Gawd, not another Roof Rack Post...

Sorry Folks, I hafta.

As the snow approaches Tahoe, I've been getting more and more frustrated with the general gloom and doom of the unavailability of the VX Roof Rack. I simply don't have the patience to wait til another owner wrecks and besides that's morbid anyway.

Just as I was about to try the goofy cheapo magnet supports from INNO, I searched yet again in the archives and came across this post from 2007

Best non-factory rack I've found
Sorry, couldn't find my part numbers, but here's a link to the towers; the Yak Lowrider is the lowest tower I've found.

http://www.yakima.com/Product.aspx?id=144

Buy a set of four towers. The towers are very easy to install and fit right in the stock placements on our factory rails. Simply pop off the four covers on the factor rails and hand tighten the towers into position. You'll notice that the "hook" on the towers fits right into the rail indents. Very sweet.

You'll also need two Yak cross bars. 48" is the shortest Yak makes and don't overhang the VX too badly (the standard Yak cross bars are round vs the oval cross-bars that came with the factory rack). You could trim these down (shorten) with a hacksaw if you wanted, but I think they look OK.

I'd also recommend you pick-up a Yak SKS four-lock set and put a lock on each tower. Around here, if your rack isn't locked on, its gone. Maybe a six or eight-lock set if you plan on adding accessories (I needed two more; one each for the ski carriers on each cross-bar).

Finally, take a 10-minute drive on any bumpy street road and then re-tighten the towers by hand; you'd be amazed at how much more you can tighten them (I got two full turns).

Best,
__________________


Jim

ZUtah Wheeler

Good Gawd... is it this easy? Just getting a gutter mount tower is all it takes? I appreciate that this might look a little hinky, but it should hold my ski racks right? If this is indeed true, Is there a concensus as to quality? Thule or Yakima? Yakima seems to sell the A1 Guttermount towers and I can't find anything current about the LowRiders mentioned above...

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Jeff

Jeff,

Have you ever thought about going this route?

http://www.prolineracks.com/barrecra...ski-racks.html

I'm not sure it's a good option considering our window issues but ...

Good thought sorta, but i think I'd be better off with tying my equipment off with twine to the rear spoiler...:winky:

I've never tried them myself but I've seen a few on cars at highway speeds. They held up well for the 1-2 minutes I was watching:)

I am pretty sure that Etlsport uses the yakima lowriders. He was pretty happy with them IIRC.

I bought these on craigslist for $50, the PO already cut the bars to length. They work great and I think they match the VX really well. The rail grabbers on yakimas website should work for the VX, i'm not sure if these are low riders or rail grabbers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BoarderCROSS2000

Sorry Folks, I hafta.

As the snow approaches Tahoe, I've been getting more and more frustrated with the general gloom and doom of the unavailability of the VX Roof Rack. I simply don't have the patience to wait til another owner wrecks and besides that's morbid anyway.

Just as I was about to try the goofy cheapo magnet supports from INNO, I searched yet again in the archives and came across this post from 2007

Best non-factory rack I've found
Sorry, couldn't find my part numbers, but here's a link to the towers; the Yak Lowrider is the lowest tower I've found.

http://www.yakima.com/Product.aspx?id=144

Buy a set of four towers. The towers are very easy to install and fit right in the stock placements on our factory rails. Simply pop off the four covers on the factor rails and hand tighten the towers into position. You'll notice that the "hook" on the towers fits right into the rail indents. Very sweet.

You'll also need two Yak cross bars. 48" is the shortest Yak makes and don't overhang the VX too badly (the standard Yak cross bars are round vs the oval cross-bars that came with the factory rack). You could trim these down (shorten) with a hacksaw if you wanted, but I think they look OK.

I'd also recommend you pick-up a Yak SKS four-lock set and put a lock on each tower. Around here, if your rack isn't locked on, its gone. Maybe a six or eight-lock set if you plan on adding accessories (I needed two more; one each for the ski carriers on each cross-bar).

Finally, take a 10-minute drive on any bumpy street road and then re-tighten the towers by hand; you'd be amazed at how much more you can tighten them (I got two full turns).

Best,
__________________


Jim

ZUtah Wheeler

Good Gawd... is it this easy? Just getting a gutter mount tower is all it takes? I appreciate that this might look a little hinky, but it should hold my ski racks right? If this is indeed true, Is there a concensus as to quality? Thule or Yakima? Yakima seems to sell the A1 Guttermount towers and I can't find anything current about the LowRiders mentioned above...

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Jeff

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Comes in various colors