flames130

The OEM crossbars are pretty much useless......unless you intend on securing a small square cargo box.. Ford did not put forth much effort in the design of rail system .It appears the rails are mounted too far aft on the roof unabling you to install any sort of decent sized carrier.Even the Thule crossroads 450 system grip the factory rails too far back for a lengthy carrier ....hatch cannot be opened ! The only solution is to go with a tower that mounts with a foot pack so carrier can be mounted forward on roof enabling hatch to be opened ! good luck

I like what i see....the only concern to me would be the dip of the fwd edge of the track for the Edge being that the Flex is flat. I guess a lil' roll of the track on the front would solve that problem ? The forward crossbar of any system must be mounted pretty much where the roof starts to dip to be able to install any kind of lengthy 15 to 16 cu. ft. cargo carrier without the box hitting the rear hatch when opened . Ford"s factory rail system is "junk".....the roof rails are plastic and when factory crossbars installed , only accomodate "select carriers" according to Ford. The only carrier that system is good for is basically a "bag" to be safe !! or smallish hard ided carrier. Gears are rollin on permanent track system....pretty much the only way i see put on this point. thx for info rwolson.....will update with terminating fix !!

Has anyone experimented with custom roof rails to replace the junk factory ones installed (plastic).........looking to install a cargo carrier similar to thule ascent 1600 on a rail system ,but was thinking of mounting a rail strip where existing factory rail mounts ? Would like to steer clear of Q towers or 400xt system mounted door frame to rooftop. Was thinking of a permanent rail strip of sort with a tower placed into that when i use for rare vacations & recreational use. Any ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated !