In article ,
Michael Daly wrote:
If the car makers provide four fixed points, as per BMW and the CRV, there's no
reason you can't bolt on a couple of rails like this and have full
adjustability.

The most generic mounting system is raingutters. These have gone out of
style on cars, but still remain on full size vans, where they are often
used for mounting racks used by construction workers and the like.

Second place would be tracks or rails like those sometimes found on wagons,
vans, and SUVs.

Note that raingutters, tracks, and rails allow positioning the racks at
varying positions (which may be helpful for those with longer boats),
while fixed mounting points limit the options one has for crossbar spacing.
Old wagons with raingutters typically have the largest possible crossbar
spacing.

As far as bolting on rails to fixed points, you'd have to either DIY some
rails, or get some rack company to offer the rails. Also, if different
car companies have fixed mounting points different distances apart, of
the rooflines of vehicles were different shapes, then the bolt on rails
would need to be specific to different vehicles. Plus, bolt on rails that
extend much beyond the mounting points may not be as stable compared to
built in rails anchored at the ends of the rails.

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Timothy J. Lee
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