Roof Rack Breakage. What to do now?

[TroysToy]

I vote for the Yak...I love mine. The round bars don't seperate like my old Thule ones. I also have my stock rack if you want it.

[calrockx]

It's the Q-Towers I believe, with 48" crossbars. Click the "Fit My Car" link and go from there, they'll come up.

I got the taller towers than the regular Control Towers for more clearance. As it is right now, a snowboard facing bindings down will barely clear/rub a little.

[xonetruthcrewx]

Right On. Its the Control Towers with Landing Pads. Thats the setup i am going with. No need for the extra clearance for snowboards. I have a Skybox 16s cargo box that i rock for snowboarding. Its so much nicer than having the boards out in the open. Thanks guys.

[Rock Slide]

go surco or confer. those things are stout, and made to take a beating. excellent provisions for shovel/hilift mounting...etc etc.

IMO, Surcos are not that stout. The one I owned moved alot while mounted (you could literaly hear the pieces of the rack rattling together while driving down the road). It was also very light weight. Usually that is a good thing, but when ever I loaded it up, it appeared like it was going to break any second. It also sat very high atop the roof and caused a great amount of wind drag. I sold mine a month after ownership. Others might have had better luck with surcos, but my experience was horrible. I learned real quick, if you buy cheap, you buy twice.

Conferr is no longer in business (check out their site) : http://www.conferr.com/. I onced a conferr too and loved it! These racks IMO are very stout. The only draw back I found was that they did not make the front of the rack slanted to reduce drag. They did have a lot of mounting options and a very tight fit to the roof. You might be able to find these used or on ebay for sale.

Another rack option is the Defender rack. I've never owned one, but I have been told by friends that have owned them, that these racks are poorly made. One guy had his for only 3 months before selling it b/c it broke with a load of only a 100lbs on it. Other guys complain that their racks begun to rust in spots after limited use.

I weighed all my options before I decided to purchase this rack: a Wilderness rack. This rack is very stout. The front is angled to reduce drag and the entire rack mounts low to the roof. It also does not have a lot of exta side cladding (this helps reduce the weight issue and wind issues associated with the Conferr racks). It also comes with a variety of mounitng brackets to mount lights, tires, and a multitude of tools to. I have been very pleased with how it has held up and the amount of junk I have been able to carry on it.


xonetruthcrewx, glad you were able to find the rack to fit your needs. I considered the Yaks and Thules too, I just found the Wilderness rack met my needs more. Good luck with yours



A few pictures of mine:

[xonetruthcrewx]

Well, upon removal of the racks i found that they are not broken. Just loose. The side mount and the cross bar is held together by 2 T-15 torx screws. In the one corner, the two screws were super lose. The other three corners were also loose, just not as bad. I tightened all the screws up and things seem pretty solid. However, some of the screws are beginning to strip out. So, i am going to drill out the screw holes and put some bolts through them. That should make things a bit better. If this dosent work out, i will then buy the Yakima setup. Trying to not spend money when i really dont have to ya know. Decided that i need to focus on paying off my existing bills so i can buy another Audi. I miss that damn car a lot. Werd!

[neliconcept]

go Yakima, i weigh 150 pounds and i was standing on top of my load warrior the other day trying to place my bike (freakin hard as hell on a viper rack with my 4runner as tall as it is) and the load warrior itself barely flexed, so its a stout system.

[xonetruthcrewx]

Well, im 180 and i was on top of my load warrior a while back. The stock setup did just fine. I am going to try and modify the stock system in hopes of making it a little beefier. Kinda dont want to spend the money either. We'll see how it goes.

[neliconcept]

stock crossbars took over 100 pounds? thats what they are rated for if i remember? nice!
well if you break em, at least you can get new crossbars later, just use em till they snap in half i guess lol

[xonetruthcrewx]

The stock rack is rated for 165lbs. But i think thats being a little on the conservative side. Like i said, i'm 180 and then theres the weight of the basket, hi-lift and the shovel. Probably a bit over 200lbs total. With the bolts that are going to replace the small screws, i think the rack will be pretty stout. Like you said, i will use them until i completely break them. Hopefully that dosent happen though. Haha.

Heres a pics of the stock roof rack buffness. Haha.

[Bob98SR5]

colin,

look in the for sale section. one of the members is selling his stock roof racks. personally, if you require more weight bearing, go with the yakima or thule system. if you look on ebay, search "thule 416". those are the old style, 1 piece towers vs the more expensive, two piece style. recycle the stock rail nuts (dont use hte thule ones---they suck). you'll have a very solid, stable rack system.

the other alternative is what slosurfer mentioned. it will carry more weight, but i guarantee you, your friends and passengers will eventually hit themselves in the head when they get into your truck. my grandma almost knocked herself out when she pulled herself in. terrible and scary moment!

bob