Caargo Basket Question

[emsmatt]

Does anyone know if either the Yakima or Thule baskets are able to be mounted directly to the roof using any respective products? I know the Baja and Gobi racks do but Im more interested in the Yakima/Thule becasue I carry surfboards often and it seems the Yakima/Thule are better suited to put board pads/straps on than the Baja/Gobi. It seems that when mounting the baskets to the factory crossbars the basket sits so high and looks kind odd IMO. Hoping that directly attaching the basket to truck would give it more of a factory look. Thanks.

 

[Ryan_S]

the Yak and Thule baskets need the factory cross bars ( or the Yak or Thule crossbars), but they both sit on top of those and mount with little clampy clippy things. There is no other option for those baskets, AFAIK.

 

[sp8ball]

To add to that...

I think that those baskets would look OK (height-wise) if you just put them on top of the factory cross bars.

However...

The factory cross bars have a low weight rating (130 lbs?), and you use up some of that with the basket itself. To get any real gain from the basket (i.e. to be able to hold a decent amount of weight), you need to beef up your cross-bars by installing the Yakima/Thule bars.

Now...

Those bars sit on TOP of your existing rack. So you have your current rack height, plus the 3-5" of aftermarket cross bars, plus the height of the basket. THAT is when it starts to look goofy, IMO.

Plus, the cost of the basket ($350) and aftermarket cross bars ($250) is about the same as a BajaRack...so why not just change the whole thing out?

 

[adio3x]

The yakima load/megawarrior both can be attached to the factory crossbars or yakima crossbars. IMO, I liked how the loadwarrior looked on my truck. Just couldn't hold anything over 130 lbs lol.

 

[kingpin748]

I swapped out the load warrior for a bajarack as I didn't like the way it looked. It just seemed to sit on the truck, not become part of the truck like the bajarack did.

 

[emsmatt]

Cool, thanks. I was thinking that was the case and going with the Baja does seem like a good way to go. It appears to be 1 big basket with no crossmembers in the middle or anything. My concern is the ability to pad and strap surfboards to it. Any idea if the hav a cross bar that attaches or anything like that?

 

[sp8ball]

I have the same concerns about the crossbar thing on the BajaRack. I have a Thule car-top box I will want to use, so "no crossbars" is a problem.

However, in my discussions with rack-savvy T4R.org members, I was told that BajaRack is a pretty cool company, and that they might be able to make one with cross bars if I just called and asked. May add a few dollars to the price, but it would be worth it, IMO.

If you go down that path, let me know what they say, as I haven't pulled the trigger yet.

 

[kingpin748]

Some guys have made there own cross bars for them but my understanding is you can use a universal Thule or Yakima cross bar that attaches to the Bajarack.

It's all here somewhere you just need to search for it.

 

[SeattleMike]

Cool, thanks. I was thinking that was the case and going with the Baja does seem like a good way to go. It appears to be 1 big basket with no crossmembers in the middle or anything. My concern is the ability to pad and strap surfboards to it. Any idea if the hav a cross bar that attaches or anything like that?

Roll down the back window, pad the ledge, and strap them to the tiedowns.

 

[Ryan_S]

1. BajaRack
2. 4 U bolts
3. 48" yakima bars,
4. ???
5. :surfer: