Going to the Chevy accessory site is like going to the parts dept. at the dealership ... they don't understand or deviate from anything that's not officially supposed to be for your vehicle or its vin no. Every time I want to upgrade a part I have to go to the new car lot and lift vin numbers of LTZs or Denalis just so the parts guy can look up the part I need.

However, you can get a definitive answer by contacting GM customer service. For example when I upgraded to the CK375 wheel/tire package the dealer didn't want to do it ... then I got it in writing from GM CS that it would not affect my warranty. It was a 2 hour conversation and it was like pulling teeth to get it, but eventually they relented because those rims are standard on the Denali Hybrid and there's no reason for me not to be able to use them.

You have to pick your battles and you have to be knowledgable of your rights as per the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act. Modifications have to be researched to be sure the Hybrid can handle them.

But if you go by what the service manager at the dealership or some dude at GM accessories says and leave it at that nothing will ever get done.

As far as the rack addition I actually agree with most service managers who will not undertake it. For if done improperly it can and will cause a plethora of issues. But some dealers have better and more knowledgable mechanics/body shop techs who trust them to do the job, as exemplified in the OP's truck. After all a roof rack addition has no affect on the existing warranty, it's just the dealer who perform the work that has to guarantee his work. So if he's not confident with his people he won't do it, if he is he will. I have a good relationship with my dealer's service manager and body shop guy and they has installed all my modifications with no problem, and when they say to me 'don't even think about doing that' I trust them. They makes money, I get the truck to look the way I want with warranty intact ... it's all good.

Personally when I was going to do this I was going to have it done with the permanent adhesive so as to never have to worry about the consequences of drilling new holes on the roof. I just passed on it cause after mocking it up I didn't like the way it looked.



Cheers.

 

Thanks HyHoe;

I was curious what your rack's max load weight was rated at?

 

Mmm, that I don't know.

To be honest I never installed it (just laid it on the roof to see if I like it and took a couple of pics), and if I had installed it it would have been a purely aesthetic modification as I would never have used it for its intended purpose shlepping things on it.

However these things are pretty sturdy ... both the chrome esky/nali one pictured above or the regular black one as in the OP's pictures.

GM customer service are actually very helpful with stuff like this ... call them and tell them you are considering the purchase of either a Tahoe or Yukon Denali and you want to know what the load rating is for both trucks' roof racks. If they don't have the info at hand they will usually email it to you within a day or two.

I for my part will do a little google sleuthing and see if I can track down an answer from you.

Cheers!

 

Okay, from a 2010 Tahoe owner's manual:

Notice: Loading cargo on the roof rack that weighs
more than 91 kg (200 lbs) or hangs over the rear or sides of the vehicle may damage the vehicle. Load cargo so that it rests evenly between the crossrails,
making sure to fasten cargo securely.

Page 3-76

http://www.chevrolet.com/assets/pdf/...ban_owners.pdf

Hope that helps.

---------------------

Edit to add: I should note that the adhesive route is only possible with the esky/nali roof rack because it has a flat surface all the way from back to front, it will not work with the regular Tahoe/Yukon rack as it has but a few attachment points.

 

I would be very carful installing one of those.

Maybe super double fast tape will do it, But drilling is a no no due to the "do not Cut" areas from the Hybrid Tahoe.

Maybe Driling in the wrong place, will be as bad as cutting IMHO.

 

Gabe, those curtain airbag housings are above the door sills.
In this respect they are no different on a hybrid than on a non-hybrid.
If the bolt holes are drilled in the proper location (if I remember correctly about 5 inches in from the edges of the roof) there would be no issue with the airbags.

Having said that I agree with you that it's just not a good idea to drill the roof if it hasn't been done at the factory. One would be at the mercy of the mechanic who undertakes it and their level of skill, knowing that none of them have actually been taught/trained on how to do it. Even then the potential/likelihood of major issues down the road is too significant to warrant this modification with bolts.

 

Good lookin ride HyHoe - the rails always look so good. Too bad they reduce the gas mileage! I see where there is going to be a new company building 100mpg Tahoes out of GM shells! I can't wait to see one. This cool HEPV will drive all electric up to 40 miles!!

The new start up came from the old Raser Hummer project.

 

For what it is worth, I am buying an 08 HyHoe and the Chevy dealership service department is putting a roof rack on mine. Interestingly, for the person who posted that they were being charged $700, they are charging me $235. I can look up the part number if anyone wants it, but it is listed in the service dept computer under accessories for the 08 chevy tahoe Hybrid. There are three options, just the crossbars, just the rails, and the crossbars and rails package which is what I am getting.

My understanding was they were not initially installed in order to reduce the drag from 0.34 to 0.29 (in combination with other modifications from the gas tahoe).

 

Thanks Winchester_Fire; good to know you can get a good deal. You are right on the drag coefficient - they also didn't include front tow hooks for the same reason.

HyHoe! That is a good nickname! I may refer to the model as that from now on! I've been getting 22 too 23 mpg on the highway for some time now. I do drive in town, so that may be an over all figure! I like to keep my foot out of the accelerator in town, so it runs electric most of the time. The mileage must be fantastic that way! Seems like the motor only comes on about every 5 blocks and for only about 15 to 30 seconds. Of course winter is a bummer because the system has to warm the heater up!

 

In the interest of full disclosure in regards to the above quoted post, here is what happened. When I went to pick up my truck, I noticed it had no roof rack on it. After tracking down the issue between the salesman, the parts dept and the tech, here is what I found.

1) the rack they ordered me apparently only contained the 2 cross bars

2) GM kicked back the order because it "did not belong on a hybrid."

3) the price for a full system would have been more

4) The tech initially told me it would at least take all day to install because the holes weren't there already.

5) the tech later told said that he "didn't think you could put a roof rack on the hybrid."

My conclusions are that

1) you can put a roof rack on, but the techs don't want to do the work.

2) they are more expensive than previously listed.

3) you would have to order it under a non-hybrid vehicle.

4) as always, you should understand why the most highly qualified and highly paid engineers from mercedes (dymer / chrysler), BMW, and Chevy decided not to put them on a hybrid before you decide to put one on. It has been said here that "it can't have that much of an effect on drag with all the other changes made to the vehicle." If it didn't, the engineers wouldn't have done it. That being said, some of us do need to sacrifice in order to make the vehicle meet our needs. I can tell you first have that aftermarket racks certainly increase drag more than the GM ones do. They also warp the door and allow noise and outside air into the passenger compartment.


Good luck all