[rye]

My mother lives in raleigh and is a yaker. She got a new(to her) Rav4 this winter and is having trouble figuring out the rack situation. Money is an object so she's trying to go used. However she's not understanding the jargin associated with buying a new rack.

Can anyone help her/me/us out? She has cross bar racks that she had on her mini van but is having trouble figuring out what mounts she needs to convert to RAV to be able use them.

She tried a rack shop in Raleigh somewhere but they were pushing a 500$ system and were intentionally keeping her in the dark as to alternatives.

 

[lefty]

Are the rails she took from her minivan square or round? Were they top-brand, or something else? If they were top-brand, then the square ones are Thule and the round ones are Yakima. Both of their websites have configuration wizards in which you can punch in make, model, year of her car, and whether it's got factory racks and such, and will walk you through the options available.

The advantage, as I understand, in Yakima and Thule, is that if you follow their instructions, you've got a pretty good likelihood that the racks won't whistle in the wind. If you go with one of the other brands, it's much more up to you to deal with whistle.

You can often find Yakima and Thule components on eBay and CraigsList. I bought my Thule rails and towers from a guy I found on craigsList, then bought the fit-kit for my car. Retail value would have been between $300 and $400, I paid $95 plus $50 for the new fit-kit.

 

[rye]

they are Tules if I recall correctly. She has the cross bar and towers and mounting gear for the van. Thanks for the tip on the config wizards. I'll have to check it out.

 

[erayyak]

The main rack manufacturers have a "Fit my Car" application that allows you to put in the pertinent information and then it will tell you what you need....including cost. You can check out Yakima and Thule sites for sure. The "rack attack" site actually has their own version of the "Fit My Car" that will actually pull up racks available from a couple of manufacturers so you can compare them.

Racks are not inexpensive but can be worth the money. There has been more than one situation with kayaks flying off cars on the interstate with only factory luggage racks. The same could happen with after market as well. Good luck on the search.

 

[rye]

I stand correct, just called her, she's got Yakima's. She needs Q Towers with clips and I found them on ebay. Most are under 100$. Sure beats what the guy in teh store was trying to sell her!

Now.. if I could just find her a date as easily!

 

[lefty]

Try the "Fishing Connections" forum.

 

[Topsail Angler]

Now.. if I could just find her a date as easily!

Just make sure he likes to fish!

 

[sundrop]

A woman that kayaks and fishes? Dang! Mrs Sundrop better be nice to me!!!

 

[kayak ken]

Rye,
Try "Get Outdoors" in Greensboro, they sell alot of kayaks and a number of racks. If you mention the vehicle your working with they may be able to give you the answer your looking for. kayaken

 

[Druminator]

It would be about $410 for an entire Yakima system. That would include Q-Towers, Q-Clips, bars, and a kayak carrier. For the carrier I put the Hully roller and mako saddle combo in the builder.
If she has bars you can deduct $60. Depending on what you use to carry the kayak the price will adjust +/- $30.
$500 doesn't seem bad. They were probably selling her the entire system and including locking cores. Locking cores prevent theft and are also good on Q-Clips because it prevents them from opening if they are jarred or hit really hard.
I looked on Thule and made a guess at the year and put 2004 since that was the last body style. There is no Thule fit for that vehicle it told me.