I just got a roof rack for my 2009 Toyota Yaris 4DR and it seems to fit fine but and the door closes but it doesn’t seal. I can see through the space in my door and it lets in a ton of road noise.
I’m not terribly worried about the noise but worried if I get caught in a rain storm. I read reviews and can’t seem to find anyone mention this problem.
Anyone else run in to something like this? I tried moving them to the front of my door and it wouldn’t tighten down, tried the back of my door and the gap became huge. Maybe if I can get it as far forward as possible, plan to try that tomorrow.
Also my friend drives a Toyota Celica 2DR with a very small roof area. They mention an adapter for the roof rack system, anyone tried something like this as well?
tight
I think your rack is tightened down too tight and warping the roof.
Brand?
A brand and model will help with diagnosis.
See you on the water,
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc.
Hyde Park, NY
www.the-river-connection.com
hudsonriverpaddler.org
Rack
Like he said - did you buy a name brand (thule/yakima) with “feet” designed specifically for your vehicle? It is very easy to over tighten and that could warp a roof. There should not be a gap large enough to see through. Instructions should specify exactly where to place the feet on the vehicle. Yes Thule does make short roof adapters. I have seen them in use but never owned one.
Brand
It is Sportrack from Walmart SR1002, believe an off branded Thule.
The instructions just show it in the middle of the car door, nothing all that specific.
I tried closing the door before and after tightening it down and it didn’t seem to affect the gap at all, It also makes my door harder to open, like my door is having to hold some force in and when you use the handle it pops open with force.
Similar on my 1997 Bonneville.
Not a huge gap, but enough distortion of the door gasket to be noisy and drip some water in.
I just lived with it.
Well I’m cheap
I mean, I use HF stuff, trailers and some of their tools, I get my jeans at the evil Walmart, etc. But, I’ve got Yakima’s on both my cars. They seem to spend a lot of time on their engineering and their Customer Service is amazing. Plus, racks make me nervous, especially with my precious kayaks up there at highway speeds. I did save some money on one of my cars by researching and then buying the Yakima in parts on e-bay, Craigslist, and here in the classifieds.
By the way, 3/4" malleable steel pipe with heat shrink over it is a good substitute for the Yakima bars. Heavier though!
Generic
From a quick look the Walmart rack has general fits that’ll likely fit a wide range of door jambs whereas the Thule and Yakima brands get quite particular in a customized for of their Fit Kits.
I’d recommend returning the Sportrack before it rains.
I have a Thule 480 Traverse Foot w/bars on consignment here that would work for your car but you would still need the proper Fit Kit .
See you on the water,
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc.
Hyde Park, NY
www.the-river-connection.com
hudsonriverpaddler.org
Door Clips
The more custom racks,Thule and Yakima, have dozens of clip styles to fit around the door gaskets and not just grab the hidden rain gutter. Squishing the door gasket is what is giving you the big gap. Its impossible to have one clip fit all. A small car like a Yaris is even tougher cause the roof profile is rounded severely front to back and side to side. Straight roofed vehicles like the Jeep Patriot and ones with rear rain gutters like the American Vans, Chevy & Ford. provide much sturdier anchor points cause the manufacturers know their customers will mount stuff on the roof. Stylists and marketing guys rule over engineers with small car design.
Even the best old school solution is hard with the small cars. With all the air bags in the cars and the wiring above the headliner its no longer easy to drill the roof and mount solid anchor points for a rack. you pretty much need a good body shop guy just to safely remove the headliner so you can see the air bag hardware locations. Drilling thru an air bag canister would be a disaster.
Addition bar spread can be accomplished with kits from Yakima or Thule for their racks, but the Walmart specials may not be so easy to retrofit or adapt.
Bill
My Thule fit kit distorts the door
gasket and lets water in in heavy rains.
It’s the proper kit, just not the perfect solution.
I just lived with it, even though the cloth seats got wet sometimes and sometimes rain dripped on my arm while driving. It never stained the cloth seats. I wouldn’t have tolerated it if I had leather seats.
The racks stay on my car year round.
Yes, wind noise was an issue.
Thanks
Really the only thing I would figure that would allow my door to close completely would be thinner metal for the foot.
I will still keep Thule and Yakima in mind and keep an eye open for used but knowing they could cause this same problem makes me wonder.
Yaris door frame
From the pics I’ve found online the Yaris door seal is recessed from the upper portion of the jamb. The Thule 1427 Fit Kit clamps against the metal jamb and not the rubber seal as shown on page 5 of the installation manual.
http://www.rackattack.com/product-pages/product-pdf/thule-fit-kit-1427-instructions.pdf
The SR1002 is apparently extending beyond the metal of the jamb and contacting the inner rubber door seal. No good solution if the SR1002 is doing that.
See you on the water,
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc,
Hyde Park, NY
www.the-river-connection.com
hudsonriverpaddler.org
Appreciate it
I really appreciate you going to great length to look this stuff up!
I had the SR1002 attached to that recessed metal area since the feet have a rubber coating. When I close the door the rubber on the door that is suppose to fit into that recessed area can’t make complete contact because there is now something there. That is why I wasn’t sure how the name brand would improve that besides it being a thinner material. Or maybe something shaped to not block the rubber on the door.
Actually looking at that diagram the SR1002 connects the exact same way as Thule and the feet are a little less advanced but the metal connection is the same.
Here is very detailed pictures of the SR1002: http://www.etrailer.com/Roof-Rack/SportRack/SR1002.html
I guess the angle might be different of the connection as well and could be the problem.
Door seal(s)
Is the seal being affected attached to the door or the car frame. If it’s the door, no problem. You still have a seal with the inner.
See you on the water,
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc.
Hyde Park, NY
www.the-river-connection.com
hudsonriverpaddler.org
seal
It is the seal attached to the door but the gap is big enough the seal that is attached to the car isn’t making a connection either. I could look from the outside of the door and see inside my car, though just a sliver.