By William Turner (Wturner) on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 04:33 am: Edit

I don't want a full size roof rack, I would rather have something that is small, light, easy to take off and on, but pretty usefull. I know I am asking too much, but I am NOT going to be hauling tires, jacks, gas cans, shovels etc. etc. I just need something that could carry some ski's and boots, or an extra suit case if the need should arise.

Yakima has some good stuff, but is it really worth THAT MUCH MONEY, or is there a cheap knockoff I can find?

Thanks

William

By gp (Garrett) on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 04:44 am: Edit

depends. do you have existing thule or yakima bars? if so they both sell a small basket (in comparison to expedition racks) racks. they certainly are not inexpensive (like you said), but they will do what you are asking. there is a rack made by the company Surco that makes a pretty cheap and lightweight rack that will adapt right to the thule or yak load bars. they sell a 50X50 for $186, a 50X60 for $229 and there is a 50X84 for about $300. you have to buy adaptors for you existing load bars and all too. check out this site:
http://www.urbanjunglesuv.com/surco_safari_roof_racks_urban_jungle.htm

By jj on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 04:53 am: Edit

Interesting to see all those Exploders - I mean, Explorers - with safari racks on that site. The only thing I've ever seen an Explorer do off-road is get stuck. But it's an excellent highway truck...

By David on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 04:58 am: Edit

William,
I have Thule cross bars and the Yakima Mega Warrior. To me, it made the most sense and was the most cost effective for my needs. I carry some gear up there, along with two kayaks. I recently mounted a few lights to it as well. The best thing about it to me is that I can easily (with minimal grunting) pull the rack setup off my rig whenever I like. Such as when I want to go to the car wash. It only takes one person to install and un-install.

Obviously, you need to decide what you want to carry up there. I plan on placing the Yak ski attachments up there in the winter to take the place of the kayak saddles. I bought all of the stuff on sale at REI a while back.

Anyway, if you want me to take some pics tonight, I can do so and post them so you can compare.

David

By William Turner (Wturner) on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 05:06 am: Edit

Pics would be great, I would like to see how you mounted those lights.

You said Thule cross bars, is that the brand name?

By Bluegill (Bluegill) on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 05:30 am: Edit

check this out:
http://www.discoweb.org/discus/messages/10/4028.html?1000896581#POST25435

By gp (Garrett) on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 05:41 am: Edit

yep. either Thule www.thule.com or Yakima www.yakima.com will work with what David is suggesting. you just have to buy the adapters if you are not using 'like kind' systems. they are both great systems and have attachments for bikes, skis, canoes, etc.

By gp (Garrett) on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 05:49 am: Edit

yep. either Thule www.thule.com or Yakima www.yakima.com will work with what David is suggesting. you just have to buy the adapters if you are not using 'like kind' systems. they are both great systems and have attachments for bikes, skis, canoes, etc.

By David on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 07:35 am: Edit

The Yakima basket attachments are universal and will fit either round (Yakima) or square (Thule) cross bars.

I'll take some pictures tonight and post them.

Cheers,
David

By Daniel on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 09:40 am: Edit

If you're just looking for a light duty basket, there's a guy selling one on e-bay for $99.00 last time I checked. I don't have a link, but I found it searching for "roof rack". It's supposed to include Universal mounting gear.

By David on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 01:15 pm: Edit

William,
As promised, I took 5 shots of the rack. None are up close, but if your looking for anything in particular, let me know. FYI, I have 4 Hella ff100's mounted on the front of the rack behind the fairing (1 set I turned on), and 1 set of Hella Micro FF'd in the back protected by the cage of the rack.

By David on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 01:32 pm: Edit

By David on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 01:37 pm: Edit

By David on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 01:43 pm: Edit

By David on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 01:49 pm: Edit

sorry the pics are so large, I stuck to posting 3 given the size...

By William Turner (Wturner) on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 01:54 pm: Edit

That looks good, I think I will go with that. Is the kayak saddles from Yakima as well? And did they come from REI too?

Thanks for the pictures!

By William Turner (Wturner) on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 01:55 pm: Edit

Can you open your rear roof?

Where did you get those extended roof racks?

By David on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 03:33 am: Edit

William,
The kayak saddles are Yakima as well. Yes they did come from REI, although you can also go through www.outdoorsports.com . I also purchased three sets of the Yakima light mounts to house the lights, but if you are good with metal, you could make your own.

I can open the rear roof, if I position the cross bars correctly. I currently use Thule feet and cross bars, but I plan on switching to Yakima corss bars soon. I have a major biase against Thule for a few reasons...

