How to Mount a Roof Rack on a Sport Model Renegade

45848 Views 34 Replies 20 Participants Last post by JeepRenegadeGuy, Jan 30, 2018

JeepRenegadeGuy

Discussion Starter · Jan 30, 2016 (Edited)

Hi All,

I know there are a couple of threads already devoted to chasing roof racks for the Renegade sport.

When I first started searching for a Renegade, I was looking for one with the MySky option. I however came across a great deal on the Jeep I have now, not paying any mind to the fact that non-MySky Renegade Sports do not come with roof rails.

Easy solution right? Just buy a roof rack from Thule or Yakima... Or not, they both only produce fits for the roof railed Renegade. Makes since, due to the relative scarcity of naked roof Renegades.

We'll being I am in the cycling industry and have a knack for modification, I present you with my attempt at fitting a roof rack on a Sport renegade, without being bent over by Mopar and purchasing $1,000 in side rail parts

Those who wonder if they need to drill into their roof might look here:

The Renegade has (2) threaded receivers in the front and rear of the vehicle:

So When we look at spacing, the Inside to Inside bolt locations space at 36" apart from each other:

And then Outside to outside bolt locations land at 58.5" apart:

Lastly the bar spread from Driver to Passenger is only 44" spread

Ultimately what does this mean?

Thule makes direct mount Roof Rack systems, and they include a base plate made of Metal, ready to be modified.

What Vehicle fit kit should I get crazy with:

Mazda 5 (Minivan CrossOver), it measures out quite similar, and came factory with "direct mount" positions for a roof rack.

So what I have on order to fit this Jeep is the following:

Thule Fitkit 3080
Thule 460r Foot Pack
Thule ARB53 Aero Bars

Now once this comes in (Next Day or So) I expect to track down the hardware to fit our Italian make Jeep and create a great roof rack without the need for the crazy expensive Mopar side rails.

Stay Tuned!

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JeepRenegadeGuy

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 7, 2016

The Install

Parts came in and on to the install:

The parts I am picturing here is the install/modification thats needed. Everything else is by the directions from the Thule Fit Kit and Foot Pack.

This is easily accomplished if you have a mild set of skills and take your time and think.

Marked the fixed point, so I can drill a hole in the gutter moulding:

Drilled a hole, making sure to line the point of my tape up with the center of the drill bit. Used a 3/8ths bit

Picture of the bolt and sleeve installed (Included with the fit kit from Thule)

Now to modify the rubber feet included with the fit kit. These needed to be flat, instead of the small lip on them. The roof of the Renegade is almost completely flat transitioning from the sheet metal to the rain gutter.

I used a sharp knife and marked the rubber feet with tape so I could have a cutting guide.

And after the cut, nearly perfect

Front Foot Installed

Rear Foot Installed

Final Pictures:

Now its your turn! Get a rack without spending 1k at the dealership.

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JeepRenegadeGuy

Discussion Starter · #6 · Feb 7, 2016

Husky777 said:
Why is this not a sticky? XD Thanks for exploring this for us and putting the effort in to post pictures. I got worried about roof mounting options when I first purchased the Sport. Thule seems to have several options that mount to the factory holes. A complete kit of theirs is in the $400 range, from what I've seen based on your findings. Won't be as pretty as stock, but it's 1/4 of the cost for a quality, fully functional rack. Subscribing.

The roof rack is some ways I think is actually better looking, minimalist with the direct mount.

Ultimatly the foot pack and bars would be needed even if the care came with roof rails, so there is only about a $100 difference once installed.

LittleRedJeep said:
Looking forward to seeing more on this. I love a good DIY post!

I hope this helps, you can definitely take this on!

eatworksleepdie said:
Curious how this comes out, SUBSCRIBED!

Worked out pretty well, tell me what you think.

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JeepRenegadeGuy

Discussion Starter · #10 · Feb 8, 2016

eatworksleepdie said:
It looks great! You did a really nice job. I have a latitude w/rails and got the Thule cross bars from the dealer. I couldn't pass it up, they gave me a deal on them when I bought my jeep. Definitely a clean install you did!

Thanks, glad I could get it done in a way that looked good. I originally was looking for a Sport with MySky, but then I cam across this left over 2015 with a great deal and the 100k warranty. Only to realize there was no roof rack options after taking delivery.

LittleRedJeep said:
I think I like it better without the factory rails. Looks excellent, very professional!

I appreciate it. Think it looks good too.

Husky777 said:
That's awesome! It looks better than I imagined. What are your impressions on wind noise and mpg impact? Also how did you find the 3080 kit to work? Very good find.

On my way home from work there are several dealerships I go by. I stopped at the ones that had cars with roofs that look similar to the renegade, measured em up and decided the Mazda 5 was the closest match and gave it a shot.

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JeepRenegadeGuy

Discussion Starter · #12 · Feb 9, 2016

Husky777 said:
I poked around some more and found all the parts that're compatible with the Fit Kit. Hope this clears things up further for anyone else that's in need of a rack on their Sport.

The Fit Kit itself pictured above (rack base only):

The 460R rack feet:

Alternatives that fit the rack base:

Thule 460 (non-aeroblade) feet:

Thule basic cross bars:

Thule fairing if you want to keep those bars (it should fit the aerobars as well) from screaming at speed:

$500 for a rack that won't send your stuff into lower orbit on the highway! ~$700 if you add compatible kayak and bike rack attachments. Thanks again JeepRenegadeGuy

Two important things:

A. There are hundreds of Mom and Pop: Bike Shops, Ski Shops, and other outdoor stores that could provide these parts and help our local economy.
Buy local and support a business that is just downtown.

B. Referral links for amazon, so you can make something off another forum members work?

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JeepRenegadeGuy

Discussion Starter · #19 · Feb 13, 2017

Stik Man said:
Looks great! Thanks for your effort. Looks like my first Renegade "upgrade".

Glad to help have you upgraded your Renegade yet?

Spitfire said:
This is great! I was initially looking at a bare-roof Sport, but have put down on a North which has several other features I wanted (cold weather group!) as well as roof rails, so not a concern for me now.

However, I will comment that I faced a similar problem with my current vehicle, a base model 06 Suzuki Grand Vitara which came without roof rails. I was able to source a set of aftermarket raills from Rocky Road Outfitters; attachment setup was similar, and the end result has lasted years and is probably more solid than the stock ones. I then made my own custom crossbars (but any of the commercial racks would have fit).

When I was still considering the Sport, I did call Rocky Road to see if they had anything; they told me Renegade roof rails are on their list of items to develop.

BTW, I also asked the sales dude with the Sport about installing roof rails; he told me rails might be available (he didn't know the cost, of course) but that his service department wouldn't install them as they'd have to remove the headliner and drill the roof, etc. (which tells me they didn't know what they were talking about).

This is what I heard at the dealer, was if they were able to get the factory rails they would then need to drill. Glad I didnt buy what they were saying and instead did this.

ezimmer said:
Thank you so much for posting this! I did exactly what you posted here on my renegade sport and it turned out great

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

Nice post up a picture?

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JeepRenegadeGuy

Discussion Starter · #35 · Jan 30, 2018 (Edited)

Have now changed to oem style rails

Hi guys, the roof rails worked great for 2 years, however, I have now changed to OEM style rails.

Heres the DIY video in case you are thinking about this too:

These are the rails I used: http://amzn.to/2iuFsiV

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