always follow your Honda CR-V’s roof loading limit to add weight to the car roof. Rhino-Rack gives you a limited lifetime warranty on Vortex roof racks, so you can contact the Rhino-Rack for assistance when you have problems with using, repairing, or installing Vortex roof bars.
If you want to use the Vortex roof racks or crossbars on Honda CR-V with flush roof rails, you must invest in compatible mounting accessories to create a complete roof rack system. You must have 4 RCL Rhino-Rack Mounting Legs and a set of Custom RCP Fit Kits to gather with two 49-inch Vortex crossbars for a Honda CR-V with factory-installed flush roof rails on the car roof.
Tips about installing Rhino-Rack Vortex Roof Racks or crossbars on Honda CR-V with OEM flush roof rails:
First, you can use a set of Custom RCP Fit Kits to create four standpoints on the flush roof rails. Before installation, you should clean the car roof and remove the dirt from the roof rails, especially the area around the fixture points on the inward side of the rails. You can find rubber covers on each fixture point on the flush roof rails, so you can remove those covers when installing the Custom RCP Fit Kits.
Custom RCP Fit Kits: Official Installation Manual (PDF)
Second, you can assemble two Vortex crossbars and four RCL mounting legs in ten minutes, and the process is straightforward. You can find a locking system on each RCL mounting leg to secure the entire rooftop cargo system and prevent thefts.
Third, you can use screws to tighten down four RCL mounting feet on the already-installed Fit Kits to finish the installation of a Rhino-Rack Vortex roof rack system on your Honda CR-V.
What do you need:
Rhino-Rack Vortex 49-inch Roof Racks or Crossbars
Thule WingBar EVO roof racks or crossbars
It is the second option we pick for Honda CR-V with factory-installed flush roof rails. Thule WingBar crossbars are premium and aerodynamic choices for most vehicles with different length options, and, for Honda CR-V with flush roof rails, you should choose the 50-inch model for perfect matching to the roof width. If you want to use wider crossbars, you must ensure that the roof bars are not longer than the distance between two outside edges on the side mirrors.
Thule WingBar crossbars have egg-shaped bodies and wind diffuser strips on top of each WingBar to reduce wind drag to make these WingBar crossbars stay quiet and stable, even at high-speed conditions. Thule uses aluminum to construct the WingBar with an advanced BoxBeam structure, which minimizes the weight of the bars; however, the BoxBeam structure won’t affect the WingBar’s supporting strength.
The WingBar EVO’s dimensions are 50 x 3.125 x 1 inch or 127 x 7.93 x 2.54 cm (L x W x H), and you can use the measurement to ensure the WingBar works with your existing roof-mounted cargo carriers. For example, if you have a roof cargo box at home, you can check if its mounting hardware can open and clamp on a bar with 7.93 in width. Otherwise, the WingBar EVO doesn’t fit on your specific rooftop carrier.
Thule says that the WingBar EVO roof racks can hold up to 220 pounds, but you must follow Honda CR-V’s roof loading limit to add weight to the car roof.
If you decide to install the Thule WingBar EVO on your Honda CR-V with OEM flush roof rails, you don’t need to use the integrated fixture points on the rails because there are clips on the compatible Fit Kit to clamp on the roof rails; additionally, you can adjust the distance between two WingBar EVO crossbars by sliding them on the roof rails. Consequently, if your existing rooftop cargo carriers require different bar spreads, the Thule WingBar EVO combination is a good choice.
What accessories do you need for using Thule WingBar EVO crossbars on Honda CR-V with flush roof rails?
4 EVO flush rail mounting feet and four clips with protective pads are what you need to build a complete roof rack system to carry belongings on Honda CR-V with existing OEM roof rails on the car roof.
EVO flush rail mounting towers work with Wingbar EVO, Thule AeroBlade, SquareBar EVO, and ProBar, but only the Wingbar EVO has the proper length to fit on Honda CR-V. You can find a bolt on each EVO mounting tower to tightly grasp the WingBar EVO bar and hold up to 165 lbs, including the weight of crossbars. After securing two crossbars on four mounting feet, you can place these mounting feet on the roof rails and find the most accurate position for the entire roof rack system.
