hey everyone,

i've done some searching and asked around a little bit already, but if you own a Yakima or Thule roof rack, would you mind terribly posting a few pics of your car with the rack on? More specifically, with the doors open and showing where the rack attaches to the car? Also of the rack on the roof, so we can see if it might be prone to scratching teh roof? I've seen some pics already of the rack on the car, but no detail shots.

i'm curious how the rack attaches (i've never owned one but think it's time to get one) and am always a bit skeptical about "universal fit" items. do you have any minor leaks if the straps come inside the car?

Thanks all.

 

No pics readily available, but I own the Thule Rack and I love it.

It's definitely not generic universal fit - you have to buy specific brackets that follow the curves of the door jam. They are rubber coated and of excellent quality, you'd have to try pretty hard to scratch the paint with them.
The Crossbar and braces which mount have rubber "feet" that line up the rubber seam gutters along the sides of the roof. Again, rubber, padded, can't scratch.
You do however need to clean the spots where they mount (I washed and then claybar'd the spots then some wax) to get any sand/dirt/dust etc. otherwise some vibration will make the tiny particles abrasive under the rubber mounting surfaces.
Thule also includes decals so once you've done the measuring and initial mounting process, you can put the stickers in the door jam to idendify where they front and rear racks mount. The first mounting took about 45 minutes to align and straighten/measure etc. Now I can get the rack on and off in 5 min. tops.

I'll try and get some pics, but I assure you, speaking about Thule specifically and from experience, it is excellent quality, will not scratch as long as you take the precautions I mentioned, and will last - if you get rid of the fit, you'd just have to get a different "fit kit" of brackets, otherwise the crossbars and feet mount on anything. (Perhaps that's where the "universal" misnomer comes from)

Hope this helps. I'm sure more pics will come from other members.

Also, I'm partial to Thule - I've seen Yakima and Thule parts and I have to say Thule just looks and feels stronger and better. But Yakima is good too.
My local outfitter's price was 239.99 plus tax for the Yakima system, and 241.99 for the Thule - worth the extra $2 if you ask me. It'll be a negligible price difference if you purchase new; shop on ebay or craigslist and either find a good used system and purchase a new fit kit for the fit, or peice it together from different sources and save more.

Hope that helps.

 

thanks seven. that's very good input and insight. now i'm waiting for those pics, plz...

 

Sorry for the dew and poor lighting. I'm packing for a road trip cross country currently but I quickly mounted the rear bar (front goes on the same way) and snapped some photos.

1st photo: Mounting surface. This is the Right rear passenger door. You can see the little sticker provided by Thule; you mount the rear bar in front of these stickers, and you mount the front bar behind them. The Fit kit will tighten into the lip of the door; the "feet" are rubber with indentations to fit in the rubber seam on the roof, which you'll see next.


Next photo:
This is the fit kit bracket (to the left, flat black metal looking thing going vertical.) and the "foot", made of rubber for the roof seam. They are not in place yet, but you can see how they will slide in.


See how the fit kit bracket follows the curve of the door jam?

Now, photo 3 has it all in place. Just haven't tightened them down but that's self explanatory. Again, everything that contacts the surface of the vehicle is rubber or metal brackets with rubberized coating. Good quality stuff that will not scratch as long as you keep it clean.


4th photo is just another angle so you can see how it sits. The doors all close perfectly fine, and only the exterior rubber weatherstripping around the top of the door will be (barely) affected by the extra thickness from the fit kit bracket.


Last photo is a view of how the rubber "foot" sits in the roof seam. The front feet will have slightly different "feet" but they do the same thing.

Hope these help - not he best quality but I think it sums it up.
As you can see, the only thing universal about the kit is the towers and the crossbars they hold - the fit kit has specific part numbers with varying lengths, bends, etc. based on your make and model of car. I'm not sure if the rubber "feet" change from car to car, but definitely the bracketing.

Yakima stuff goes on similarly, but I've not see or touched it close enough to see if they rubberize their stuff like Thule to prevent scratches and scuffs.

Either kit you get with do the job just fine.

 

The yakima is the same pretty much, except the feet don't sit in the drain rail, they only touch the side roof piece between the top of the door and drain rail. I have always used yakima, and my rack is 6-7 years old, still works just like new and its super solid. Need to get some pics tommorrow.

 

This is how the yakima sits on the side, doesn't disturb anything, and door seals fit snugly no leaks. And I tested it to 70mph and not a smidge of wind noise from the rack. Sounds just like with no rack at all. This is a really old rack with just new clips to fit the fit. Always will recommend yakima. They make most OEM stuff for car companies too(as does thule)

 

you guys are so awesome! thx for the pics n stuff!

 

I also have a Yakima rack and had to put it on before Yakima gave the specs for where to attach it because the Fit was so new! I've taken it on and off a few times without any problems.

The biggest problems are noise and increased drag. Expect a mileage decrease of at least 10% and maybe more. I take mine off when I take the car on trips and it makes a big difference in mileage (I track mileage in a book
with every tank of gas I buy). The car is also much quieter with the rack off (I use the wind spoiler, which helps). As you can imagine, Honda engineers went to great lengths to make our cars as slick as possible and adding a rack increases the drag and turbulence greatly, which results in lots more noise and reduced fuel economy.

 

My Yakima really didn't raise the wind noise, but you can feel the drag past 60mph for sure. I have the old school fairing on the front which is bigger so I think it smoothes out the airflow a lil better than the new small fairing, but I got 0 wind noise added even at 70. The best thing about yakima, just get a sharpie and mark either side of the clip locations, and you can just pop the rack on and off in under 5 minutes. Just throw it on when you go to the snow or lake or bike trail, and pop it off for everyday driving. Once you have the marks set you can seriously put the rack on by yourself in about 2 minutes

 

You need a fairing for the Yakima, old or new. Otherwise it will sound like a banshee above 40 mph.

 

The sheet metal on the Fit is pretty thin; I snugged my Yakima rear rack up and found a slight indentation in the roof from the mount on one side. I still use the rack but snug it as light as I can. So far I've just used it for skiis so don't know what a bike or a Rocket Box would do.