so many choices...

i have the factory roof rack, but i'd like to get some feedback on the yakima products. what's good, not so good? should i really go get one? i know a few people here have them...i just don't know exactly what to get.

choice 1
q towers or locking rail rider 1?
any real advantatge to getting the more expensive q towers? something about raingutters? with the q tower ones...

choice 2
what size crossbar? i'm guessing 48 in would be good...i don't want them sticking too far off the side

choice 3
what kind of ski rack? i'll probably be going snowboarding a lot, and with friends, so i'm looking at the LiftTicket 6 or BigPowderHound which can both hold up to 4 boards. i'll get a bike rack too, but probably one of the cheaper ones


and i guess i should get some of those lock cores
or i could just always get the "mighty mounts" and the ski rack and that's it...

 

The Q clips are going to hold more weight if you use the cross bar setup, but they will stick up a little higher than if you were to use the factory rack rails I think.

I have a few vids in this post how the Q Towers attach.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...ghlight=Yakima

In the above post you will see a Load Warrior rack on Mike's rig using the Rail Riders.
But you can also mount the Load Warrior directly to the stock rails like Todd did with hi '97 he use have.
It would sit way lower than Mike's setup.

Oops, just realized I deleted those 2 vids by accident last week while cleaning out some stuff from my folders online

 

I have the Yakima setup with the towers (that "lock" into the factory rails) and really use it. I have 48" poles across it. After that I have a Load Warrior basket, ski-racks, (2) Rockymounts bike racks (much cheaper than Yakima) that I interchange all the time.

FYI, the Load Warrior basket is easily taken on and off so if you wanted to have it off you can.

My ski rack mounts to the poles or the basket, either way.

I like the towers personally, much more "sturdy" in my opinion.

I bought mine 3 or 4 years ago, and have had no problems.

If you go this route, buy a set of matching locks (8 or more) that are all keyed the same. I have (4) on towers, (2) on basket, and (2) on ski racks, all using the same key.

CB

 

FYI,
I've been to this store in Denver, and they do a great job at decent prices. I would price them anyway before buying.

http://www.rackattack.com/

Here is the Rockymounts site (they make bike racks only I think), but they don't have to be black, they have all colors.

http://www.rockymounts.com/index.asp

Chris

 

I use the qtowers as well that attach to the rain gutters.

1) The advantage for me is I can put 9' longboards on top and still open the rear door without hitting the boards.

2) I think I used the 48" and hacked them down to give about a 4" clearance on both stides to allow tying surfboards down.

3) I use the yakima snowboard racks as well. I doesn't have the extension to pivot the snowboard holder up, but I can fit 4 snowboards on it if the two facing down don't have bindings that are too tall. The snowboard rack gives you about 5 inches of clearance between the snowboards and the roof. Obviously if you use click-ins this won't be an issue.

These racks are extremely strong. I drove cross-country with two surfboards and two mountain bikes on top with no problem.

I recommend the bike trays that have the mountain bike fork that locks into the forks directly, they're much stronger and have less wind resistence.

I guess the only disadvantage is the $, but you've seen that already.

Hope this helps,
Mark

 

so i have the factory roof rack, would that be useless if i got the q-tower system? i think i want something that goes into the rails that are already there, not something that sticks so far out (to the tops of the doors)

 

If you got the q tower system I don't think you would need to use the factory roof rack. I knew before I bought my truck that I was going to buy the qtowers, so I got mine without the factory rack. As a side note, my brother used to have a camry wagon that he installed the qtowers on that also had the factory rack. He always had both racks on, just never used the factory rack, it never caused him any problems.

If all you are doing is carting snowboards and the occasional bike, the factory rails will suffice. If you plan on carrying heavier stuff, such as multiple surfboards/kayaks/etc, I would recommend the qtowers over the factory rails. The qtowers mount to the roof over the doorframes, which are structure bearing so naturally they can hold weight. The factory roof rack is drilled into the roof at the center, which is obviously not meant to carry heavy weight.