When you find the most appropriate location for two Thule crossbars, you can use a torque tool to tighten four clips on four mounting feet to immobilize these mounting feet on flush roof rails. When positioning accessories on roof rails, especially those clips, you better use protective pads to prevent scratches and further damage after using the roof rack for some time.
What you need:
Yakima LockNload Platform Rooftop Tray
It is the third compatible option we choose for your Honda CR-V with factory flush roof rails. Yakima LockNload is an aluminum-made roof-mounted tray for heavy-duty outdoor adventures like off-roading events. It is a roof rack platform with six horizontal slats to work with most roof-mounted cargo carriers.
Its dimensions are 55 x 49 x 4 inches or 139.7 x 124.46 x 10.16 cm.
You can use 4 Skyline Towers to support the Yakima LockNload. When connecting the LockNload rooftop tray with Skyline mounting feet, you must attach four LockNload SL adapters to Skyline towers before attaching the LockNLoad tray to Skyline mounting hardware. After combining the LockNload tray, SL adapters, and Skyline towers, you get a complete roof rack system; additionally, you can use four Yakima Landing Pads 19 to create four standing points on roof rails. With four installed Yakima Landing Pads 19 on your Honda CR-V, it is time to lift the LockNload rack system and lock four towers on those Landing pads.
What you need:
Yakima Landing Pads for Honda CR-V
Thule WingBar Edge Roof Racks
If your Honda CR-V has a bare roof, the Thule WingBar Edge crossbars can work on your vehicle with compatible accessories. The Thule WingBar Edge is another aerodynamic selection with airflow-cutting designs to decrease the effect of wind drag when your Honda CR-V is in motion. It supports up to 165 pounds of loading, but your car’s roof loading limit is the priority when packing things on the car roof.
Thule WingBar Edge has multiple size options: 77, 86, 95, 104, and 113 cm or 30.31, 33.85, 37.40, 40.94, and 44.48 inches. You should pick the 41-inch option to work on your Honda CR-V’s roof with perfect width matching.
You can set an Edge bar on two Edge Clamp Feet and use a torque tool to fasten brackets to secure the connection after an easy-to-follow click-in installation process. The torque monitor tells when the tightness is fair to prevent under-twisting or over-twisting. You get a universal key for all Edge Clamp Towers. After successfully connecting two Thule Edge crossbars with four Edge Clamp Feet, it is time to use four Fit Kit clips to secure the entire Thule Edge roof rack system on your Honda CR-V’s empty car roof.
You better clean the car roof, especially the touching area between clips and door jambs, for better results and future enjoyment. You can adjust the bar spreads by moving each Thule Edge bar, but you must ensure the distance between the two bars is even from left to right.
What you need:
41-inch Thule WingBar Edge Crossbars
Thule Edge Clamp Mounting Towers
Yakima JetStream Roof Racks
It is another option for Honda CR-V with bare roofs or without roof rails. We cannot tell which one is the most aerodynamic option when comparing the Yakima JetStream with the above recommendations; moreover, roof racks or crossbars won’t generate much wind noise or create much waste on mileage, so you don’t need to dive that deep for a tiny matter.
Yakima uses aluminum to build the JetStream bars, so they are waterproof, lightweight, durable, sturdy, and anti-corrosion. Although aluminum crossbars have long durability, you should know how to clean and maintain these car accessories for better enjoyment.
You can combine four BaseLine Towers with two JetStream bars and four BaseClip clips to assemble a complete Yakima roof rack system.
What you need:
Yakima JetStream 50-inch model
Conclusion
In this article, you can find compatible roof racks or crossbars for Honda CR-V with two different types of car roofs: bare roofs or roofs with factory-installed flush roof rails.
Related Topic:
Do you want to know the relationship between roof racks, rails, and crossbars?
Do roof racks damage your car?
17 more Frequently asked questions and answers about Roof Racks
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