The extended roof rails can be had from your dealer for a price, or you can go and get the parts from roverconnection. It's an easy install, as the panels are easy to access from the interior. You just have to be willing to drill through your roof... ;-)

Cheers,
David

By David on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 04:12 am: Edit

Oh ya, if you do go the same route for the rack and kayak, I do hope your a bit tall. No pun intended. I'm 6'3" and while I can handle my sea kayak by myself, and get the bow onto the back of the rack, pushing the kayak through is a little difficult...to say the least. I have to stand on my toes just to push the boat all the way forward.

By William Turner (Wturner) on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 04:22 am: Edit

I am 5'11" I have a Series 1 (if that makes a difference at all??) and I have no suspension mods.

It is VERY tall I know, but I don't even have a kayak yet. I really only want it right now for any ski trips I might take this year. Later I will do the kayak stuff.

By David on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 04:33 am: Edit

Then it should do fine. I stand on the rear wheel or the bumper to access the basket. It's a great setup!

By lynden on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 05:49 am: Edit

I'll share my experience here. I went to buy a rack, I already had a yak space booster (smallest rocket box) so I needed a rack to mount it.

I go to the local place and tell them what I have. They look it up and say the only thing I can do is mount it to the existing rack. They said they don't make a tower high enough. The yak website said the 1A hightower would work. So we pull out a 1A high and it allows the bar to rest on the roof of the disco- not good. We go back inside and look up the thule, they have one but its $20 more for the towers and then I have to buy a whole pack of locks (another $50). This would also necessitate different locks for rack and box (since they're different makes). I'm not happy at this point and ask the guy what the hell else could I do.

He shows me the 1A extenders. These are just aluminum blocks that turn a 1A into a 1A high. There was already a set in the 1A highs I was buying. He said I could just mount them on top of one another (two spacers, each about 3 1/2 inches) and buy a new bolt to go through them to hold them down. I decided to do this since the 1A high's were $150 and only $30 more for the spacers. One thing I did do though is use a sazall to cut the extra risers in half. I now have two extra if someone wants them. You too could cut them in half and save a little $.

W/ the box on I can hardly reach it, it is WAY up there. But by standing on door sills its accessable and will keep the skis nice and clean. Email me w/ any questions.
Lynden

By Jim on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 06:33 am: Edit

William,
Are you looking for a Yakima Mega Warrior? I have one and I am thinking about selling it if you are interested. I will be selling it with the extension though.

Jim

By Discosaurus (Discosaurus) on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 06:57 am: Edit

Thule and Yak racks are all fine and dandy but keep one thing in mind...

The bars stick out pretty far and are fair game for tree trunks, ect. I've bent up my gutter lip pretty severely several times when the bars caught on trees/rocks/ledges/what-have-you and have been stopped on narrow trails.

If you're not wheeling in tight areas it's not an issue - if you are, beware.

keith
discosaurus
bent-all-to-hell-gutters

By lynden on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 07:08 am: Edit

I agree. I wouldn't wheel w/ the racks on. Pretty good advice, especially since they're so easy to pull off!
Lynden

By David on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 07:11 am: Edit

I have the Thule 50" load bars. The fit just perfectly between the extended roof rails, and do not extend out any further. Meaning their is no overhang. So their is nothing to catch on (besides the basket itself). If already learned a few times in the past that overhanging bars may look cool (maybe), but they get caught on too many things...

By William Turner (Wturner) on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 09:57 am: Edit

I have a hacksaw. Jim, youve got mail.

By jim on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 10:09 am: Edit

no need for the hacksaw, I replied.

By jwooten on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 03:57 pm: Edit

All that sounds like a lot of trouble. I just got a set of LR cross bars. The Yakima hardware will attach right to them. We camp a lot, and it is very easy to put on, carry your gear, and take it off when you hit the trails.

By Steve (Steve2) on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 05:31 pm: Edit

bauer makes a low basket that i think is the right size to attatch right to the front bars i think. easy light cheap (?) it's 37x43x4 and should clamp right on

steve

By Bill on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 06:58 pm: Edit

David,
Do you know how much your kayaks weigh? I will have the same setup as soon as I get those extended rails....also planning on 2 sea kayaks eventually. You have any troubles with a heavy load on that roof?

By Bill on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 07:03 pm: Edit

Forgot to mention, I am using the Yakima doublecross towers with Yakima rails, mounted on factory LR cargo rails. I currently have 2 bike racks and a space booster up there for my trip to the west coast.