If you're not sure, start with the leg system that suits your roof type and a Sportz Bar. It's the simplest setup we make, and it carries the vast majority of what people load — bikes, boxes, boards and bags. Nothing here is a one-way door: you can add to it later.

Cross bars are lighter, quieter and do about 90% of the job — bikes, boards, boxes and bags. A platform covers the full usable space of your roof, so you can run a tent, an awning, recovery boards, a jerry can and more — all mounted at once and all staying put.

Most people want cross bars for everyday use. If you're already picturing a full layout, you want a platform.

It's the part that makes the rack fit your vehicle specifically — the pads, brackets, clamps or track hardware matched to your roof type. Bars and legs are shared across hundreds of cars; the fit kit is the bespoke bit. You don't choose it — we work it out from the vehicle you select.

Legs hold the bars to your car, and the right one depends on what your roof gives us to hold onto — a bare roof, raised rails, flush rails, a gutter or a track.

You don't need to learn the difference. We only show the legs that fit the vehicle you picked, and where more than one works, they're genuinely interchangeable. A clamp-style leg is usually the easiest place to start.

The deciding factor is your vehicle's roof load limit — set by the manufacturer, not by the rack. Check your owner's manual or dealership for that rating first.

For context, our systems are rated up to 100kg dynamic with the weight evenly distributed — the exact figure depends on your legs and vehicle. Either way, your vehicle's own limit is the one that governs what you can safely fit, for both safety and warranty. A platform is the better base for a tent; on cross bars it depends on the tent and the bars, because a tent puts sustained, shifting weight on the roof.

Some wind noise is normal — you've changed the airflow over the roof. How much comes down to bar shape and speed: an aerodynamic bar is noticeably quieter than a square one, and a wind fairing takes the edge off further.

If it bothers you, the bars come off in minutes. Plenty of people fit them for a trip and take them off after.

Yes — and most people do. Your legs and fit kit stay on the vehicle, so when you're ready to go from cross bars to a platform, you just swap the bars over; the rest stays put. Accessories from an older Rhino-Rack setup will usually carry straight across too.

A cross bar fitment usually takes about an hour. The tools you need are in the box — a torque tool in the leg kit or an Allen key in the fit kit — and the instructions are clear and thorough.

Almost nothing needs drilling: the large majority of fitments clamp to the door frame, raised or flush rails, or an existing track, and leave no mark. Where a system does need drilling, it says so on the product before you buy.

Get in touch — the dealer you bought from, or the Rhino-Rack customer service team, can sort it. Kits are vehicle-specific, so if something looks off when the box arrives (the wrong bracket, a leg that doesn't sit right), stop there and contact us rather than forcing it.

Once a kit's been fitted it's much harder to exchange, so five minutes checking the parts against the instructions is time well spent.