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Roof rack systems for the Legacy Wagon


sjg

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There have been a number of threads that cover various roof rack alternatives but it's difficult to find a comprehensive list of the alternatives. Please post if you have a rack system that is compatible with the roof rails on the Legacy wagon. For each brand, which towers work? I'd like to get a sense of what the alternatives are.

 

Commentary on pros/cons would be helpful as well. For example, would using a lower profile tower like Yakima's low rider present a clearance problem with ski bindings hitting the roof of the car?

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I considered 3 alternatives before purchasing crossbars for my '05 wagon: (1) Subaru badged accessory, (2) Yakima, and (3) Thule.

 

I stayed away from the Subaru badged accessory because I had never previously heard of the company that manufactured it. I liked the Yakima feet but they didn't lock onto the rails which I viewed as a minus. The Thule provided locking feet but also required a small modification (described well on another thread) in order to put the rear crossbar as far back as I wanted it.

 

I chose the Thule primarily because of the locking feature and did the modification with a hack saw. Others have used a Dremel tool with success. I like the setup - it's real easy to put on and off the car. The crossbars and attachments do create some noise and reduce MPG a bit but I figured that going in - I just turn up the radio and balance out the loss in MPG by riding the bike. :)

 

As far as the Thule vs. Yakima debate - I know people who've owned both for a long time and both get good reviews. These days attachments from either can generally be adapted to the square or round bars so you're not painting yourself into a corner with either choice.

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The Subaru ski attachment is made by Yakima. A Yakima accessory with a Subaru sticker on it. It comes with locks and the crossbar kit is fairly cheap (aprrox. $16). Just about the same price if you bought the racks, locks and mounting brackets from a sports shop.

 

For me the roof rack is only used in the winter (ski rack), so the extra money for cross bars, etc. just wasn't worth it. I also had a %10 off coupon at the time. I also personally don't like the big bulky aftermarket crossbars. If you have a LGT, you don't have a choice and have to get the aftermarket crossbars, etc.

 

SJG, your request for comparison might work better if you stated what your uses might be now and in the future.

 

-S

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the suby cross bars are made by Mont Blanc. They have been making racks a long time. Mine is uber quiet and all my Thule attatchments fit! I now have my old school summit box on it--- no redrill of box and I can still open the rear hatch enough to get a 70lb Lab out!!
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I have the EZ-Rider towers from Yakima on my '05 LGT 5MT Wagon (production #'s lower than the Spec B?):icon_wink Used 48" cossbars and steelhead bike racks from Yakima used on a previous car as a trade-in when the LGT was purchased. Very easy install, just had to cut the crossbars to fit the rails/towers. Noise level is not bad until 40 mph. then I just crank the volume up and the roar just adds to the crowd on "Rush" Live in Rio.

 

The distance between the towers is approximately 30". There is 3 3/4 inches between the top of the front crossbar and the roof, 4 1/4 inches at the rear crossbar. Gives it a nice "slanted forward" look. I tried a pair of skis upside down across the bars and the bindings (Marker) did not hit the roof.

 

I have had a Thule bike rack on the Highlander for 3 years and it's starting to fall apart. The latch which holds the rubber strap for the rear wheel is rusting causing it to "freeze" and the paint/powdercoating is peeling off both racks.

The Yakima is 8+ years old and shows no signs of wear and tear, plus I prefer the latching mechanism that attaches the front fork to the rack vs the Thule. Both racks allow you to lock the bike to the rack but not to the car/rails.

 

Hope this helps

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the suby cross bars are made by Mont Blanc. They have been making racks a long time. Mine is uber quiet and all my Thule attatchments fit! I now have my old school summit box on it--- no redrill of box and I can still open the rear hatch enough to get a 70lb Lab out!!

 

I've got the OEM MontBlanc's too. I wasn't sure if i was going to keep them or not but lots of dudes replied that they were fine so i kept them. They were right!

 

The things seem pretty bombproof (76.5kg capacity = 168lbs) and man, they are silent! I've driven with the sunroof all the way open on the freeway and it didn't seem any noisier, and i was listening for it!

 

The plastic locks are chintzy yes, but i don't leave them on unless i'm using them for something, so they are fine for me. They go on easily once you get the initial setup done. As far as attachments, i can't say as all i run are surfboard pads. Sounds like everything from Thule and Yak work, though.

