06 Sport + Yakima Rack

[brianacraig]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a 2006 Sport. I've seen plenty of pictures of the Yakima Lowriders attached to the SR5 factory roof rack. I was wondering if anyone has used the Lowriders on the tubular bars that come on the Sport? If so, is it solid? It just seems like attaching those Lowriders to a round bar would be unstable.

Thanks!
Brian

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GEAUX TIGERS!

 

[Uneek]

What type of accessories are you installing on the rack?

Yakima has snowboard/ski racks that could directly attach to the 4Runner's crossrails. I'm pretty sure you could find the correct mounts. The Xterra has similar style racks. I would think the unstability would only be side to side wobble width wise of the truck, but the crossbar should stablize that. Fore/aft movement would probably be minimal, since sliding would be the same with squared rails.

Good luck.

Edit: Congrats. Great looking truck!

 

[brianacraig]

Uneek,

Thanks for the response!

I've already got the crossbars and a pair of Yakima steelheads (for mountain bikes) from a rack I had on my old Explorer. I was hoping to be able to reuse them on the 4Runner.

I've have looked at the Yakima Universal Mighty Mounts that fit on the factory rack, but I would have to get all new mounts for my bikes since they don't fit the steelheads.

Thanks again!
Brian

 

[veloindy]

I've been looking for a Yakima solution too. I stopped by a local rack store and we came up with this. It's basically the same install as the xterra. You use the Lowrider tower with what they are calling a "claw" attachment threaded on to the tower. The claw hugs the round bar and the fit is actually quite nice. I'm waiting for Yakima to give their seal of approval before purchase.

Go to Yakima and fit a roof mount system to an 05 xterra and you can see what the say.

Does anybody know how to get the factory crossbars off? I seem to figure it out.

 

[Uneek]

Does anybody know how to get the factory crossbars off? I seem to figure it out.

I'm not certain on the Sport, but on the square rails, '03-05 Sports and all SR-5s and Limiteds, it involves removing the end caps towards the back of the truck and sliding the cross rails out through the back. When the trucks are shipped from Japan, the cross rails are in the second row seat with the end caps. I would think the Sport's tube rack works in similar fashion.

 

[brianacraig]

Thanks for the info. I see what you're talking about with the Xterra rack and the Claw. Can you let me know if you get the ok from Yakima?

Thanks!
Brian

 

[veloindy]

Thanks for the info. I see what you're talking about with the Xterra rack and the Claw. Can you let me know if you get the ok from Yakima?

Thanks!
Brian

ok, i went back to rack attack yesterday. the standard lowrider works on the round sport crossbar. we do not need the lowrider max with the claw kit 4. i got to see the fj with a lowrider tower system installed. it looked pretty sharp. i'm probably still going to wait a few more weeks just to see if yakima comes out with anything to say. i'm sure the new fj rack will prompt them to do some leg work. the rack attack guy said they've installed a bunch of racks on the fj's, which is cool. he also had a bunch of pictures of other installs they've completed recently.

oh, the thule 450 or 455 (can't remember the number, but it's their common tower) tower works too.

 

[kcs4]

Guys,

Just got the Yakima LowRider system installed today. It's on there pretty solid!

I had been concerned about excessive wind noise, but surprisingly, it's not all that bad (especially with the moonroof shade closed). There is an occasional low-pitched rumble coming from the roof of the Runner, but once you're past about 50MPH, it becomes indistinguishable from the "natural" wind noise. The fairing, which I also ordered, should take care of this.

Here's a pic of the rack...

 

[veloindy]

Guys,

Just got the Yakima LowRider system installed today. It's on there pretty solid!

I had been concerned about excessive wind noise, but surprisingly, it's not all that bad (especially with the moonroof shade closed). There is an occasional low-pitched rumble coming from the roof of the Runner, but once you're past about 50MPH, it becomes indistinguishable from the "natural" wind noise. The fairing, which I also ordered, should take care of this.

Here's a pic of the rack...

Awesome, thanks for the pic! Now we just need to figure out how to remove the factory crossbars! There has got to be a way to pop those plastic covers off like the 03-05MY. But I can't get my to budge.

 

[Paisano]

Guys,

Just got the Yakima LowRider system installed today. It's on there pretty solid!

I had been concerned about excessive wind noise, but surprisingly, it's not all that bad (especially with the moonroof shade closed). There is an occasional low-pitched rumble coming from the roof of the Runner, but once you're past about 50MPH, it becomes indistinguishable from the "natural" wind noise. The fairing, which I also ordered, should take care of this.

