Get extensions
If you install some sort of rack extensions mounted to the bars, they will be somewhat harder to remove and manage by a thief.
A 6 foot extension that holds both rack rails together makes the thing a pretty big and unwieldy rectangle that fewer thieves will tackle.
Also, get your next rack used and not brand spanking new looking. That will decrease the resale value and will be less likely to be stolen. Who knows - you might even buy back your own rack -
Hate when these things happen but short of bolting the thing to the car or buying a garage, there isn’t much you can do to more reliably prevent theft if the rack has to stay on the car…
stolen racks
One reason thieves go to rail stations is because when they find the car parked close to the station entrances, they anticipate that it will be there all day until the owner gets off work…that is why so may cars are stolen from rail station lots. I’de suggest contacting the rail police department because I’m certain they do surveillance in the lots. (not the station managers, but the police for the rail) Be sure and report this crime and when you get another system, engrave components with your personal number (not SSN)to help identify them. You might just see it on another vehicle or it may turn up on a traffic stop when the officer sees a bunch of racks in the back seat… Police will stake out high crime areas and the waiting in the bushes on surveillance, does pay off. Keep in mind, the crooks have tools (weapons) in their hands when prying off the bars… Contact your nearby pawn shops and Play-it-Again stores to be on the lookout. By the way, where does Jack L reside?..
Food for thought - load bars are hollow
Sorry to hear about your experience - it is such a violation to have stuff stolen.
I’ve never worked with Yakima racks, so I speak only from my experience with Thule:
It occurs to me that load bars are hollow (at least Thule ones are), and I wonder if it’d be feasible to string a cable through them and secure it to the vehicle somehow. The load bars thread through the footers, so a cable coming out the ends of the load bar would prevent the footers from being slid off the load bars.
Just a thought.
Thule Tracker II
I don’t have locks for them because they can be removed in seconds and stored in the vehicle. I take it off at the access if I feel like theft is a possibility. At home, it’s stored until use. Had someone time me at one of the Ozark Rendezvous’ once. Off in about 15 seconds, on in less than 30 seconds. WW
I’d like to see your exact set-up.
– Last Updated: Jun-25-10 2:36 PM EST –
I'm really only familiar with the Yakima mounts that I use, as I really haven't paid any attention to the other varieties that must be available. I know I could come up with some theft-deterent ideas if I had the rack in front of me to look at.
If you have those little levers which serve the dual function of tightening a screw and then flipping down where they lock in place and can't be turned, I think they can simply be pried loose with a screw driver since only a flimsy plastic loop engages the lock. A machine shop could fabricate a set of those levers made out of steel or aluminum, which wouldn't be cheap, but they'd be a whole lot harder to pry out of the lock.
If it is necessary to slide the load bars through the towers before it is possible to remove the towers from the car, it would be easy for any welding or machine shop (or a friend who can do that stuff) to rig up a clamp that grips the load bar right alongside each tower which can't be removed with ordinary tools (you'd leave the rack on all summer with this method, or even "forever"). Heck, a tiny bead of hard-surfacing would make the clamp 100 percent hacksaw-proof too. A rack modified in that way would not appear to have much resale value either, so it might be immune from theft for that reason alone.
Sorry if that doesn't sound practical, but that's the general type of approach I'd take, "being me", since anything is truly possible when modifying gear. Otherwise, I like the idea of "making your racks ugly" or just removing them when parked in high-crime areas.
After having my bike rack stolen
I had fantasies of putting a new one on, parking my car where the last one was stolen, then hiding and watching with a baseball bat. It truly is a frustrating thing to have happen, especially when you get back from a ride or a paddle, and find the rack you were going to transport your toy home on has been swiped.
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Another possible approach if you never
sell a car but rather drive it into the ground, would be to use Aquaseal or similar to glue the transluscent tower pads to the car roof. They can take the rack, but they’ll soon find it harder to resell without those pads.
Or, you could glue the pads to both the tower AND the car roof. But that might be too semi-permanent for most.
Why “no way”
– Last Updated: Jul-01-10 9:24 PM EST –
My Yakima rack "landing pads" are bolted right through my truck roof to the space between the inner roof and outer roof.
They can still steal the towers, but not the pads.
the towers are fairly cheap.
It is probably the securest way to install racks, and are better than the factory rails on other vehicles.
The first hole you drill hurts the worst. Once that is done, the rest are painless!
Jack L
stealing
must be why a local kayak store keeps getting broken into
so many times this year.
If they are hollow
run a cable lock through both of them to lock them together.
Or…buy a steel bar, and run it perpendicular to your load bars in the center of the vehicle, drill through the bar and your load bars, and bolt the two load bars together, then mash the threads up so they cant be unbolted. If the setup gets stolen, they will be unable to load it into a vehicle to get away. It will be difficult to conceal, and readily identifiable.
Or you can lock it on and squirt super glue into the locks.
Backup
Haven’t had it happen yet, and don’t have any bright ideas re how to prevent it, but I do always carry spare straps and foam cradles. As least this will get me home if I come back from paddling to a bare roof.
Unfortunately, most cables are fairly
easily cut by thieves with tools.
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that’s what she said
where does jackl live? now thats funny…
Where do you live, so I know where to get cheap stuff?
Update
Yakima offered me a permanent mount installation option. They have tracks that can be bolted to the roof, landing pads hold control towers and cross bars. These towers when locked cannot be removed as easily as a clip installation according to Yakima. They also offered a sympathy discount of 70% off then entire setup!
I have not looked into Thule because I have been very satisfied with the Yakima product. Yakima needs to come up with a better solution to the current trend in gang related theft of their product. These can be easily removed apparently even if locked. I must say that I was pleased they helped me out so that I can now use a proper rack and ditch the foam blocks.
Thank you all for the advice given especially those that were brave enough to have holes drilled on their car roof. This idea seems like the only option other than always having to remove the rack which is not appealing to me.
Please note that I do not live in a high crime area. My community is one of those that has guarded entry and rovers. Even the police officer that came by was taken aback about the report. So if this is a new “gang trend” it may happen anywhere.
True Enough, But…
…all you can really do is the old mantra - make’em take time, make 'em make noise, make 'em bring tools - you won’t stop a determined pro, but you can make it as inconvenient as possible for the more casual thieves…
Electrical-shock boobytrap
Wishful thinking, but wouldn’t it be fine to zap would-be burglars and vandals so hard that they fell over dead, red-handed?
NO sympathy for any criminals, no matter how bad a childhood they had, how tough their life is, blahblahblahblahexcusesexcusesexcuses.
The Make My Day law should cover all 50 states and include one’s automobiles as well as houses.
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Big thumbs up Picabike!
Please run for president next time…
around.
You got my vote !
Jack L
wanna…
…borrow my welder ? a few zaps and it’ll stay where put !