Morning Gang,
I've been looking for an integrated adapter that bolts in where the stock roof racks attach. I'd like to have something somewhat modular because my rooftop needs are pretty diverse. I think I've seen some adaptations for custom racks, but no adapters for multiple systems. Am I missing anything?
Currently I have a yakima loadwarrior on top including a center extension, attached to stock TE crossbars. Obviously, this is all attached via the stock TE roof rails. In the summer I swap all kinds of things into or on top of the loadwarrior. Bike trays, surf boards, and kayaks mainly. I also use the loadwarrior with two large cargo bags for a HUGE packout. In the winter I either keep the loadwarrior on top and put some powderhound ski racks on, or take the loadwarrior off and put the ski racks directly on the factory bars.
My concerns with this system are two-fold. First, I am concerned about the overall strength and stability of the factory crossbars and rails. When I have a 14.5' kayak and a 12' longboard on top, its downright dicey! Second, I'm cutting at least an additional 6-8" profile off the top of the vehicle which created some pretty incredible drag up top.
I started to design a heavy duty rail adapter that would allow me to use a cutdown yakima cross bar in place of the factory cross bars. This would create all kinds of additional strength, but will cost me at a cnc shop. Not impossible, just time consuming to get the right draft angles for the rails and get it all done. This solution won't improve the drag though. I'd like to stick with the modularity of the loadwarrior, for use on my wife's vehicle at times, but I'm not sure its the best way to go.
What I'm thinking now is to mount a custom set of yakima cross bars, directly into the roof rack mounting holes that go into the roof. Does anyone make an adapter for that yet?
Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to get all the criteria out there. If nobody makes this adapter yet, I'm willing to put a little design time into it and knock a prototype out, especially if there is additional interest in the community. Just to be clear though, this is not a business and I'm not a certified engineer.
Thoughts?
I've been looking for an integrated adapter that bolts in where the stock roof racks attach. I'd like to have something somewhat modular because my rooftop needs are pretty diverse. I think I've seen some adaptations for custom racks, but no adapters for multiple systems. Am I missing anything?
Currently I have a yakima loadwarrior on top including a center extension, attached to stock TE crossbars. Obviously, this is all attached via the stock TE roof rails. In the summer I swap all kinds of things into or on top of the loadwarrior. Bike trays, surf boards, and kayaks mainly. I also use the loadwarrior with two large cargo bags for a HUGE packout. In the winter I either keep the loadwarrior on top and put some powderhound ski racks on, or take the loadwarrior off and put the ski racks directly on the factory bars.
My concerns with this system are two-fold. First, I am concerned about the overall strength and stability of the factory crossbars and rails. When I have a 14.5' kayak and a 12' longboard on top, its downright dicey! Second, I'm cutting at least an additional 6-8" profile off the top of the vehicle which created some pretty incredible drag up top.
I started to design a heavy duty rail adapter that would allow me to use a cutdown yakima cross bar in place of the factory cross bars. This would create all kinds of additional strength, but will cost me at a cnc shop. Not impossible, just time consuming to get the right draft angles for the rails and get it all done. This solution won't improve the drag though. I'd like to stick with the modularity of the loadwarrior, for use on my wife's vehicle at times, but I'm not sure its the best way to go.
What I'm thinking now is to mount a custom set of yakima cross bars, directly into the roof rack mounting holes that go into the roof. Does anyone make an adapter for that yet?
Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to get all the criteria out there. If nobody makes this adapter yet, I'm willing to put a little design time into it and knock a prototype out, especially if there is additional interest in the community. Just to be clear though, this is not a business and I'm not a certified engineer.
Thoughts?
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