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Can I Ship My Vehicle With A Roof Rack?

Published by Joe Webster.

Can I Ship My Vehicle With A Roof Rack?

Shipping your vehicle with a top rack is possible, but there are two things here. If the rack is removable, it can easily be fitted in the back seat of your car, which won’t cost you extra cash. But, if it’s detachable, there will be additional costs on top of the shipping charges. Since the vehicle will take up more space in the truck, we calculate the extra height and charge accordingly. When contacting a shipping transporter, it's important you inform them about your vehicle's rack type. Otherwise, you will end up incurring costs you hadn’t budgeted for. Knowing your car’s ceiling rack type will help you plan your budget accurately.

You need top racks from time to time.

Roof racks are designed for both commercial and personal vehicles. Having a ceiling rack enables you to carry a wide range of items on top of vans, cars, trucks, etc. while personal shelves are mostly used to carry bikes, sporting gear, and other holiday paraphernalia, frames on commercial vehicles carry more weighty items such as ladders, a load of boards, sheets of plywood, etc. The roof racks for commercial vehicles are, therefore, sturdier than those for personal vehicles. Basically, racks come in different designs and sizes to suit the vehicle and use.

Permanent or temporally installation

Ceiling frames can be mounted on a vehicle either temporarily or permanently.

Many stand designs call for permanent installation, but there are also many solutions that may be easily removed when not in use. Such designs are typically reserved for one's own automobile. So, it is important to know whether or not a top shelf may be installed temporarily before making a purchase. If you only need a roof rack temporarily, there's no need to invest in one that requires drilling into your car's awning. It costs more to ship a car with fixed ceiling frames, as was indicated earlier.

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Your car’s roof type will determine the type of roof rack you need to install.

Roof racks for bare-roof Automobile

The tower-style roof frame is normally used for ceilings without roof gutters. The towers attach to the top using a kit from the rack manufacturer. Then, the cross bars are attached, and accessories are mounted to the cross bars. This option will also work well with a car that doesn’t have a factory roof rack installed. Most sedans from BMW, Mazda, and Tesla have fixed factory roof stands. But it’s not so obvious to spot these points since they are usually concealed by a little strip or plastic door. Roof vehicles like Toyota Corolla will mount inside the car door jams.

Bare roofed cars require a specialized fit kit to clamp the door frames and hold the bars in place. This roof stand style is the most popular for personal vehicles since it fits almost all cars and it’s also completely removable which makes it easier when time comes to ship the car.

Roof Racks From Factory Installed Tracks

Roof racks for raised rail roofs or factory-installed flush

This option is the best fit for vehicles that have rails running from the front to the back.

Some manufacturers install roof racks that either lack crossbars or fall short on functionality. In general, factory installed roof racks come with either a continuous side rail or a raised side rail.

If your car has raised rails, your towers won’t need other parts to mount. However, flush rails require a kit to fit into your vehicle. There are various aftermarket racks designed to suit different factory-installed roof rack designs. While the cross-road tracks will work well with raised rails, the grab system will work well with the factory-installed flush.

Roof racks from factory-installed tracks

This option is best for vehicles that have tracks (aftermarket or factory) running from the front to the back.

Tracks on a vehicle are usually similar to fixed points where the rack mounts. The only difference is that the bar spread is adjustable on a track-mounted system. Tracks vary in width and depth; thus, each vehicle requires a specific fitting kit to mount the tower to the roof.

Since vehicle roofs are shaped and sized differently, you may need to buy the load bars and supportive attachments separately. You may also need to purchase additional accessories depending on the items you intend to carry on your roof rack. Also, please let us know if the roof rack design you’re purchasing will require parament installation or temporal.

For more information or inquiries, don’t hesitate e to contact us for expert advice.

Ship My Vehicle With A Roof Rack
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Joe Webster always knew the auto transport industry would be a great career option. And with decades of experience, Joe is now an established consultant for A1 Auto Transport.

Joe was born in Santa Cruz, California. During high school, Joe worked as a mechanic; a job continued to work part-time during his bachelor's degree.

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Testimonial
Mylene Rutllant
It’s my number one pick in auto shipping to this day.
★★★★★
...my choice in terms of auto transport has to be A1 Auto Transport. It’s in the name, but also in the quality with which they do their jobs. I’ve never had a problem with this company.
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Luis Rodriguez
You have my full support and recommendation!
★★★★★
A1 Auto Transport... From the get go, they were very different from my past options. Their website was very professional and up to date, full of useful information. I requested a quote using their online form, and I got an email response within an hour. Surprisingly fast!
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Cristine Benoit
I can safely say this is a legit company that will get the job done.
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There are a lot of options for auto transport these days, which surprisingly makes it harder to find a good company. I received more than 10 offers to ship my car, but I couldn’t decide on any of them... Fortunately, I made the right choice with A1 Auto Transport.
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David Osallo
We give A1 Auto Transport a big 10 out of 10!
★★★★★
We give A1 Auto Transport a big 10 out of 10! We chose them to move our car from California to Vermont, since we needed professionals.

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A-1 Auto Transport is a disclosed agent for the following shipping companies:

CSI Logistics
435 Division Street
Elizabeth, NJ 07201
FMC 22206
Intl Cargo
45 Campus Drive
Edison, NJ 08837
NO. 17858N
Trans Global Auto Logistics, Inc.
3401 E Randol Mill Rd,
Arlington, TX 76011
NO. 018191NF
CFR Rinkens
15501 Texaco Avenue
Paramount, CA 90723
NO. 013055NF
ABC Worldwide LLC
2840 NW 2nd Ave #105
Boca Raton, FL 33431
NO. 025472F
ShipYourCarNow LLC
1160 South Rogers Circle Suite 1
Boca Raton, FL 33487
NO. 025646
Merco Air & Ocean Cargo, Inc.
6 Fir Way
Cooper City, FL 33026
NO. 021869F
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