Steve Cramer <cramer_at_coe.uga.edu> wrote: >OK, but who wants to have only 48" bars on their car? You can't put 4 >kayaks on 48" bars. Oh, you only transport one or two at a time? No >problem, then. But how many vehicles are actually 48" wide? Even compact cars are closer to 54" or 56". (I'm talking vehicle width--not roofline width). You can always buy 58" bars and cut them down if the extra 2" is risky. Just because Yakima sells 48", 58", and 68" bars doesn't mean we're stuck with those lengths. >> Also, align your bars so they're over a door pillar, >Yakima and Thule have pretty definite ideas about where they want you >to put their racks, and they're almost always right over the door. >Volvos actually come with a locating home in the middle of the door >frame. Disclaimer: before anyone reads too much into what I'm about to say, your roof rack installation is your own business, your own choice, and your own responsibility. They have definite ideas about where you should put their racks for a couple of reasons. Sometimes, it is at the strongest part of the car. Sometimes it's where the widest bar spread is possible. Most of the time, I think it's just a standardized location so someone with no mechanical aptitude can put the towers on the bars at a preselected location and put the towers on the car at a preselected location and it will fit. If you have the knack of fiddling with things, you can get the bars to fit just fine in other spots. If you mount the bars over a pillar or frame member, I see no reason why that mounting location can be any weaker than the factory-recommended location. But, by putting the rack in an other-than-factory-recommended location, you can void the warranty, so caveat emptor. I choose to do so, and it's at my risk, rather than a shared risk with Yakima, but I choose to have bars that fit in better locations than where they sez, and I also choose not to have tiny overlapping circular scars in my forehead or those of my passengers. Custom rack configurations are also possible. Find a good certified welder and tell them your requirements and have them build something that really fits your needs. You could build an over-framed rack like Doug Lloyd's and put your towers in the Yakima/Thule-recommended locations on your roofline, yet have your bars extend forward and rearward another foot or two. This would place your bars farther apart for less possible boat twisting on the saddles, and also put the bars over your windshield and rear window where people are not getting in or out. But, a custom welder is expensive, right? So are factory Yakima and Thule racks. Shawn Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals. http://personals.yahoo.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Oct 16 2001 - 07:39:48 PDT
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