You might have often seen rails attached to the sides of a car’s roof, especially crossovers and SUVs. Well these are nothing but the Roof Rails on the car. They are primarily used to mount luggage on the top of the car. Nowadays, in India, roof rails have become more of a trend than an actual usable feature. Let’s how useful roof rails are for Indian cars!
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Who needs Roof Rails?
Now, if you are someone who takes long trips in your car regularly, a set of rails might be really useful for you. They come in use when you have an extra load of stuff that the boot just can’t handle. They are also very useful for 7 seater cars. If all the 7 seats are occupied, there is hardly any boot space that can be used. In this case, you can mount a ton of luggage using the roof rails! These also come in handy for the adventurous souls, who like to explore the unexplored roads and camp at off-beat places. You can carry all your camping equipment on the top of your car. Heck, you can even set up a tent on the roof!
![](https://gomechanic.in/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/maruti-xl6-roof-rail-cutom-fit-5-930x620-1.jpg)
Also Read- History of the Glove Box!
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Who shouldn’t get them installed?
If you have a car with a panoramic sunroof, these won’t be of any practical use for you. This is one of the major reasons that even some expensive cars like the Toyota Fortuner and the Innova still don’t get a sunroof. Of course, if you want to install it for the aesthetics of it, you can go ahead.
![Useless Car Features: Fake Plastic Roof Rails](https://gomechanic.in/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Fake-Plastic-Roof-Rails-1000x562.jpg)
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Are they really useful?
Yes, most definitely. If you need extra space to mount luggage on your car, a set of roof rails is exactly what you need. For those who are looking to increase the esthetic appeal of their cars, they might come in some use, depending on your taste.
But they seem too weak to keep luggage over there. While I tried they were a little flexible and so I was scared to store the luggage.
Hi Krishna,
Many manufacturers these days are adding roof rails to make their cars look taller and bolder. The usability can be determined by the loading capacity of these rails.
How much load kay take the roof/roofrails? Can we mount a tent for 2occupancy?
Hi Rohan
You will have to check your car’s spec sheet for the load that your roof rails can take
What is the point of this article, it could have been finished in 3 words, NO they’re not
AAyega toh Kushaq hi! We truly support your decision! But it is wrong to say roof rails are not useful. They are definitely useful in case of some cars where they are meant to carry load. Imagine how useful they can be when you are on a road trip!
Thanks for this article. I have a venue and I feel roofrail are slippery and if I tie luggage, it may fall. I am also not sure what to use to tie the luggage.
Roof rails on the venue are not functional, Ankur
Is roof rails are useful in Hyundai santafe 7seater ?
If a top variant os a car has functional roof rails then can we install functional roof rail on a lower variant of same model
Scorpio roof rail is strong enough… could bear the weight,but bolero Bs6 is just just for looks… Discouraging….
for Your article to be useful, you should cover which cars have functional roof rails and what aftermarket products are available in this area to get good functional roof rails. The current article feels very superficial.