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Car roof racks

nocturncal

nocturncal

Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2009
Location
San Francisco
Moto(s)
2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R
Name
Cal
Anyone know how i would go about adding a roof rack to my 05 corolla? im looking to add em on my car so i can strap stuff on the top when im moving things or buying large stuff
 
Like stuff from Yakima? I'm not sure I understand the question. (My first response is "buy one and put it on", but I don't think that's the answer you want.)
 
see these guys.

personally, i think yakima is light years ahead of thule. and that opinion is founded in 10 years in the skiing and mountain bike industries, meaning i've installed more racks than i care to remember.

one common pitfall is failing to purchase lock cores to lock it to the car. the logic is often, 'well, i'm just going to use it to move stuff and it will be attended.' sometimes they'll steal the rack for the rack itself, especially if you have a common car like a civic.

also, be sure to puchase extra lock cores. at least two more than you need. at least. it's a lot to type out why; just ask at the store and they'll explain it to you.
 
mmm any idea on how much it would cost? I'll probably call racknroad and sportsbasemet tomorrow, just tryna see the price ranges.
 
they're modular, so it depends on what you want to haul. in the least you need feet and bars. IIRC, those will total up to $200ish. then figure 75-150 for each accessory like a bike carrier, kayak carrier, etc. and locks, but they're not too expensive.
 
please do. shop guys hear it all the time.

"but i just went in for coffee and they stole my kayak and my bike and my skis and my rack!!!!"

gotta lock it to the car.
 
I was looking at the inno flex top cases, looks light & folds up, saves a boatload of space when not used. Problem with the racknroad site is that it doesn't give enough info for selecting components. Bad website design. :thumbdown
 
Greggar... why do you like Yakima over Thule? (I started buying Yakima 'cause I liked the looks of the designs better.)
 
mosquito said:
Greggar... why do you like Yakima over Thule? (I started buying Yakima 'cause I liked the looks of the designs better.)
Click to expand...

exactly that. thule products are just generally clumsy in design. i don't think yakima is perfect, but i do think it's far superior to thule. mainly, square (thule) bars suck because it's harder to get everything lined up and anchored properly. round bars (yakima) are much more compliant, in my experience. also, thule's closure on the bars suck and you can eaily warp the roof of your car with them. in short, it's an all-or-nothing clamp that snaps into place. and it's not difficult at all to put too much force into it, damaging the roof. yakima's tighten like a bolt and nut instead of snapping into place. much safer and easier to install.

one thing worth noting is that most, if not all, accessories will work on either rack. so, you can put yakima bars on your car, but if you really need that one particular tandem hauler (or whatever) that only thule makes, you can still use it. only drawback is that you'll have a different key.

also, that's what i was talking about with the locks. the way it works is that they're sold w/o any locking mechanism to keep the initial cost down. then you buy lock cores to add to the bars (one for each foot) and each accessory.

so, let's say you buy the system and a couple bike mounts, one each for you and your girl. that will need six lock cores. so you buy the package with six cores. then you marry that girl and have a kid that also rides bikes. or you take up snowboarding and need a box for your boards. who knows.

now you need another lock core. problem is, you can't buy lock cores to match the keys you already have. now you have another key that looks exactly like the key you already have, but only works on some of the locks.

on top of that, this stuff is constantly outside and it corrodes. doesn't matter how tough they make it, it's still stiff and sticky and doesn't work easily. they work, but it takes some elbow grease. as a result, trying to figure out which key works where gets annoying really quick. is it the wrong key? or does the lock need lubricant? this especially sucks when you're loading the rack in cold and snow or are being eaten alive by bugs.

so, what do you do? you do what every single rack user does. you put the two new lock cores where you don't need to lock and unlock with any frequency: in two of the feet. so all the accessories have the same key, and now two of the feet don't match.

a couple years later, you then attempt to sell or trade in the car and can't find the one weirdo yakima key that unlocks one of the bars. and now half of the rack is stuck to the car.

please, for the love of everything holy, buy extra lock cores. please just buy the twelve pack, no matter how many extra cores you wind up with.

(can you sense my baggage here? :laughing)
 
Last edited:
greggargubby said:
exactly that. thule products are just generally clumsy in design. ... thule's closure on the bars suck and you can eaily warp the roof of your car with them. ...

(can you sense my baggage here? :laughing)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the detail. I just went with my 'design eye' 'cause I had no applicable experience.

WTF??? Easily damage the car? That's severely messed up to me.

Naww... I'm mainly sensing more experience than I have. :thumbup
 
I leave my ski racks on all the time unlocked and no one's taken it in 7 years. Guess I've just been lucky, that and it's worth less than a hundred bucks.
 
mosquito said:
Thanks for the detail. I just went with my 'design eye' 'cause I had no applicable experience.

WTF??? Easily damage the car? That's severely messed up to me.

Naww... I'm mainly sensing more experience than I have. :thumbup
Click to expand...

yup, their design is flawed. they were originally designed around cars with rain gutters and strong roofs, not crumple zones and aerodynamics. used properly, they're fine, but if they're hamfisted, yeah, they warp roofs.

anyway, i hope all that helped and you got what you needed. :)
 
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