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Don't forget to put those plastic strips into the channels of the OEM Mont Blanc crossbars!! That is the key to them being silent. Without them my bars were crazy loud!

 

Yeah, that's so true. I had never used a roof rack before, and when I first put the mont blanc crossbars on, I couldn't believe the howl I got above 40 mph.

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Both racks allow you to lock the bike to the rack but not to the car/rails.

 

Lots of confusing information in this thread.

 

To clarify - the Thule feet and crossbar assembly DOES lock to the rails on the roof. With other locking attachments like the fork mount bike rack the whole Thule assembly locks from the bike all the way to the rails. On the Yakima the feet did NOT lock to the rails and so the entire crossbar assembly could be removed from the car.

 

That was a major difference to me. Of course, the locks are just for honest people anyway as a serious thief I'm sure could undo them with his standard burglar's tools.

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You could just swap out the bolts on the Yakima rack. Depending on how far you want to go, you can easily replace them with tamper resistant bolts or even tamper proof bolts.

 

I've been using Yakima racks for over 10 years even when I used to work at a store that sold Thule. I just never like the rectangular cross bars. With the LGT wagon, I really didn't like the integrated cross bar and towers of the Thule. With my Yakima, I did need new towers, but I can reuse my existing cross bars.

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Quote:

 

Originally Posted by Jaycee

Lots of confusing information in this thread

 

Sorry for the confusion Jaycee. I didn't think the entire post was confusing but I should have clarified that the Thule rack DOES NOT lock to the rails on my Toyota Highlander.

 

I chose the Yakima towers because they DID NOT lock to the rails. When I had a Thule rack on a previous car that DID lock to the rails, the thief just used a crowbar to remove them and the rails form the car. You could imagine the damage done to the car as well as the loss of an expensive bike. Perhaps the thief would have chosen the same method of removal regardless as to the method of attachment, I just like to make it a PIA. I'm more concerned with damage to my car or a stolen bike than the loss of a bike rack.

 

Expensive lessons learned:

 

Never leave your car unattended with any valuables in the rack...locked or unlocked.

 

Always take you bike off the rack before driving into the garage.

 

Always check the height restrictions for fast food drive thru's, parking garages and bank teller windows.

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Sorry, I'm still a bit confused about the cross-bars since I haven't seen any of the roof rack accessories first hand.

 

So my 05 Outback wagon comes with the wing-shaped (flat) crossbars. Subaru sells the round cross-bars for the Outback as well.

What is the big difference between these (except shape), eg quality/usability? Does other Subaru accessories (bike/ski/cargo) work

with both or just one of them and what about non-Subaru accessories?

 

Thanks,

/t

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Always take you bike off the rack before driving into the garage.

 

Sage advice - I forgot this golden rule on my previous vehicle and damaged the bike, car and garage in one fell swoop. :(

 

GeeTee - no offense intended, I meant that in reviewing the entire thread it's got to be pretty confusing to make a definitive choice. Lots of folks have had good and bad experiences with different manufacturers. I've had great success with Thule - they've even mailed me free replacement parts for a ski rack that was over 10 years old. Maybe the conclusion should be YMMV. And you make a good point - if a thief really wants your bike he's gonna get it - lock or no lock. In my view locks are for the honest people.

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Not to grap on sjg's question but I'm at a cross-roads too. I ordered the Mont Blanc square cross-bar kit for my LGT Wagon. Now that I've attached the Mont Blanc rack to the car, and taken it to REI and mounted up the Yakima Platinum Pro 16 and the Thule Evolution 1600 roof boxes, I'm not convinced that the Mont Blanc cross-bars/mounts have the stamina to keep this box attached "in flight".

 

If I go with a Yakima rack setup, I believe that the factory "rail" with the Yakima EZ-Rider Tower and 48" Yakima round cross-bars will do the trick. Question: Does the EZ-Rider mount up to the existing roof rail or does it somehow mount up to the side rail of the car (which is not what I'm looking for)? If it mounts up to factory roof rail, how much better "grip" does the EZ Rider provide versus that of the Mont Blanc setup?

 

If I go Thule then I believe the 440 - Subaru Specialty Carrier with Thule 48" square cross bars will fit the bill. It appears that the 440s do fit the factory roof rail so again the question applies, how much stress can these mounts take?

