When my wife got her new SUV recently, the Yakima system she had been using on her pickup truck wouldn't work on the new vehicle with it's factory roof rack.
I spoke with Rack Attack on 3 separate occasions before I purchased a Thule system from them.
On two occasions I spoke with the same person; he was very helpful, and had the patience of a saint, dealing with me, a self confirmed picky b-----d.
The system he said I needed works great, is easy to mount/dismount, and the price was fair in my opinion.
I also agree that if/when you find out exactly what you need, going used can possibly save you some bucks.
I would never get Thule J cradles … again for my yakima bars.
They are full of what makes the grass grow green when they say they will fit round bars, (unless they have changed them in the past few years).
The more I tightened their clamps, all they did was bend around the bars.
I finally had to drill a hole through my round bars and put a bolt completely through their cradle and my yakama round bar in order to keep them from rotating when I slid a yak on from the front or rear.
This is two sets I am talking about.
Also since then I have had to completely change all their clamps and hardware out to my own stainless steel nuts and bolts due to their garbage rusting up. due to it rusting.
If you already have the foam blocks… If you already have a set of the foam blocks (which are very inexpensive if you dont), just get a set of crossbars. I use foam blocks on my Yakama bars when I’m carrying a second boat, and they work just fine. I actually think my boat is more secure with the blocks because the straps go around the cross bars, instead of relying on the cradles as an attachment point. They also go on and off very easily, and take up little room in the trunk.
Nice to see the rain gutter clamps angstrom linked to, granddad had very same type for his 60s VW beetle(bought in 1950s)...held an 18' wood/canvas tandem as solid as a rock for many years.
Build/Buy good used/new once....it'll last.
My Thules stay on my Xterra 24x365...Yakima equally as good.
sportrack We are really happy with SportRack’s J Stakers. Pretty much the same thing as the Thule Hullaport. I bought 2 sets from www.orsracksdirect.com great service and really great prices. We switch them between my Xterra and my girlfriend’s Town & Country mini van all the time and haven’t had any problems at all. I did upgrade the bow & stern tie downs from the basic rope and j hook to a ratcheting rope - far easier to tension.
Fit my car… I just went through this process with my 92 Accord. I used the “Fit my car” tool on Yakimas website and then used the data to find a system on Craigslist. I would highly recomend this. I saved about 50%. These things were way more expensive than I thought they would be.
Check out Yakimas website to be sure, but you’ll probably need 4 “Q” towers and two crossbars (the length should be given on “fit my car”). It should be pretty easy to find the towers and crossbars on Craigslist. The only vehicle specific piece are the “Q clips” which link the four towers to your specific car. “Fit my car” will tell you which q clips you need (they may be different for the front and back ends) and you will have to buy those seperatly unless you get lucky and the guy selling the towers and crossbars has your same model car.
yakima rack for sale w. locks and fairing on the Accessories board of the pnet classifieds. Could be a good deal depending on full description, condition. Always ask for pix
Follow up w. the seller in KY for specifics. (Note I am not the seller nor affiliated w. the seller)
Both brands are priced similarly but I personally prefer the Thule over Yakima. The main reason being that Thule uses a square bar that seems stronger and the Yakima round bar allows many of their accessories to rotate on the bar. Both brands offer accessories that fit on either bar.
Jackyl, I believe the rotation is due to the round bar, not the accessory. Yakima is using the same universal clamp system as Thule and the same thing happens.
You can get it with a lock so that nobody else can QR your towers, bars, and saddles. But you can quickly remove the whole shebang, leaving just the Landing Pads on the vehicle roof.
For J cradles, I find the Malone Autoloaders to be much better than the Thule J cradles. Flexible nonrusting, nonchafing support.
For hull-down cradles, the Spring Creek units work well. They have long rubber pieces that wrap partway up the hulls.