Here's a pic of the rack...

I'll go ahead an resurrect this thread for this scenario: At work I park out in the sunlight, but will have the opportunity to move to covered parking deck soon enough. Problem is, that parking deck only has clearance for up to 80" (6' 8"). My truck is right at 80" right now, partly because the Yakima Megawarrior is so tall.

I'm thinking about switching to another Yakima setup to accommodate their crossbars, but Yakima has no suggested products to fit the 06+ Sport Edition side rails (tubes). After plenty of searching, the best option I found is to try the Lowrider Max with a Claw (1, 2, or 3). The Lowrider is the discontinued predecessor to the Railgrab. The Claw adapted it for Pathfinder, Xterra, Mitsu Endeavor, and other vehicles with large tubular side rails.

If anyone is running Lowrider or similar on a 06+ Sport Edition, I would appreciate a review or any info.

If worse comes to worse, I'll do trial and error with the Lowrider/Claw combos ($) or continue parking in the sun (damage/heat, etc).

 

[Paisano]

[MENTION=3646]veloindy[/MENTION] do you have anything you could add here?

I may be mostly writing to myself here, but will add more info in case anyone is searching this in the future.

On one of Yakima's fit guides online, they actually have a picture of a 06+ Sport Edition/Urban Runner with the RailGrab attached. It will tell you it won't fit in the guide, then there's this picture (attached).

 

[veloindy]

[MENTION=3646]veloindy[/MENTION] do you have anything you could add here?

I may be mostly writing to myself here, but will add more info in case anyone is searching this in the future.

On one of Yakima's fit guides online, they actually have a picture of a 06+ Sport Edition/Urban Runner with the RailGrab attached. It will tell you it won't fit in the guide, then there's this picture (attached).

Paisano, I used LowRider towers on my 06 Sport, and they worked great. Heck, I might even still have them. I'm not sure what the Max will get you. If you go to a Yakima dealer, like REI, They're pretty good about helping with installs.

 

[Paisano]

Paisano, I used LowRider towers on my 06 Sport, and they worked great. Heck, I might even still have them. I'm not sure what the Max will get you. If you go to a Yakima dealer, like REI, They're pretty good about helping with installs.

Thanks man, that really helps. The plain Lowrider (not Max) is a little harder to come by now. I think they're both discontinued. I may just go with the Railgrab since they're the current model available and I've seen that picture showing the fit.

We don't have REI here, or any good outfitters for that matter.

I really appreciate you responding, I'm not sure I knew the difference between Lowrider and Lowrider Max before you posted but it's all becoming clearer now.

 

[veloindy]

Looking at the Railgrab, I think it will work if you get the Wrangler rollbar kit.

 

[Paisano]

Looking at the Railgrab, I think it will work if you get the Wrangler rollbar kit.

I think the one I ordered is equivalent to that, comes w/ the little pieces that go inside for different fits. When it comes in I'll install it and then repost about the
outcome.

 

[Paisano]

The RailGrab came in, I haven't fully installed it yet, but I can already tell it's going to fit. There are 3 claws included in the kit. The large claw will wrap almost completely around the tube side rail. That claw has a rubber piece on the inside to limit movement, etc. Even the small claw can clip inside the long slit on the inside of the tube rail.

I'm going to put them all on w/ crossbars tonight and hopefully post again to officially confirm that these fit the 06+ Sport, for all 2-3 people out there who will ever wonder about this in the future.

 

[Paisano]

The RailGrab came in, I haven't fully installed it yet, but I can already tell it's going to fit. There are 3 claws included in the kit. The large claw will wrap almost completely around the tube side rail. That claw has a rubber piece on the inside to limit movement, etc. Even the small claw can clip inside the long slit on the inside of the tube rail.

I'm going to put them all on w/ crossbars tonight and hopefully post again to officially confirm that these fit the 06+ Sport, for all 2-3 people out there who will ever wonder about this in the future.

Per the install and pictures below, let it be know to anyone who gives a crap that the Yakima RailGrab does fit an 06-09 4Runner Sport Edition. It's on there solid. I used the largest claw that came with the kit, see pictures below. I used the 58" crossbars (I think 48" would be too short). The correct fairing size is still 38".

Megawarrior will be FS soon.

 

[Paisano]

Attaching another picture with foam block cut to fit over Railgrab, for 2 kayaks to be carried side by side, both on foam blocks. Otherwise, 2 diagonal style kayak carriers would be needed to carry 2 kayaks.