Just wondering what size skybox you have on? I've been looking at a 16 but am wondering if an 18 or 21 would fit well.

The Yakima 16 fits Great . Click on my album page,
I have many pics and foot notes on this. Too many to keep posting again and again here.

Has anyone that mounted a Thule Box on the LFD bars/factory rails had issues with the box hitting the shark fin antennae?

Sorry if I missed this in the posts. Seems like the clearance for the feet and hatch were addressed, but I couldn’t find an answer on the fin.

Thanks

PS: For those that ask why upgrade just the bars, my answer is to have more mounting options (my hi-lift, treads) that are limited with the factory or Thule bars. I am also considering an option to upgrade to their 7/8 rack.

i run a Thule Sonic XL on the LFD Ruggedized bars. 3 total bars, front is a dedicated LFD fairing mount and the other 2 hold the cargo box. I chose them based on future expandability with holding other equipment (traction boards, hi lift, etc) and they're high enough off the roof that the Thule mounting "clamps" can pinch around the crossbar and not hit the roof sheetmetal which was the big downfall with the OEM bars.



i was nervous about the exact same thing the first time i mounted the box with it hitting the antenna. sorry i don't have a shot of it but the Sonic box has a relief cut in the rear of the floor so it just clears. if i mount the box so that its as far back as it can go before hitting the hatch when its raised, it still has enough relief in the floor to clear. i don't know if other Thules are built like this but i think its very intentional, however if it wasn't on the LFD bars i'm not sure it would clear...they give it a lot of height boost.

sorry for the crappy shot but you can kinda see the sharkfin up under the very back of the Thule. fits with about an inch of height to spare.

I have the 16, fits great and no interference with the shark fin antenna. Can still open the hatch a foot or two. Don't think you could with the larger 2. More space is always nice but I can stuff a ton in the 16

I'm looking into these cross bars to use with box a cargo box and ski racks. Anyone used these LFD cross bars with Thule ski racks at all? If so, how did you mount them to the bars?

one more follow-up, finally got a proper shot for you to see the clearance for both the fin and the clamping feet on the Thule Sonic XL box. as you can see there's no way this would work with the lower factor bars. the LFD's are perfect.

also worth noting that with the wind fairing, its silent at highway speeds too.

Thanks for the pics!

I have a Thule Force box. Hopefully same clearance. Still thinking about dropping the cash.

Mind posting a pic of how you used the third bar to mount their fairing?

The LFD crossbar + stock side rails is damn near perfect for my needs but I'm also about to do a few long highway trips and don't want to add a bunch of noise.

I installed the Inno fairing on my LFD crossbars. It works great to cut the wind noise and I can still fit my Skybox without having to remove it or use an extra crossbar.

Nice, thanks for that. That looks like a great alternative. Since posting, I found the LFD fairing and it's actually a little less expensive than the Inno, but good to know it's out there as an option.

That fairing is exactly what I need. Is this the one from Auto Anything? What size did you go with? Also, is that Inno logo a decal? Thanks.

The LFD fairing is less expensive, but the extra rail to mount it is not, otherwise you have to remove it to mount the cargo box. Unless they changed the design.

I got mine from Amazon (there's a link in my post). It's the 40". The logo is a decal.

Good call. I went ahead and snagged a third rail for the fairing and additional mounting options, but you're right - for folks who buy two crossbars, the Inno may be the better option.

Eventually, I'll snag their side rails and be most of the way to a rack. I like that I can buy their stuff piecemeal.