Understanding ski racks... help

[phillycore]

I'm looking to get a ski rack for the top of my suv

My question is this, how the hell do I know what I need besides the rack itself??

There are a zillion things out there and I'm not sure what I need and what I don't.

 

I have a suzuki xl7 luxury edition which has the side rails but no crossbars.

So what I'm looking for is the crossbars that will fit into the siderails that are factory mounted, then a ski rack or box that will attach to those bars.

 

I need something that will hold at least 3 pairs of skis, or two racks that hold two pairs..

I tried yakima.com and thule.com and can't seem to find the crossbars that fit into the factory siderail grooves, thule had nothing at all.

Yakima had some sort of riser thing that actually sits above the side rails and looks huge with the crossbars that stick out past the riser instead of sitting inside the track itself.

 

I thought maybe that I could steal the crossbars off my wife's xl7 limited and put them onto mine, but it seems that the track width is wider than mine. (same year car, different trim level hers comes with the crossbars, mine doesn't)

 

Anyone have any ideas here??

[mollyskeez]

http://suzuki.dealerfit.com/store/suzuki-x...d1318_18732.php do you think that would work for your car?

 

i would take it to your local ski shop and ask them about some of the ski rracks that they sell. because if you buy it online and it doesnt fit on your car you would have to go thru returs and all that stuff.

[phillycore]

I've seen that before and thought they were the same bars that were on my wife's, however now I just realized it says for xl7's NOT originally equipped so that probably means that these would fit mine.

 

Sweet... if I picked those up then I'd only need a rack that attached to the factory bars and they are mad cheap...

[Justin]

I've seen that before and thought they were the same bars that were on my wife's, however now I just realized it says for xl7's NOT originally equipped so that probably means that these would fit mine.

 

Sweet... if I picked those up then I'd only need a rack that attached to the factory bars and they are mad cheap...

Yeah, the ski attachment itself for my Subie factory rack is a little over $100. They rape you with the rails to mount it to.

[Dan-]

Only thing is with those bars, you have to get different mounts that will cost you more money anyway. The standard mounts that come with the rack will fit the standard cross bars that are just round. Those bars and most other bars on cars are the weird long shape. If you go with Yakima you'll need something called the mighty mounts. Just about any roof rack holds three pairs of skis. Most are made to hold 4 or 6, so you have no problem there.

 

About the other things looking goofy getting mounted to rails. It's actually not bad at all, the riser is only about an inch or 2 tall and the bar just sits in those. And remember if the bars are to long for what you want you can always just cut them...

[toast21602]

I need something that will hold at least 3 pairs of skis, or two racks that hold two pairs..

 

it will be easy to find something cheap that can hold at least 3 pairs of skis. my rack is supposed to hold 6 pairs of skis, but i can only get 5 in it because of having all fat skis up there all the time.

[method9455]

Don't know the answer to your car specifically but if you go to a shop they all have a book with make/model/year and what you need. I look at my racks as a long term investment and picked up some of the better ones. The OEM ones that came with my SUV were kind of crap and rusted out before the car did. On the other hand I have Thule racks that are almost 15 years old and still going and you can just have to buy the new feet for new cars. The OEM ones are nice because they are custom for that car but you end up buying a new set every time you buy a new car. Just make sure you take the racks off when not in use, I rarely leave them on the car and at the end of the year I clean them up so I don't put them away with road salt on them.

[phillycore]

Don't know the answer to your car specifically but if you go to a shop they all have a book with make/model/year and what you need. I look at my racks as a long term investment and picked up some of the better ones. The OEM ones that came with my SUV were kind of crap and rusted out before the car did. On the other hand I have Thule racks that are almost 15 years old and still going and you can just have to buy the new feet for new cars. The OEM ones are nice because they are custom for that car but you end up buying a new set every time you buy a new car. Just make sure you take the racks off when not in use, I rarely leave them on the car and at the end of the year I clean them up so I don't put them away with road salt on them.

 

 

I kind of got a little stike of luck.... little

 

For whatever reason the company I work for switched from Yakima products to Thule products..

When they did this they weeded out the old stock of yakima stuff. Well we had one come back for credit and it was

already phased out of inventory which means it goes into the dumpster. When I was talking to someone at lunch about skiing, they made mention that

they just tossed out a yakima button down 6 ski rack that was brand new in the box. I asked if I could have it if I got it out of the dumpster..

So out to the dumpster I went and luckily for me it was right there on top..

The only thing I need now is.... the ez riders and bars.... unfortunately they are the most expensive of the rack....lol

[method9455]

I kind of got a little stike of luck.... little

 

For whatever reason the company I work for switched from Yakima products to Thule products..

When they did this they weeded out the old stock of yakima stuff. Well we had one come back for credit and it was

already phased out of inventory which means it goes into the dumpster. When I was talking to someone at lunch about skiing, they made mention that

they just tossed out a yakima button down 6 ski rack that was brand new in the box. I asked if I could have it if I got it out of the dumpster..

So out to the dumpster I went and luckily for me it was right there on top..

The only thing I need now is.... the ez riders and bars.... unfortunately they are the most expensive of the rack....lol

 

Certainly I won't knock Yakima, lots of people prefer Thule but the Yakima stuff is solid. I was refering to OEM stuff, I had a set of Ford racks that SUCKED. The feet are surprisingly expensive but, worth it.