ranma21

I am planning to get a roofrack. I have seen some common brand such as surco, conferr, yakima loadwarrior and Garvin industry. Some people claim that surco is not strong enough compare to conferr or yakima. And some claim that Garvin is the best but expensive. Any of you own these racks?? Any comment and info are greatly appreciated! Please help I need a good and strong one.

Birdman

If I didnt already have and use all the yakima stuff I have, I would probably go with a BVG Adventure rack for the cost and flexibility.

http://www.everythingsuv.com/bvg_adv..._rack-esuv.asp

However, those Confer racks sure are nice, but really expensive.

I just picked up a Yakima Basketcase rack on Ebay for $50. I wanted something that would integrate with my existing hardware and be very low profile. I really don't plan on carrying much up there except for long road trips where the back seats and cargo area are filled. I certainly won't have them loaded when going off road.

terryjmatthew

I Had The Con-ferr Rack On My 2nd Gen And A Yakima On My 3rd Gen. The Con-ferr Was A Monster. For The 4th Of July My Girlfriend And I Would Sit On The Top To Watch The Fireworks. The Only Thing I Didnt Like About The Con-ferr Was The Fact That It Bolted Directly To The Roof. I Was Afraid Of Water Leaks, But Never Saw Any!

Corey

iTrader: (1)

I am partial to the Yakima Load Warrior.

I had so much stuff up there one time for a summer jam we had a few years back, that the rig could hardly make it up some of the steep roads leading to the area

The rack holds a lot, so much the 3.0 was complaining.
But I had a lot of gear in the rig too.
I wish I had the pics still of the rack fully loaded with enough camping gear for a weeks stay and more.

ranma21

So both of you and your gf actually sat on the roof basket??? It must be pretty strong then. So do you prefer the conferr or the loadwarrior?? I thought you actually installed the conferr on the factory roofrack rail??

r0cky

i love my yakima megawarrior ... and ranma21, you even saw it hold up a tree at 360!

ranma21

Corey, I think I saw your roofrack fully loaded one time on here. But have you tried sitting on it before?? You think it is strong enough to sit on it?? I like about loadwarrior because it is expandable!

ranma21

Ohh yea!!! I was behind you in Todd's rig that time. It sure hold up the tree good!! Ohh yours is the megawarrior instead of loadwarrior?? what is the difference then?? Sorry about your wheel, I think they really mess them up. You need to bring them in asap!!

mike_d

i've got a yak load warrier (like corey's) on my 1st gen. it's really nice and very well built. if mine wasn't held on by the rain gutters i'd feel comfortable sitting in it. since you've got a 96, you use a different mounting system, and it would probably be strong enough for you to sit in. i think with the load warrier and weakness will be on the truck where it mounts, not in the rack itself. it's really overbuilt. when i was shopping for racks i only considered thule and yakima, mainly because i've dealt with them alot in the past for my bike racks. i didn't like the thule basket, it didn't seem stronge enough. and i think the yak bike mounts are built better than my thule bike mounts, so in the end i think yakima is a bit better in quality over thule.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Since the weight of mine is distributed across the Yak cross bars, it can hold a few hundred pounds up there.
I'm sure I could sit in it if I wanted too, but I see no need for that, unless they make a Wet Okole to fit it

I believe the Mega Warrior Like R0cky's is wider than mine.

Also you may have noticed the few links in my write-up that point to Yak's site no longer work.
That is because Yakima went to Flash Media for their entire site.
I'll have to update the page sometime.

dragr1

iTrader: (3)

I've got the conferr rack and I love it. I got it from Summit Racing-it will not show up on their website but they do carry it. Go to http://www.conferr.com/ and get the part number you want and then got to http://www.summitracing.com/ and type in the number and manufacturer and it should show up. Mine was $300-free shipping at Summit! The $300 included the rack, mounting brackets and floor kit. I believe the floor kit had it's own part # also. For the Conferr accessories, I got them from http://www.4x4parts.com/ because they are cheaper than ordering from Conferr. For some reason, Summit didn't carry all of the accessories.

hre814

I have the Yakima Megawarrior. It is wider then the load warrior. I use to haul stuff, have a single bike mount on one side of it and can put my kayak up on the rest of it if needed. It is mounted directly to the factory rack. It is more expensive then others out there, but Yakima quality and customer service have impressed me in the past. I have used their hitch mounted bike racks for some time. You won't be disappointed with them. Both the load and megawarrior are taller then others offered out there( like 2 inches or so), which may be of benefit to some people. Good luck!

Herman

INsr5runner

I have the Yakima Basketcase. It's kinda small, but it hauls ALL my muddy/smelly camping/riding/climbing gear, and helps me save space, and not deal with the smell of wet clothes on the ride home.

If you need extra space, but not a HUGE rack like all the others mentioned I would highly suggest it! it even fits "under" the rack bars, so you won't deal with clearance issues except for the height of your cross bars.

Oh and since it's small, you can still put a bike, kayak, or whatever up there. You could even fit one of Yak's slim box's up there next to it. (depending on the size of your cross bars.

here are some pics that kinda show it.

r0cky

load warrior without extension: 44 x 39 x 6.5"
load warrior with extension: 62 x 39 x 6.5" (adds 18")

mega warrior without extension: 52 x 48 x 6.5"
mega warrior with extension: 74 x 48 x 6.5" (adds 22")

hope that helps!!

ranma21

[we could put mine on your roof just to see how it would look, and we could try it with the extension and without ... see what you like best. [/QUOTE]


That would be nice!! Thanks for your offer May be I can try out your new tires too huh!!! Looks like the load warrior will fit better base on the dimension you gave me since my runner is smaller than yours.

ranma21

Thank you everyone for your info, but anyone have any experience with the Garvin industry safari rack like the one Darren has??

COYOTA $x$

Im happy with the Yakima stuff. Have the extender, spare tire mount, shovel and axe mounts, Hi lift mount, and the cargo net.... with enough room left for odds and ends stuff I dont want in the interior.


If you go yakima, check out the pricing at cheaphondaparts.com
(((upppp never mind I was just getting the direct link for ya, and they raised their prices on all their stuff.)))))

IIRC your 96 roof rails, are only rated to hold 160lbs or so. Better check on that before you go too far. (IE consider the total weight of the Rack and its contents, against roof capacity rating)

dirteetaco

I've had the Yakima Load Warrior for about 2 years now...had it on my Xterra, handled itself very well with abuse and tree limbs...so I transferred it to the bed of my Taco...connected to the DeMello crossbars that go across the bed...it's out of the way of tree limbs now..but is still holding up very well...some scrapes and scratches here and there, and the faring is cracked...but otherwise, it's bulletproof. But like said before...I would recommend the extender, or just go straight with the MegaWarrior if you're looking for the most useable space...I plan on getting the extension before this winter to hold more stuff....I have the spare mounted in the bed, but once I have the extension, I plan on mounting the spare in the rack itself.

ranma21

IIRC your 96 roof rails, are only rated to hold 160lbs or so. Better check on that before you go too far. (IE consider the total weight of the Rack and its contents, against roof capacity rating)[/QUOTE]

THank you for your advise!! Now I have never thought about the rated weight on the roof!! I wouldn't wanna mess it up either!!

ranma21

Looks like everyone has good feedback and comment on the yakima loadwarrior. I definatelly need to try it out, especially the extension part, make it more flexible too. What about those tire tie down, light holder, high lift holder and shovel holder? Are they pricey?