Yakima roof rack question

look at this site,might be helpful

http://evnut.com/prius_racks.htm

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bohous @ Mar 10 2007, 04:43 PM) [snapback]403483[/snapback]</div>

I don't know , but I would like to know how you make out.

 

From what I remember, the clips I used were the same front and back. But that was long enough ago that I won't swear by it! If somebody can confirm, I'd like to keep my page accurate!

As for the bar length - I thought the same thing. And for the rear, you probably could barely get away with it (the rear is narrower than the front). But really, I maked 48" on the bars when I was installing them and realized that you'd be on the ragged end of them. The bars themselves aren't all that expensive. While you could get away wtih cutting off several inches (as I've done with most of my installations, actually) I really do recommend that you at least start with the 58" bars. They won't get in your way. What's the reason you want to use 48" bars? That you already have them? That's the only reason I can think of that makes sense. And that's why I was considering it... and ended up buying the 58"

 

I have the same situation, 48" Yakima bars and a fairing left over from my previous car (plus bike and ski attachments). If I could use them on the Prius, then I might stick with the roof rack. Post if you managed to get the 48's to work. I was surprised that the Prius takes such wide bars.

Also, has anyone using Yakima racks found them very easy to take on and off? Apparently there are newer Q-Towers than the ones I have that make this easier. If I go the roof rack way with this car, I would definitely want to remove it when I'm not likely to be using it.

 

I had a tule roof rack that fit very well. I would say was somewhat difficult to install and the screws in the tower very prone to stripping if not perfectly aligned. It looked good and worked well, but cost me about 7mpg. I changed it for a saris ride on hitch rack. It looks like crap but is very easy to use and much less mpg drop. For what it is worth I've had numerous racks on many different cars, mostly yakima and for my dollar yakima is a superior roof rack. I chose tule because that was all that was available at the time and it was very nice but frail during the install.

 

The roof of the Prius is quite wide compared to similar-sized cars. The the sides of the car don't roll into the middle as on most cars (and this is one reason the car doesn't so as well in cross-winds). So there's where the longer bars come into play.

As for installing/removal... It is "easy" but takes too much fussing for my taste - which is why I finally went with the permanent landing pads. No fussing, no guess work. Literally drop them into the holders and snap them closed. Takes longer to type than to do. Aligning the "clip on" ones can be a chore, though the actual clipping part is no big deal once they're in the perfect location. The Prius is especially sensitive to positioning as the roofline flares so much toward the front. Even half an inch either way can mean the difference between too tight and too loose.

I like to take my racks on and off quite often, so the permanent solution was the best for my use. It was also much more work and risk to install.

 

i have yakima sets w/ 58" bars. Then I traded them to my coworker for her 48". It has about 1" clearance off each end. I was going to cut down that 58" to 50" if my coworker didn't want the bars i bought.

58" is too long for prius, in my opinion. when I had it, I had to watch my head when i go in and out of car. I always afraid I'll bump my head with the bar stick out so far from the top edge of the car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bohous @ Mar 10 2007, 03:28 PM) [snapback]403439[/snapback]</div>

Hi
I just measured mine - you need 46" min for bars - thus you will have about 1" overhang/side on the front set, rear set is 1" narrower so you'll have 1 1/2" overhang. This is the Yakima recommended setting 8" back from windshield to front edge of front foot and 30" bar spread.

 

The USER-GUIDE shows & describes the setup I have for carrying 2 kayaks on top.

I actually recommend even longer bars, for the sake of easier attachment & removal. Leverage is difficult with less available for gripping.

 

i have 58" bars on my prius. while 48" bars may work, you would be better off cutting 58" down to 50" or so. while 58 may seem too long, its very conveinent to put a bike rack or half of a cargo box "outside the towers." it makes loading and unloading much easier not having to reach over the roof.

yakima recently updated the prius fit to use q 5 (front, i think) and q 124. people were having trouble installing the rack with front and back q 124. the new fit is only rated for 125 lbs vs 165 lbs for the old fit. both fits will work and work well. i have 2 q 124s. the yakima rack has a wider bar spread (more stable) than the thule option. it also comes off much easier/quicker. small tip for taking rack off and on...

-take a marker and trace the outline of the clips inside the door jam. that way you know exactly where the clips should be placed every time you take the rack off and on.

this site has a bunch of prius rack photos.
http://www.backcountryracks.com/index.aspx...r_rack_installs

kayak blocks are sketchy at best. nothing holding anything in place except for straps...which will adjust and loosen over time. i wouldn't want to put that much weight resting on the roof.

 

Hello All,

I recently added a Yakima rack to my Prius for a family trip to Disneyland at the end of the month. Instead of buying the Load Warrior or even the Basketcase (way too expensive if you ask me), I just went down to my local wood supply and bought a sheet of Baltic Birch Plywood and made my own. We'll just use it for some of our baggage and other fairly light stuff, but I think it came out pretty good and serves the purpose. Having four people in the prius for up to 15 hours at a time I figured we could use all the elbow room we could find.

I used the 48" bars and two Q124 clip kits on mine without any problem.

I've attached a picture of my rack incase anyone is interested.

Thanks for a great forum,

Pat

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bohous @ Mar 11 2007, 02:12 PM) [snapback]403893[/snapback]</div>

For the record, I just got off the phone with Yakima customer support. The recommended clips are one pair of Q5 and one pair of Q124. The Q5s go on the front. The measurements are as follows: M1=42.5", M2=10", M3=40", and M4=30".

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DanP @ Jul 2 2007, 07:38 AM) [snapback]471468[/snapback]</div>

Having completed the installation, I think the Q124s would have been a better bet than the Q5s. The Yakima rep with whom I spoke said they changed their recommendation because customers were having difficulty with installation. But the Q5 clips are not nearly as nice a fit as the Q124 clips. The Q5s ride on the outside of the little rim near the side of the roof, whereas the Q124s have a notch to fit half outside and half inside the same little rim. And the measurement for M3 needed to be modified somewhat because the measurement for M2 pushes the rack back about 2". I had to adjust M3 to 40.25" (and could have gone just a tad wider) to get the Q124 clips to seat properly.

 

Hi All,

As a new '07 prius owner, I immediately wanted to put a Yakima rack on my car. Like the original poster, I had an existing (1.5 year old) rack from a VW Golf/GTI. Not wanting to compromise, I ordered what was recommended: 58 in bars and the Q5/Q124 combo.

Re. the 48/58" bar debate, I'm with the rest of the thread. 48" is just about enough (with about 1.5" overhang on the rear, 0.5" --close --overhang on the front), unless the driver wants to put bike trays on the outer edges of the bar. Since I'm not doing that, I've sent the 58" bars back where I bought'em.

The Q124 set fits the rear, and the Q5 set fits the front. Microadjustments will be necessary to make sure that the L-bend of the clips lie flush with the contours of the door sills.