Roof rack cross bar height on Tahoe

[Dustin Mustangs]

Does anyone have the GM cross bars for the roof rack that they could measure for me? I am in the market for a rooftop cargo box and I really, really want to be able to pull in the garage with it on the vehicle. Looks like I might have the room for it with the right cargo box but it is going to be close.

Could someone possibly measure from the top of the factory cross bars to a fixed point on the roof that I can reference? It would be much appreciated!

https://accessories.chevrolet.com/p...1&make=Chevrolet&model=Tahoe&categoryId=98002

 

[wjburken]

Does anyone have the GM cross bars for the roof rack that they could measure for me? I am in the market for a rooftop cargo box and I really, really want to be able to pull in the garage with it on the vehicle. Looks like I might have the room for it with the right cargo box but it is going to be close.

Could someone possibly measure from the top of the factory cross bars to a fixed point on the roof that I can reference? It would be much appreciated!

https://accessories.chevrolet.com/p...1&make=Chevrolet&model=Tahoe&categoryId=98002

https://www.gmupfitter.com/files/media/photo/1421/2021_R_FULL_LD_Util_043020.pdf

 

[lasallen]

Does anyone have the GM cross bars for the roof rack that they could measure for me? I am in the market for a rooftop cargo box and I really, really want to be able to pull in the garage with it on the vehicle. Looks like I might have the room for it with the right cargo box but it is going to be close.

Could someone possibly measure from the top of the factory cross bars to a fixed point on the roof that I can reference? It would be much appreciated!

https://accessories.chevrolet.com/p...1&make=Chevrolet&model=Tahoe&categoryId=98002

I have the GM cross bars, I can get a measurement for you tomorrow

 

[Dustin Mustangs]

https://www.gmupfitter.com/files/media/photo/1421/2021_R_FULL_LD_Util_043020.pdf
View attachment 271311

Thanks for posting this but I am not sure those are the numbers I am after. Looks like it is in mm and the difference with and without the rack is only 7mm or roughly 1/4”. Maybe I am missing something, but judging by the picks of these cross bars it should be 10 or so times that much.

 

[wjburken]

Thanks for posting this but I am not sure those are the numbers I am after. Looks like it is in mm and the difference with and without the rack is only 7mm or roughly 1/4”. Maybe I am missing something, but judging by the picks of these cross bars it should be 10 or so times that much.

I see.

Well, the roof is crowned, so the highest part of the roof itself isn’t much lower than the height of the side rails. Put a straightedge across the side rails and I bet it’s only 1/4” difference as noted.

If you have the crossbars, while the straightedge (2x4 or something similar) is up there, measure how much higher the cross bar is than the top of the side rails and there you have you measurement.

If you don’t, assume there is a 1-1/2” crown on the crossbars (conservatively) and add that to the 76” height shown in the drawing. That gets you to just under 78”. If you use that as your vehicle height, you should get a pretty good idea of where things are.

Keep in mind that the actual height will vary based on tire pressure, tire size, how much stuff you have in the vehicle, etc.

 

[gooffeyguy]

How tall is your garage door opening?

 

[Dustin Mustangs]

How tall is your garage door opening?

My door is 95” clear and my truck is around 75” with nothing inside. The boxes are 17ish tall above the bar depending on which one I get. Like I said, gonna be close!

 

[Bigmanny]

I had a rough measurement of the bar height measured at about 81-82 inches on the vehicle. just cleared my 7 foot garage door.

 

[Dustin Mustangs]

I had a rough measurement of the bar height measured at about 81-82 inches on the vehicle. just cleared my 7 foot garage door.

Thanks for that. Not sure how the heights of our trucks compare with being a different trim level. Hopefully mine is a bit shorter because that is too tall to work the way I would like.

I went ahead and ordered up a yakima cbx 16 (14" tall) and the factory cross rails. My best estimate from the pics and videos of those rails is that I should have around 1.5" to spare. Fingers crossed and I will report back for future reference once it all shows up.

 

[Dustin Mustangs]

I am pretty happy to report that everything worked out as planned. This big beast fits through my garage door with cargo box on top. I’ll have to say it looks pretty good too.

To answer my original question, the OEM roof rack cross bars peak at 4.5” above the center of my roof which, on the Tahoe, has a slight valley along the center of the roof where the measurement is taken. The height it adds changes depending on where the cross bars are. At my front location it only measures 4” higher than the bottom of that valley.

For anyone interested, this box is the Yakima CBX16. It clears my 8’ tall (95” clear) garage door by 1.5” on my unloaded RST. For a point of reference, the top of the rear wheel well opening is 37” high on this vehicle with it unloaded. Surprisingly, mileage did not take much of a hit, even at freeway speeds. Maybe 1 mpg at 75 and 2 mpg at 80. I was certainly expecting worse.