 

So, anyone with experience with the Subaru racks and heavy wind resistant items attached to it any length of time, say a road trip of 4-500 miles. Plan to do some camping and the last thing I want is to have the box (and contents) sitting somewhere back along the road, or worse yet planted in windshield/interior of the vehicle behind me...:icon_eek: Same would apply to my yak when the time comes to top it and haul it.

 

And sjg - thanks for letting me jump in here with some parallel questions.

 

SBT

- Pro amore Dei et patriam et populum -
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I haven't seen the Mont Blanc attached so can't comment there or the Thule. The Yakima EZ-Rider clamps to the factory roof rails on the wagon, only on the sedans do the Q-towers clamp to the car's sheetmetal.

 

With any roof racks, make sure you follow the directions carefully. Not following the directions to the letter can cause damage to your car. I know most cars will give a rating for the load the roof can take, I don't recall offhand with the Scooby. If you exceed those loads, bad things can happen.

 

A properly mounted roof rack can take quite a bit of stress including exceeding the factory recommended loads. My Yakima rack with Q-towers on my old Camry had 3 bikes on the roof doing over 100 mph. I've also been on my roof rack with the car moving also.

 

If you do stupid things like driving your car into the garage with bikes on top, you will appreciate round cross bars over square ones. You will still end up with a destroyed bike and a bent bike tray, but the round cross bars allow the tray to rotate which lessen the damage to your car.

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In the attached pic:Yakima Lift Ticket 6Aero bar adaptor (LGT or OBXT)Risers that came with the Lift TicketsThe aero bar adaptors work well. I also have a bar and Yakima MightyMounts. They will attach to the aero bar but not as nice. The lift solves the problem of ski bindings too close to the roof and for Flow bindings for boards. It also stops the annoying whistle.The areo bar adaptors fit our specific aero bar and will connect to any Yakima rack like bike mounts or skis. Mighty Mounts connect universally to the areo, round or any cross bar. I use those for bikes because the bar extends over the car making easier to reach.I've had Thule in the past. I like Yakima because when used with the round bar, you can fold down the racks. Square bars are fixed. They are also made in the US.Rack systems are expensive and not really interchangeable. They all do similar functions. Get one and go with it. Hope this helps some.

L1020165web.thumb.jpg.020e46b25e290e42d22ff5f1cb7d54b6.jpg

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Not to grap on sjg's question but I'm at a cross-roads too. I ordered the Mont Blanc square cross-bar kit for my LGT Wagon. Now that I've attached the Mont Blanc rack to the car, and taken it to REI and mounted up the Yakima Platinum Pro 16 and the Thule Evolution 1600 roof boxes, I'm not convinced that the Mont Blanc cross-bars/mounts have the stamina to keep this box attached "in flight".

 

If I go with a Yakima rack setup, I believe that the factory "rail" with the Yakima EZ-Rider Tower and 48" Yakima round cross-bars will do the trick. Question: Does the EZ-Rider mount up to the existing roof rail or does it somehow mount up to the side rail of the car (which is not what I'm looking for)? If it mounts up to factory roof rail, how much better "grip" does the EZ Rider provide versus that of the Mont Blanc setup?

 

If I go Thule then I believe the 440 - Subaru Specialty Carrier with Thule 48" square cross bars will fit the bill. It appears that the 440s do fit the factory roof rail so again the question applies, how much stress can these mounts take?

 

So, anyone with experience with the Subaru racks and heavy wind resistant items attached to it any length of time, say a road trip of 4-500 miles. Plan to do some camping and the last thing I want is to have the box (and contents) sitting somewhere back along the road, or worse yet planted in windshield/interior of the vehicle behind me...:icon_eek: Same would apply to my yak when the time comes to top it and haul it.

 

And sjg - thanks for letting me jump in here with some parallel questions.

 

SBT

 

I wouldn't be worried about the Thule, but rather the Subaru rails themselves. That's the weak spot. ;) We had a similar Thule solution (751XT) on our WRX wagon and drove from DC to Buffalo with two 13.5" Perception Kayaks on the roof (that's an 8 hour drive).

 

The 440 is identical to the 751XT, except for the shape of the interface to the Subaru rail. The WRX had a raised rail like the OBXT, so the 440 was designed to clamp differently to accomodate the flush rails.

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Praedet, I found this on subaruparts.com. It's an aero bar for the LGT.

I know Rack Attack and REI can get the aero attachments.

 

 

Ski Rack Attachment Square Cross Bars

 

http://www.subaruparts.com/catalog/subaru/E3610AS790.jpg

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