hhrcrafty

I emailed Yakima a few months ago and they said they weren't going to support the HHR. I have a feeling it's because GM gave the OEM accessories supplier deal to Thule.

I wouldn't worry about the paint warranty. It'll just affect the roof and if you do the prep work right, you won't have to worry about rust.

courthousedeb

I haven't done these myself...but from what I understand they are a breeze to put on. They just clamp right on and you're good to go. No fuss...no muss.

Rrailwriter

Hi Courthousedeb!

Thanks for the info. You're right in saying it was the dealer who told us we couldn't do it, it was actually a lot of dealers. Fact is we don't intend to put anything too heavy on it. Just the bulky stuff that takes up space when we go camping, like a couple of rolled up sleeping bags, a couple of Thermarests, our fold up camping chairs, the tent, which is light weight, just light weight stuff. I doubt there would be fifty pounds on top.

On top of that, we only paid $260.00 at Saturn to have a roof rack put on our station wagon last year, so that $800.00 Chevy wants to install one seems steep, but perhaps a price we'd pay if we felt it would be done right. Still, OUCH!

I emailed both Yakama and Thule and both of them sent emails telling us they don't have anything to fit the HHR.

I'll pass the info you folks have shared tonight with my hubby. We are a week and a half away from our yearly camping trip, and it would be great to get to use our car top carrier. Makes for a lot less stress when you can put the bulky stuff up on top, and makes the trip a whole lot easier to have easy access to the stuff in the car.

Sure glad I saw all this info tonight. Thanks folks!

PS The $800.00 the dealer wants, where we bought our car, said that's for the whole rack, cross bars and all, plus labor.

Rrailwriter

Okay, just talked to my husband and he had the car in to Chevy for an oil change yesterday, not the same dealership we bought it from, and they told him they "WON'T" put a rack on our LS.

hhrcrafty

Order the rack rails and either do it yourself or have a body shop do it. That's how all the LS and 1LT owners who didn't have it installed at POS did it.

Might also try the Yakima track system. IMHO, looks cleaner than the OEM design.

Rrailwriter

Thanks!

SandyBeach

I have those on my minivan and they work great at supporting my Thule 2-kayak rack. But, I'm sure the Windstar roof is much stronger than the HHR roof. When I use the foam blocks in my pictures, the roof bends as I tighten the straps. I tried to place them as close to the front and back of the car as possible for more support.

I would suggest you make certain those tracks are bolted into any cross beams on the roof.

Rrailwriter

Update!!


Hubby took our Silver Streak into a Chevy place today and we now have a roof rack. He asked to talk to a manager, the manager came along and said they sure can put a roof rack on our car, they do it ALL the time.


Yeehaa! We are ready to cruise up the road!

Jeda13

Courthouse Deb,
Can you give a closeup of the ferring you're using? You have my exact set-up and I'm having the dealer install the rails on my SS next week. I bought the cross bars also but after seeing the Thule bar, I'll likely sell mine and just use the Thule when needed.
Sweet ride, BTW.
JIm

opelpowered

Check this out! This is the system I will probably end up getting.

http://www.buyautotruckaccessories.c...sored%2BSearch