J-Cradle Rotation is a GOOD Thing! I actually like the way the clamp on the Thule J-cradles can rotate around a round bar. That makes them fit your kayak PERFECTLY, since at any location on your boat other than dead-center, the support surface of the boat is sloping one way or the other. I find that the rear cradle slopes forward to fit snugly against the hull, and the front cradle slopes backward to do the same thing. In each case, the cradle rotates JUST far enough to align perfectly with the boat. Once that happens, you can cinch down your straps without creating extreme pressure on the corners of the support surfaces which would be inevitable if the cradles remained “aligned” as you have accomplished by putting a bolt through the bar. If the cradles rotate to a best-fit angle, there is a much wider area of support for the boat.
The rotation of the cradles can NOT lead to the boat being poorly anchored to the car, because the cradles cannot rotate away from their best-fit position once the straps are in place. I say that Thule couldn’t have come up with a better idea, in spite of the fact that this aspect of the design was not intentional.
Strength of Thule vs Yakima I don’t believe Thule bars are stronger. Both brands use metal of very similar thickness, and in that case, the larger round bar must be stronger than the smaller square bar. Now, if the metal in the Thule bars were a LOT thicker than what’s in a Yakima bar, figuring out which was stronger would be much more difficult, but since the thickness is the same or nearly so, the Yakimas MUST be stronger. Is this important? Probably not, as the crossbars of both brands are “strong enough” to carry boats. I might mention that I have seen about a dozen sets of badly bent Thule bars and have yet to see a bent Yakima bar, but that could be coincidence, and I have no doubt that the Thule bars were bent by an extreme load.
For what it’s worth, a single Yakima cross bar will support my entire body weight without flexing to any degree that was visible. I have occasionally put them to that test by standing on the roof of my car while taking photos of something, with one leg against the side of the boat just for balance…
Agree about similar material The material might be very similar but I’ve seen the opposite. I’ve seen several Yakima setups where the bar has bent in the middle and none for the Thule. Just coincidence I’m sure. I do believe the entire roof of the vehicle would cave-in before either bar failed though.
Rack Attack I sent email with questions to Rack Attack and got an answer today. I then called them and asked if the Thule or Yakima setup was better for my car. They said the Yakima was a better choice for my car which was nice to hear since it was $50 less than the Thule. I ordered the Yakima and will hopefully have it by the weekend.
I read that part too. Yes, I read everything you wrote, and the one thing that bothers you seems pretty minor compared to the benefits of letting them tilt. That’s okay - to each his own, but if you don’t want them to tilt, I have absolutely no doubt it would be very easy to invent a more practical solution than simply making the clamps tighter or pinning them to the bars. The best way to anchor something against a particular force is to provide a counteracting force of a similar nature to the one you are resisting, not a force applied in a much less efficient manner. For example, you wouldn’t dream of trying to prevent someone from turning a bolt with a wrench by grabbing the round portion of the bolt with pliers - you’d get yourself a wrench of your own and twist it the opposite way. By pinning the clamps, you are effectively using a one-inch wrench against a 12-inch wrench, but at least it works. Now that they won’t rotate, finger-tight is as tight as they need to be, which means you can stop worrying about how they bent during that time when you were attempting a method of securing them which was hopeless from the beginning.
If you have rain gutters Use the quick n easy system I have used them on 3 different vihicles seens the early 80’s and have never had a problem. Bought mine for $19.00 back in the dayand they are still working. In fact my boat is on the car (in the racks) as I type.
I put Thule J cradles on Yakima round bars also, and though my experience wasn't as bad as yours, they would rotate out of position with even a slight bump to them. I like mine set to conform to the kayak's contours, but I don't think this problem has anything to do with how they are positioned. The clamping system is just too "slippery."
Then I sold the Thules and got Malone Autoloaders and have not had that problem at all. They also don't abrade my hull with metal tubes chafing like the Thules did. I'm keeping the Malones!
BTW, JackL, tilting the cradles to fit the kayak's curves helps keep the boat from shifting front or back on steep downhills or uphills. Ask me how I know...
I installed Thule tracks on my hatch back, then the quick release towers, and areo bars… just one push of a button and the towers and areo bars release to stow away… I even put them in the car at the boat landing… they also have locks but I like just pushing the button…
The Thule J racks are excellent if you can stow them away…
This way I’m not driving around with the wind resistance and save fuel… even if it’s 1 mpg that adds up over the years… and yes the roof racks will reduce your mpg…
