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I have a 2003 Civic EX 4 door sedan. I've just taken up surfing and I want to fit a roof rack (just the 2 cross beams) to put my board on the roof. The roof of the car is naked with just the 2 x rubber strips running front to back.

I bought a roof rack set from Amazon (the company is called LT Sports) but it doesn't fit. The brackets that fit under the door jam are not long enough when the base mounts are flat on the roof surface.

Does anyone know of a roof rack that is guaranteed to fit?

Appreciate any help.

 
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I have an '08 Civic Ex. Coupe... previously had a '12 Civic Ex. Coupe, and an '01 Ex Coupe. and use the Thule Aero racks. I've had these racks for about 9 years bought them for the '12, then traded cars with my daughter for her '08.
The '01 I used soft Dakine soft racks until I got the '12. They worked great carried either a kayak or SUP, travelled at hi-way speeds+ for trips up to 3 hours one way.. mainly 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. They were very easy to install and remove, open doors lay on roof, toss straps thru to other side, cinch down, put board on, cinch down and go. With longer kayak or SUP I use front and rear tie down strips but with 6' surf board it was load, cinch and go. The only down side was when you get caught in a hard rain the webbed straps wick water and gravity/water settles to the lowest point usually drips water in your lap or pass. seat.

When I got the '12 I decided to go to hard racks and they work great. the aero style crossbar is quieter on the hi-way. Fortunately the roof line of the '01, '08, and '12 are close enough in design the racks fit all 3 models. So when I traded down no modifications or additional parts were needed. Thule recommends you get an extender that puts the bars farther apart, because the roof line (doors) make them to close together but I ignored that warning and went with just the racks. They are not cheap but are a well made product. The only real downside is they are not as easy to install, takes about 20 or 30 minutes, and remove so the tend to stay on the car. They do have a black rubber strip where the board contacts the rack and it can/will mark up your board. I used shrink wrap and wrapped the bars, they look better that way on my black car anyhow, and this resolved that issue. I also now carry either Canoe, Kayak SUP with no issues.
A few years ago I got an lighter epoxy/eps SUP that was more fragile and added the Thule soft pads to the bars so as not to damage the board.

I still keep, upgraded, a soft FCS SUP rack as a backup in my trunk just incase. They, mpo, have the best version of a D-ring cinching system. There are plenty of soft type racks that work well for surf boards if you go that way,



That is the only photo I could find with just the racks.. the windows are not open that day I came back to the launch site to find someone had raped my car and broke both driver/pass. windows out to get access...

Here is another loaded and ready with the fishing SUP.