Roof Rack Question for Hyundai Santa Fe

talkintribe

My wife and I are in the process of adopting, ahem, twins. Our extended family lives 6 hours away so, when we travel, we need to pack up the SUV. We have a rather large greyhound who already staked claim to most of the cargo space. We can't figure out how we will be able to make the drive with all of the babies' stuff (strollers, etc) and our luggage without a roof rack. Does anyone have any suggestions? I know very little about roof racks so any tips would certainly be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Jon

terrymsu

Congratulations! If you have a trailer hitch, you can get one of those racks that goes into the hitch. I don't think the dog would like the roof rack. It gets a little windy up there . Could you put a platform in the rear deck area and put the dog on top of the platform? By the way, the amount of stuff for the kids will continually increase. You might consider a trailer anyway. The roof rack is limited to about 75 pounds.

TerryMSU

talkintribe

You are funny. My wife says that we share a sense of humor (dog in roof rack...reminds me of Aunt Edna from National Lampoons). The platform will not work because our dog is too big (90 pound greyhound that is pretty tall). The trailer hitch is an interesting idea but we would definitely need to get that installed as I do not think I considered it at purchase. Bummer. That + trailer sounds like a lot of $$$. Any idea what kind of roof rack I should look into?

I guess the days of our dog lounging around the cargo area are gone forever!

Thanks!

bambew

@talkintribe: "You are funny. My wife says that we share a sense of humor (dog in roof rack...reminds me of Aunt Edna from National Lampoons)."

Yup, NLV is a very funny movie... Chevy Chase is DA MAN!!!

Getting to your question though... Seems to me that you definitely need to get yourself a hitch ($300 max). Make sure it's AT LEAST a Class II hitch... I installed an aftermarket hitch on my '07 SF. It was fairly easy to install, both the bar AND the electrical. Four bolts in the pre-tapped holes on the frame and the electrical was a simple 'plug-in' to the existing tail-light wiring... Installed in under an hour!!!! Total cost: $250. At the time, my dealer wanted over $600 just for the part... (exact same bar that I purchased from the aftermarket store). Labor would have been an additional cost. With tax, I was looking at over $1000 to have my dealer install a hitch... :mad: NFW!!!!

Once you have your hitch installed, you could either buy or rent, a small covered trailer for your luggage and other stuff. A small covered trailer would cost you a few grand to purchase... Depending on how often you travel, renting a trailer may be more economical for you...

John