I have a 2009 Forester and wondering what people liked better for roof racks and accessories (bike and ski attachments for example). Any suggestions to steer my decision?
I agree go, with the best deal.. Both are top quality.. Like many we run a mix on our Subaru's.. Thule basket.. Yakama box.. Mixed bike rack, Ski ,board rack, They are more or less a collection of parts that work..:icon_biggrin:This will turn in Yakima vs Thule battle.
both great. Find a deal
We use the Subaru bars on our 09X because they carry more weight than the others I found and leave no marks on the car.. But the biggest item we carry is a canoe thats about 11 feet but I run a support up from the front bumper....I also have a railless 2010 Forester and need a rack. Not happy about any of the options so far... The 70 cm spread of the bars sucks if you plan on transporting a 370 cm item - what were those people thinking! I am wondering what the maximum distance between front and rear bar of the rail based rack of the fancier Foresters is?
- The Q version of the Yakima's seems to cause damage to the paint just by resting the rack on the roof.
- The Landing Pad version from Yakima seems to be better - still single bolt mounting (There are two M6 mounts on the vehicle - Why not using them?) and high price.
- The Thule version seems not even to follow the contour of the vehicles roofline (also single bolt setup...).
- Do not know much of the Subaru version, and how it attaches...
I was wondering if someone could shoot me a picture from the bottom / inside of the mount (Thule, Yakima, whatever...) – the area where the mount attaches to the roof of the car.
I am wondering if I could modify or potentially make a mount that would
- Use both M6 threaded areas
- Offer some offset design that would spread the load forward and aft to gain distance between each crossbar (may be 10 to 15 cm in each direction)
I agree and it was the reason I decided not to get one with the rails.. Kind of sad to see them go from a design that worked on the 99-08 with no problems.. I have have cars with top racks from 1976 to now.. And all the problems I have had with them have been on the ones with top rails that are unsupported for long spans.. I have removed several head liners and replaced rails.. Not to high on my list of things I like to do..Dr. K - I could be wrong but it looks like you have the Forester generation with the low profile track - this one looks like you could attach a crossbar all the way to the front and the back of the roof. Would have been nice if the Subaru guys would have kept that design... two feet between front and rear track sucks big time.
snowdance38 - your support from the front bumper for your 11 foot canoe, is that essentially a line that you tie between bow and bumper or something rigid?
The gear I am trying to transport on the roof is my old school longboard - weight should not be any issue - wind resistance and lift could be an issue. There will be some trips coming up in the future, were a trailer (we have one that provides a home to our Hobie) would not be a suitable solution. We also do not have a hitch for the Forester at this point (have to figure out which one I want).
Thanks,