Ford Vehicles Could Get Selectively Deployable Roof Rails

April 25, 2024 1:34 pm

Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for selectively deployable roof rails that may be used in future Ford vehicles, Ford Authority has learned.

The patent was filed on October 18^th, 2022, published on April 25^th, 2024, and assigned serial number 0131994.

The Ford Authority Take

Roof racks have steadily gained in popularity over the years, for reasons ranging from the fact that people think they look cool to the expanded cargo capacity those parts offer. Thus, Ford has filed a number of patents aiming to make a more innovative type of roof rack as of late, including ideas for a removable roof rack (that later came to fruition on the Bronco), modular roof racks, a powered roof rack system, and an integrated roof rail power outlet system. Now, this newly filed patent keeps that trend going by presenting us with an idea for selectively deployable roof rails that may be used in future Ford vehicles, too.

While roof racks have become popular in recent years for adding a mounting point for things like cargo boxes, the truth is, most of us don’t need to use such items on a regular basis. Roof racks also tend to generate a good bit of wind noise – especially when paired with crossbars – and on some vehicles, aren’t removable. As such, Ford proposes this system for retractable roof rails that can automatically be deployed when they’re needed, and then stowed away when they’re not.

It’s an interesting idea that’s also quite flexible, as Ford mentions that these retractable roof racks could be used in a variety of applications, and could even be mounted in different ways depending on how they’ll be used. Though it would likely take a good bit of engineering to pull off, we imagine that such a feature would be quite appealing to a lot of folks, and as such, it may very well wind up making it to production one day.

We’ll have more on this and all Ford patents soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford patent news, Ford business news, and non-stop Ford news coverage.

By Brett Foote

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.