2015 Roof Rails - after market

lr_evoque · 03-04-2015 02:29am

Just wanted to give back and share with you my experience with the after market Roof Rails. I bought mine from firstouch4x4-au on eBay. This is the same seller as caticaauto. The communication with the seller was good. My rails are piano black and I got them for $200. Pretty good price and the quality of the rails seems very good, however all other parts lacked the same quality. My kit was also missing the F & G guides listed in the manual that I received. Turns out they are not necessary if you insert the roof mounts into the cover plates and mount them together. Incidentally the manual i received was the Range Rover manual. It took me over 2hrs to fit the rails. Everything was going quite well until it came time to attach the rail to the brackets. I needed to add a washer on the second - front side roof bolt to raise the mounting brackets enough for the rail holes to line up enough so I could screw them down.

Next were the plastic covers. The rear covers went in without much of a problem and cover the mount quite well. However the front plastic covers are loose and do not cover much of the mount on the inside of the rail. Does not look good but you have to look to notice. Since the front covers were a bit loose, I used some outdoor quality double sided tape to mount them in place. The seller promised to send replacement but I doubt they will be any better. Here are a few pictures of the rails and the gap, the front plastic cap leaves.

As you can see the front-inside plastic covers to not do a good job - but this is hard to see

HotLap · 06-04-2015 06:33pm

Interesting lr, I was going to get the RR OEM roof rails and have the dealer mount them, but I found out my new Thule rack fits perfectly and doesn't need the roof rails. Which I like as I don't have the look/wind noise when I'm not using the rack system, it comes off 100%. I realize looks are subjective, but I prefer a smooth top vs the roof rails always being there.

Anyway good luck with your rails and what are you planning on hauling? I haul bicycles and a SUP on my Thule system. It also has fitting for Home Depot items like wood, pvc, etc.

lr_evoque · 23-09-2015 07:35am

I bought it so I could get some cross bars. I did't want to get the crossbars that clamp onto the door frame because they destroy the seal after a while. I do not cary anything heavy, a bike or a couple of Kiteboards.

**XFullFatTim** · 24-09-2015 10:18pm

IIRC Thule is the maker of the LR branded systems........... In the UK Thule is not allowed to seller items they make as OEM equipment in competition to the accessories they make for car makers........... A restrictive practice if ever was one.

Bill · 17-10-2015 02:57pm

I have recently bought some after market roof rails from (I believe) a reputable UK supplier of Land Rover accessories (OEM and after market). I have tried to fit them today but have been unable to due to a number of factors (quality of some of the trim pieces and incorrect length of some machine screws).
However, I have a question concerning the fitting of the cross bars to the rails. I have also bought some cross bars from another UK supplier of after market equipment and have noticed that there are pins on the inner part of the clamp which would seem to fit in corresponding holes on the rails, could anyone tell me if OEM cross bars have these pins and are there corresponding holes in OEM rails?
Thanks for any help