According to the Yak/Thule dealer, all 3rd Gen roof rails (not the OEM cross bars, but the rails bolted to the roof) have maximum weight limitation of 100lbs. The Yak documents he showed me indicate a special note (#31) that states a maximum weight limit of 100lbs for 96-2002 systems regardless of the type of foot/tower/loadbar when connected to the OEM roof rails. The only exception is the Q-tower which does NOT use the OEM rails, but connects directly to the roof with latches that hold onto the door jambs. ALL others that use the OEM rails note a 100lbs limit!

He said this is the maximum recommended weight to prevent the OEM roof rails from dislodging (separating from the roof) in the event of sudden/quick stops, heavy acceleration from stop, impact (front/back/side), heavy bouncing/jarring/rocking while off-roading, etc.

Can anyone confirm this?? I know there's a sticker noting 165lbs. max limit on my OEM crossbars, but didn't know the actual roof rails have a max limit of 100lbs. My owners manual mentions nothing about this.

If this is true, I'll cancel my Wilderness rack I ordered from 4x4 Connection since there's no point in have a rack that can hold 400lbs. when the rails are only recommended to hold ¼ that much.

 

From my perspective it would seem quite illogical that they would rate the OEM cross bars at 165lbm and only rate the OEM roof rails at 100lbm. Realize here that this rating is talking about lbm(mass) not lbf(force), which is what this guy is really trying to talk to you about when he is talking about getting jarred off and sudden stops, as 1 lbf = 32.174 lbm*ft/s^2. So if you have 165 lbm up there evenly distributed then you have 5 lbf of force up there, multiplied by some acceleration factor converting mph to fps, evenly distributed among I think 12 secure screws. Unless you are planning on carrying bags of rocks or bowling balls, you should be fine. However, I wouldn't recommend maxing out the lbm limit on that wilderness rack as 400 lbm might make you a convertible or a new moonroof in the back.

If you are still uneasy, you can always check with the dealer and see what kind of information they have on the weight limits and force limits on OEM roof rails. I really don't think you have anything to worry about.

My 0.02.



Brian