Factory Rack + Yakima Question
 

I searched, and did find some good info, but couldn't quite get my questions answered. My dilemma is that I have some of the yakima parts already from my '89, and since my 89 is gone, want to put the loadwarrior basket on my 02 that has the factory rack. What is my best option?

Yakima uses:
- Will carry my hi-lift jack
- Will carry shovel on other side
- Toss in all my camping gear and tools in basket.

Yakima will be removed when not in use.

I have from '89 4Runner the Q towers, bars, locks and my Loadwarrior basket.

My 3 options from my research are as follows:

1.) Buy new Q clips, use existing Q towers and bars, put basket on, good to go. Probably the strongest option?
2.) Buy new control towers, put on fatory rails, use existing bars, put basked on, good to go. Second strongest option?
3.) Attach basket directly to toyota factory roof rack. Easiest, and no cost involved.

Option 1 is probably out because it will be right over my sunroof.

So between Option 2 and 3, which one would you recommend? The only thing I'm nervous about attaching the basket directly to the factory rack is with 100lbs or more of gear, and all the swaying and jarring of 4wheeling (nothing too drastic), I'that its going to break and go flying off!!

On yakima's site, what I found odd was that the basket attached directly to the toyota oem rack or using yakima's control towers said the exact same thing: 100lbs limit. I thought for sure the control towers would of upped that, especially for the cost for those towers.

Thanks,
Rob

Hey Rob, forget the Control Towers b/c you can go to eBay and find some RailRider 1 towers pretty cheap. I got a set of new ones for $40 shipped and they fit right on the factory rails. I have a Q tower up front and RR1 on the factory rails, no basket yet. 48" bars will work but if you have bikes then go with 58" bars, that's what I have. I plan to get a MegaWarrior with extension to cover most of the roof, I need the width for my canoe b/c the LoadWarrior is about 2" too narrow to fit the canoe flat. I think the 100# limit is due to the factory rails, not the Yakima parts but as long as your not swaying back and forth quickly then there won't be any issues.

Thanks terminator! I'm also curious about height, would you say those RailRider towers are much taller than the stock oem rack? I'm also trying to keep as low of a profile that I can.

I'll measure the Railrider height tonight, it's about the same as the Q Towers which makes them a bit higher than the stock cross bars.

My Yakima is directly fitted right to the factory bars and I've had no issues with it and it fits very tight.

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...Picture037.jpg

yakima basket
 

I sold Yakima products for 15 years and never had any issue with the factory racks. I have seen Yakima racks attached with towers/clips that HAVE come off. either way the load rating is the same, 100lbs per bar so 200lbs total. not to say that people dont put more up there. I have my load warrior on the factory crossbars and it's never moved in inch.

not a big fan of the oem rails/rack...see them shaking on the frwy all the time at hight speeds when carrying long things. i need to have multiple surfboards on top so i took it off and put on the towers using the qclips into the front and rear doors, also, for me another reason was to move the load forward. ya, its over the sunroof but so what. another option, and i think thats what someone was talking about, is to use one of the ways you described to use the oem rack for the rear bar adn then just get one with qclips and put it in to the rear or front doors.....you mentioned cannoes though? ugh.... you might just have three or four bars to make it ultra stable and secure.

piotr - i agree with what you said for a setup except I'm just doing standard issue camping gear. Maybe someone else mentioned canoes/kayaks! :hillbill:

Thanks guys for calming my fears about attaching directly to the factory rack. I will definitely give that a try and see how it holds up to the jarring of 4whelling and then go from there. Obviously, with the market the way it is, it is also the cheapest :)

Terminator - I would still like to know those measurements if you think of it. I appreciate it.

Rob

I put a canoe on my Tacoma and on my 4Runner, it only touched the very first and last load bar and only weighed @ 70#, the other middle bars I have support a bike attachment and sometimes a Yakima Basketcase. As long as the straps are secure and you use the Yakima Gunwale brackets or load stops then it's not going anywhere. I speed most of the time and I've never had any problems with my racks.