If you are a car owner, roof racks make excellent extra storage space, which is perfect for day trips and holidays away. Perhaps you need extra room for your luggage, or maybe you need another storage place for sports equipment or tools. They are particularly ideal for people who have little boot space in their vehicle or are intending to carrying large items such as canoes, skis and bicycles.
For ultimate security, and peace of mind, the vast majority of roof racks come with locks to protect your property securely.
Roof rack keys tend to be fairly small in size, especially compared to other types of keys, such as those used for front doors. They are fairly comparative to the standard keys used for lockers in Schools, Gyms and places of work.
Locks:
Most roof rack locks tend to be single barrel and include a manufacturer code. These locks can only be opened using a key that features a matching manufacturers code, meaning that if you lose the keys you will need to purchase replacements from a supplier of the brand of lock that you own. The manufacturers code is typically found on the actual lock, and knowing this information will help a supplier to pinpoint exactly which keys you will need.
As locks are inevitably going to be facing all types of weather, including wind, rain and snow as well as boiling heat, they are designed to be completely weather and waterproof, which ultimately means that they won’t rust. This is thanks to being manufactured using only the best stainless-steel that is well renowned for it’s anti-rusting properties.
Manufacturers:
A variety of manufacturers provide roof rack keys including: Thule, SKS, Ronis and Lowe & Fletcher. Thule, for example, allow the ability to use the same key to both open and lock the roof rack, which they often refer to as their “One Key System”, which enables the one key to work as a sort of master key for all accessories in the Thule range. So basically, one key will open all of the locks as needed, cutting out the requirement for a multitude of keys that just confuse you.
Most companies have different codes, whilst some have similar ones. However, it is often recommended to try and purchase replacement keys that correspond completely with the lock on your roof rack, even down to the actual manufacturer, purely because they differ.
As a guide, here are some of the most common codes used for Roof Racks. However, it important to acknowledge that the type of lock your rack will have will also depend on what vehicle your rack is attached to. This is because most Roof Racks are designed for specific brands of car and/or van.
Different Keys:
Lowe and Fletcher offer a 66001 to 68000 Series of keys that are actually the most common variety of locker-based key. Another series that they supply is 92201 to 92400 which are often used for School Lockers, as well as Filing Cabinets and all types of metal-based cabinets, cupboards and furniture.
Thule provide the N1 to N200 Series of keys that are not only ideal for roof rack, but ski racks as well.