Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 09-14-2016, 12:44 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Newport Beach
Posts: 238
Roof Rails- Yakima vs Thule.. Thoughts?

So the time has come to put crap on the roof. What do you all prefer for the rail system + cross bars. What have you been happy with, and what do you not like. My plan is to put a solar panel up there and maybe a bike or two. I have an electric top.

__________________
2012 Ram 1500 Express
2001 Honda CRF230r
2000 SPORTSMOBILE
1997 Jeep Wrangler Lifted / Locked
1997 Mercedes C230
1994 Mercedes SL500
DerPo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2016, 12:50 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
86Scotty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,222
Quote:
Originally Posted by DerPo View Post
SWhat have you been happy with, and what do you not like.
I do not like rediculously overpriced steel pipe or square tube, such as the apparently gold plated stuff both Yakima and Thule sell. Granted, I have and have had a ton of Yakima and Thule roof bits. On my old van I went to the steel supply house and got 1" square tubing, painted it and installed with L brackets I made from 1" sections of angle iron. It's no heavier than a Thule or Yakima setup and it is flat and more streamlined. No noise on that roof and I probably have $25 in it.

If you do go Yakima or Thule save yourself a ton and look on Craigslist first.

Also, I recommend 3 bars vs. 2. These vans are LONG, even the regular body ones.

Here are my homemade bars. I would like to do them out of aluminum next time but they weren't very heavy


86Scotty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2016, 12:51 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
rallypanam's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: San Francisco/Nevada City
Posts: 3,769
I like my new system.. Ten foot sections of Unistrut P1000EA (Aluminum) running down both sides. Then I have the ability to add whatever I want, wherever I want, without any further holes. Moving solar forward or back, change solar panels, adding antenna with a ground plane (as I just did), etc, is super easy.

You could also add Yakima or Thule bars to the Unistrut if'n you wanted.

And it looks super clean.. you can barely see the Aluminum on my silver van:
rallypanam is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2016, 12:53 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
rallypanam's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: San Francisco/Nevada City
Posts: 3,769
Note: The P1000EA isn't gold plated, but not far off! If I recall correctly it's like $150 for a 20' piece.
rallypanam is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2016, 12:54 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Newport Beach
Posts: 238
Quote:
Originally Posted by 86Scotty View Post
On my old van I went to the steel supply house and got 1" square tubing, painted it and installed with L brackets I made from 1" sections of angle iron. It's no heavier than a Thule or Yakima setup and it is flat and more streamlined. No noise on that roof and I probably have $25 in it.

Great advice!

Quote:
Originally Posted by rallypanam View Post
I like my new system.. Ten foot sections of Unistrut P1000EA (Aluminum) running down both sides. Then I have the ability to add whatever I want, wherever I want, without any further holes. Moving solar forward or back, change solar panels, adding antenna with a ground plane (as I just did), etc, is super easy.

You could also add Yakima or Thule bars to the Unistrut if'n you wanted.

And it looks super clean.. you can barely see the Aluminum on my silver van:

That is a perfect looking setup. I forgot to mention my recovery boards which I will throw up there too!
__________________
2012 Ram 1500 Express
2001 Honda CRF230r
2000 SPORTSMOBILE
1997 Jeep Wrangler Lifted / Locked
1997 Mercedes C230
1994 Mercedes SL500
DerPo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2016, 12:55 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
mikracer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
Posts: 2,552
Seems that Yakima and Thule offer pretty much the same items with the main difference being square crossbar vs. round crossbar.

I was going to install rails when I had an SMB but never got around to actually doing it. But I was also a little bit discouraged when I found out that the rails weren't 100% parallel or something with the way they had to be installed on the top. I was then looking into installing the bolt on rain gutter mount (like what a lot of the Westy guys use). You just can't adjust where the bars go once they are installed.
__________________
2005 E350 Chateau - V10 - Agile Offroad 4x4
2012 CTS-V Wagon - For the baby...
mikracer is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2016, 12:58 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Shaggy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Texas
Posts: 118
Garage
I went with gutter mount Yakima for my 10'6" paddle board for now. Full walk on Aluminess rack is in my far future.

Nice ride rallypanam! Hood vents?
__________________
2014 E350 EB Quigley 4X4 [HOONIVAN]
2014 FJ Cruiser
Shaggy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2016, 01:00 PM   #8
Site Team
 
daveb's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,407
Garage
I had the Yakima tracks on top. The sun made the plastic covers over the bars crack. I also had an issue with tracks vibrating loose. The end caps also cracked and fell off of a few of the bars. Maybe there is a new design since 2006. Finally had an Aluminess rack put on top & put the Yakima stuff on my trailer. I wanted off road lights all around the van anyway. Never looked into the Thule products.
__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures
daveb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2016, 01:02 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
rallypanam's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: San Francisco/Nevada City
Posts: 3,769
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaggy View Post
Nice ride rallypanam! Hood vents?
Yes. Not super useful hood vents, but there's no going back!
rallypanam is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2016, 01:10 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
rallypanam's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: San Francisco/Nevada City
Posts: 3,769
Quote:
Originally Posted by DerPo View Post
That is a perfect looking setup. I forgot to mention my recovery boards which I will throw up there too!
It's clean and easy.. and flexible.

I added this antenna earlier this year, couple aluminum sticks and some sheet metal, and now I have a ground plane on my fiberglass roof:



And if anything ever changes, a couple bolts can remove any piece and replace it with something else.
rallypanam is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:52 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.