Permanent Roof Rack for 2018 Honda HR-V with Naked Roof

Question:

Hi folks, I bought a new 2018 Honda HRV LX thinking I could just buy the factory roof rails and attach them as I did on my 2017 Honda Pilot LX. But, Honda did not provide the mounting points on the HRV LX. What!? So, I do not want a clamp style roof rack but rather a permanently mounted style. I also would very much prefer to minimize the number of holes drilled into the roof and preferably limit them to the ditch area and not the main roof. From my research, I figure I will have to combine manufactures products to make it work. It doesnt appear that Yakima or Thule offer ditch mount brackets, only tracks. So, using one of the Rhino Rack ditch mount brackets, combined with the Yakima PlusNuts better than RivNuts or Rivets mount the brackets in my cars ditch. Followed by Rhino Rack towers to align with the bracket holes. I would prefer the more common Yakima towers but, dont know if their holes line up with the Rhino Rack bracket holes. Does this all sound feasable? Or, can you recommend a better option ? Oh, and if I ordered these parts and find this approach wont work, could I return them, unused, at no cost? Thanks for ANY help or advice you may be able to provide.

asked by: Mike M

Helpful Expert Reply:

You are correct that there isn't a roof rack available that's specifically designed to permanently install onto the roof of your 2018 Honda HR-V but we certainly have the parts needed to make this work. Customers usually don't want to drill into the roof of their vehicle so this is a bit of a unique case!

For the roof rack I recommend sticking with one brand for all the parts since they have been tested together and you can be sure that they will not only fit but also provide you with the listed capacity. Mixing parts from different manufactures will essentially give you an unknown capacity since all of the components haven't been tested and rated for use together.

Starting with the ditch brackets the Rhino-Rack # RRQMFK08 is a great option. This comes with two brackets and 6 rivets so you will need to order two sets to give you all four corners. A rivet gun is required for installation.

Then to pair with the brackets the Rhino-Rack Quick Mount Legs # RRRLT600 will work perfectly. These are designed to mount to the above-mentioned brackets and all 4 legs are included.

Then for the crossbars themselves I recommend the Rhino-Rack 46" Long # RRVA118B-2.

This will give you a complete and permanent roof rack for your HR-V.