Roof rack question

[Joe Isuzu]

With mucho thanks to Rowhard and Navistar for looking out for me, I finally have that elusive roof rack. So, I send an e-mail to yakima asking what accessories (namely cargo carriers) may be used for their setup. I got a response today stating the setup they made for the VX was meant only for skis, snowboards and bikes. Is this correct? I'm sure I've seen many people with cargo cages on their roof carrying spare tires and the like. I'm so confused

[CrnCnn]

I know there are several options for baskets. Also, some have to be slightly or heavily modified to fit. Eric (Etlsport) found the Coleman basket at Costco for 130 iirc. Bart (nfpgasmask) bought the same one and I will be as soon as I get a rack. The thing with that one is you have to make your own way to put a full size spare in it and stay in it. I think that you can get the Thule up there for a little more money but it does come with more attachments, such as spare and what not.

[Joe Isuzu]

Thanks for responding, I'm actually more interested in cargo carriers and not the baskets. Does anyone here use a cargo shell/carrier for their VX? The main point of getting the roof rack was to increase cargo capacity, we do bike so that will come in handy later and I'm sure when we go camping a cage will work nicely, but for the time being a cargo carrier is more in line of what I was needing.

[MSHardeman]

Joe,

I have a cargo carrier/ ski box (Thule) for my VX and it fits just fine. It uses wide "u-bolts" to connect it to the rack and they are just wide enough to fit around our aero cross bars. The mounting points also slide back and forth in slots in the bottom of the box so I can position them where I need them, and there is still enough play left over to slide the box back and forth by a couple of inches once everything is in place.

To get bike racks on, though, I have had to get some universal adapters that a "normal" cross bar mounts to (above the VX's cross bars) and then mount the bike racks to that. Some others have found some standard roof rack mounts that fit into our mounting points and they've used standard cross bars with those, but it negates our aero cross bars.

See pictures below for various set ups.

[Joe Isuzu]

Great, thanks for confirming what I was thinking MS Hardeman. If possible, could you let me know which thule cargo box you got, that seems to be exactly what I'm after. Thanks!!!

[MSHardeman]

Joe,

I have the box hanging from the ceiling in my garage right now so I'll check it when I get home tonight and let you know tomorrow.

I don't know where you park, but be aware of your clearance. The only reason mine is hanging from the ceiling and not on the VX (I would rather carry my boards in an enclosed box then in the ski racks) is that my garage door is about an inch and a half to low for the VX with the box on to fit under it.

Mark

[Gussie2000]

With mucho thanks to Rowhard and Navistar for looking out for me, I finally have that elusive roof rack. So, I send an e-mail to yakima asking what accessories (namely cargo carriers) may be used for their setup. I got a response today stating the setup they made for the VX was meant only for skis, snowboards and bikes. Is this correct? I'm sure I've seen many people with cargo cages on their roof carrying spare tires and the like. I'm so confused

Well joe call your sell lucky man,i guess i should be the next finding an roof rack set for my VX soon,but still i've being searching on ebay & amazon.com for anyone that can fit with little mods.The Q towers looks to be my first chioce since they are likely the same

[VehiGAZ]

Hey Joe,

I use a Yakima Pro 16 cu ft on mine. Here's a couple of shots from my gallery to give you an idea of what it looks like...



That last shot is from moving out of our ski house at the end of the season a couple of years back - there are 2 snowboards, 3 sets of ski poles, at least four pairs of skis, and a few boots in the cargo box. It's great for camping too - all the light, bulky items (tent, tarps, sleeping bags, chairs, etc) go in there.

My Yakima box attaches with built-in clamps on the bottom of the box that fit our cross-bars perfectly and make mounting & dismounting a snap - I can do it without any helpers in a couple of minutes with no tools.

I think Yakima discontinued that model line and replaced it with the Skybox Pro line (the Pro line comes in silver to match my Astral VX).

[Joe Isuzu]

Hey Joe,

I use a Yakima Pro 16 cu ft on mine. Here's a couple of shots from my gallery to give you an idea of what it looks like...



That last shot is from moving out of our ski house at the end of the season a couple of years back - there are 2 snowboards, 3 sets of ski poles, at least four pairs of skis, and a few boots in the cargo box. It's great for camping too - all the light, bulky items (tent, tarps, sleeping bags, chairs, etc) go in there.

My Yakima box attaches with built-in clamps on the bottom of the box that fit our cross-bars perfectly and make mounting & dismounting a snap - I can do it without any helpers in a couple of minutes with no tools.

I think Yakima discontinued that model line and replaced it with the Skybox Pro line (the Pro line comes in silver to match my Astral VX).

Thanks for the info. I've been looking out for an Atlantic 1600 from Thule as I've had it on the VX and it works well. Just too stinking expensive at $450 or so. I've been on the lookout for one on ebay instead but most don't ship. I'll check out the yakima website to see how the dimensions match with the atlantis. Does it interfere with the antenna, I can't tell by your picture. Thanks!!

[VehiGAZ]

Hey Joe,

I got mine from this place (www.prolineracks.com). They ship, but they are local for me, so I just went there and had them toss it on.

Like the Thule, the Yakima has adjustable clamps so you can adjust how far forward or back it sits. I have mine sitting about half an inch in front of the antenna.

Forget what the Yakima people told you - once you have the connectors between the crossbars and the rack, any of their products will mount interchangeably. What they were probably getting at was that they only sold the ski and bike rack attachments through Isuzu, but that doesn't mean much because the bike & ski racks were their regular off-the-shelf components.

Unfortunately, the Yakima isn't any cheaper than the Thule. I had a hard time spending so much money, but we use it all year every year, so I guess it was worth it - especially since we didn't have an alternative!

Good luck!

[vt_maverick]

Pic from this weekend's outing to the Outer Banks... Yakima Skybox 16 worked great!

[Joe Isuzu]

the foxfire looks really good, that would definitely be my choice if the dragon didn't exist, thanks for sharing! I think the thule atlantis 1600 rides a little lower, but it's very subtle
then again, it may just be my memory...
I will likely go with the thule as the supplier is in town so I won't have to worry about shipping, we have a thule hitch bike rack as well and are very pleased with the quality

[VehiGAZ]

Glad it worked out for you, vt! Looks sharp!