CCV Top: Unistrut or Thule?

[rallypanam]

Originally Posted by sbgrimm

The problem is I can't adjust the Yakima tower height in any way. I've got the Yakima round bars and lots of round bar specific Yakima gear I want to continue to use. The issue is the Maxxair fan is 5" high while, according to Yakima support, height of the Yakima tower+bar+landing pad is 4.5". If the height of the unistrut is 0.5" or more then whatever I carry on the bars should clear the fan.

That seems to be cutting things very close, though. Mark at CCV suggested the unistrut shim. Any other thoughts?

Which Yakima towers do you have?

[sbgrimm]

Originally Posted by rallypanam

Which Yakima towers do you have?

I haven't bought the towers for the new CCV top yet, but my understanding is the only tower choice for tracks are Skyline towers with Landing Pad 1. I communicated with Yakima support yesterday who said:

"The towers only come in one height and there isn't a raise them . The tower is 4.5 tall from the base of the Landing Pad to the top of the crossbar."

One thought to increase height is to use some pads on the bars to raise the height of the raft frame. For the kayaks I think the cradles I use will raise the boats enough to clear the fan. Another concern is that I've noted the crossbars flex a bit under a load, so I'll have to gain enough clearance to compensate for that.

[MSD]

Originally Posted by rallypanam

Don't shim the unistrut.. just shim whatever you attach to the unistrut.

And I did all the work shown in my picture, but I'm sure they can do something similar.

That's what CCV is going to do if needed shim the tower, not the unistrut, but the shim we use is uni strut.

[rallypanam]

Originally Posted by MSD

That's what CCV is going to do if needed shim the tower, not the unistrut, but the shim we use is uni strut.

Perfect!!!!

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by SteelheadJones

What are people using to prevent leaks after piercing the roof? I’m paranoid of water intrusion...

You can overthink and overworry about this in many, many ways using expensive time consuming methods but all you really need is butyl tape. The black, gooey stuff. Squeeze it between everything. Rails, tops, roof vent flanges, washers/bolts. It's the one stop do it all for roof holes.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Otter]

Originally Posted by sbgrimm

One thought to increase height is to use some pads on the bars to raise the height of the raft frame. For the kayaks I think the cradles I use will raise the boats enough to clear the fan. Another concern is that I've noted the crossbars flex a bit under a load, so I'll have to gain enough clearance to compensate for that.

If you carry boats the way I do, there could be lots of low-tech ways to raise your boats above the fan. One thought I have is the pic below. I don’t imagine we’ll have to worry too much about the bars themselves, as long as they’re placed fore and aft of the fan. Though I do use them to slide one of the boats gunwale down, so that might take more finessing.

[moorefc]

A forever sealant adhesive is 3M 5200, or 4200 if you think you might want to get it apart someday.........

[nyyankees588]

2 things:
1. Be aware 3M 5200 doesn't bond well with the plastic of roof vents (I work at a company that builds wooden travel trailers - we've had a bunch leak over time and when you go to remove them the 5200 peels right off the plastic flange). Dycor + butyl tape is best for anything on the roof that involves plastic (IMO).
2. If you're using Yakima A1 towers you can get a Yakima "high rise spacer kit" that adds 3.5" of clearance.

[moorefc]

Originally Posted by nyyankees588

2 things:
1. Be aware 3M 5200 doesn't bond well with the plastic of roof vents (I work at a company that builds wooden travel trailers - we've had a bunch leak over time and when you go to remove them the 5200 peels right off the plastic flange). Dycor + butyl tape is best for anything on the roof that involves plastic (IMO).

Interesting...I have used it with plastics and it is very tenacious. Their specs for shear are here https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/...-tech-data.pdf and do recommend testing and prep...I have had butyl leak, but am not familiar with Dycor...Are you referring to Dicor, a porous surface contact adhesive?
https://dicorproducts.com/product/wa...ng-adhesive-2/

[1der]

I am pretty familiar w 3M 5200 and boats, incredible stuff.

No way I would use it for roof tracks or roof vents. I agree butyl tape, lap sealant (or equivalent, Dycor??) for setting roof vents. Then, imho, a good glob of high quality silicone adhesive around the screw (or bolt) holes is all that is needed, and this goes for roof vents and tracks .

With the UniStrut I would apply a thin neoprene tape to the bottom of the strut track to provide a shock/vibration cushion between the track and the roof.