Bob, Your best option is really to call Yakima or a Yakima dealer that you trust and talk to them about it. Most factory rack crossbars are pretty useless when it comes to supporting kayaks/canoes/lumber etc. Yakima's Q-Towers have custom clips which work pretty well for cars without rain gutters, but you might run into issues with a minivan because there isn't a door where you'd want to place the rear cross bar. If you opt for the factory rack Yakima makes RailRiders which mount in the existing roof rack tracks (assuming the Dodge minivan has rail tracks running fore and aft) - I'm not certain if they have a lower capacity rating than their standard towers... I've always had better luck dealing with a local dealer (as in "let's go out into the parking lot and see how these work") than with trying to get information direct from Yakima. YMMV Dave Seng Juneau, Alaska > -----Original Message----- > From: Bob Denton [mailto:BDenton_at_aquagulf.com] > Sent: Monday, November 23, 1998 12:27 PM > To: Paddlewise (E-mail) > Subject: [Paddlewise] Roof Racks > > > I'm buying a 99 Doge minivan and trying to decide whether to > purchase the > factory racks or not. I have Yakimas on my current minivan > witch has rain > gutters. What's the best option? > > cya > > Bob Denton > Aqua-Gulf Transport > bdenton_at_aquagulf.com > www.aquagulf.com <http://www.aquagulf.com> > > > ************************************************************** > ************* > PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List > Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net > Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net > Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ > ************************************************************** > ************* > *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
David Seng wrote: > Bob, > Your best option is really to call Yakima or a Yakima dealer that you > trust and talk to them about it. Most factory rack crossbars are pretty > useless when it comes to supporting kayaks/canoes/lumber etc. Agree with the Yakima endorsement. My Ex put a rack on her 1998 Tercel, which has "aircraft doors" all the way around. Because it was Rich Mitchell's double kayak on top (and not mine), I thought the 1200 mile trip would be a good test for the rack. I was very impressed with the strength and security of Yakima's arrangement. As a guy who swore he'd "never" buy a vehicle without real rain gutters, I'm ready to capitulate -- bring on that new pickup! > I've always had better luck dealing with a local dealer (as in "let's > go out into the parking lot and see how these work") than with trying to > get information direct from Yakima. YMMV Amen. My Ex (see above) was about to buy a rack at REI Portland, and was told: "No, our liability insurance carrier will not allow us to help you fit the rack to your vehicle." She told them to buzz off, and got her Yakima rack elsewhere. FWIW, we ended up fine-tuning the installation a little, but Yakima's instructions were very clear. Maybe the best I've seen. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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