Roof Rack Options?

[mike5]

I have a friend who has a CURT roof rack (http://www.amazon.com/Curt-18115-Roof-Mounted-Cargo/dp/B004O844DS). He is willing to give this to me for a cheap price. But on my OEM roof rack, one of the cross bars is missing. I believe the side bar is actually damaged, so I can't utilize it to mount this rack onto the cross bars. Given this, either I need to find another OEM roof rack for cheap or hopefully remove the OEM one and just use the CURT roof rack. What sort of cheap mounting option is there? Any roof gutter adapters I can get a deal on? If not, where can I find a used OEM rack? Anyone selling one?

This is all new to me, so I have no idea of any of it! Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Mike

 

[eurosonic]

I would remove the OEM crossbars and rails completely and use aftermarket rain-gutter mount crossbars. OEM roof racks on Monteros are pretty weak and flimsy IMO.
I would look for some crossbars on Craigslist. You can find them under $50.

 

[mike5]

Thanks for the info.

 

[Topgun514]

I'm contemplating selling my gutter mounted ARB rack. 72x48 in. PM if you're intrigued.

 

[off-roader]

I like the Front Runner racks myself but wow the price is steep for one!! I think I'll have to look at building my own like it instead.

 

[fangars]

The one thing I like about OEM roof racks is it makes it a lot easier for me to design full replacement roof racks.

Besides being backed up with Xterra orders for roof racks the one thing that is holding me back is designing my own rain gutter clams.
After I get that part down the rest will come together much quicker.

As stated above, I am not sure what year you own but OEM roof racks on just about all vehicles are terribly weak and for the most part useless.

 

[gsanders]

To Mike5:

I have mounted racks on about a half dozen or more personal cars and trucks over the years. The best advice I can give you is to scour Craigslist for some Yakima or Thule bars that are for sale and then buy the proper attachments for your vehicle. What are you trying to attach to (i.e. what is your vehicle)? It sounds like your vehicle has factory rails (or sidebars) so I would start here: http://yakima.com/shop/racksystems/factory-tracks-or-rails. My wife has a Ford Focus and she uses a similar setup. I will second what another poster said, that factory cross bars are usually pretty weak an dent easily. HOWEVER, factory rails and/or side bars are just as strong as any aftermarket install and possibly even stronger. I would say use the factory installed rails and try to pickup some heavier duty cross bars and then you should be set for a basket. Yakima and Thule are about the same quality...I have used both. Thule has more of a Euro look, Yakima is more traditional. Thule bars are also all aluminum, whereas Yakimas are rubber coated steel. Thule aluminum can corrode over time, but the Yakima rubber can also be dinged and nicked and the bars inside can start to rust. My preferred setup is Yakima bars that I sealed the endcaps with silicone when installed to prevent moisture from entering. You can also take any older bars that you find on Craigslist and coat them with plastidip or Herculiner and they should work pretty well. Also checkout Rocky Mounts, etc. Good luck!

 

[Tim.plante]

"the one thing that is holding me back is designing my own rain gutter clams.
After I get that part down the rest will come together much quicker."

I took my OEM rack and tossed it in the rafters and filled the holes in the roof with LEXEL...I plan on building one out of EMT conduit and a few steel supports...if you come up with a gutter clamp design let me know thats the only thing that has me stumped on doing it myself.

 

[MontyMcV]

You can get clamps online and build your own frame/rack.

 

[fangars]

I have some clamps that I have bought just to see if that would be a good way to go about it, but I think it only works if you buy at least 3 pair for a LWB as they are kind of weak compared to what I intend to build.
Also as I plan to put whatever I build on the market it will need to be more affordable.

To integrate the thule clamps into my design I will have to make too many compromises from what I want. One of the problems will be keeping it low profile.

All that said it is certainly true you can buy yakima or thule clamps and of course attach prefabbed or home made racks to the crossbars.