I like wide racks and I cannot lie

[Magnus919]

Tonight's project... removing some whispbars that fit between the rails and replacing them with the widest round bars that the law will allow.

Imagine my disappointment when the svelt Whispbars were too narrow for the free boat sitting in my old man's garage (Old Town Camper 16 RX). I could fit an Old Town Next up there, but nothing much wider.

I get to test the rack in a few days with that very same Old Town Camper.

 

[lowangle al]

I had 72" bars on an old Subi for carrying two boats. People were always hitting their heads on it but it did the job. I've seen people tape tennis balls or other padding to the ends to protect those with soft heads.

Good score on the Camper, a nice rx boat that I would like to have.

 

[latremorej]

No Title

I agree, 72" bars are great.. on the minivan they are high enough that most people can walk under them

 

[Magnus919]

These are actually 78". Humongous! But they fit within the span of the mirrors (only just) which seems to be the prevailing outer limit as far as I could tell. Yeah, I imagine there will be some head bumps. Wish the caps came in colors. I suspect that anything I might try to do to color them probably won't hold up well.

I'm looking forward to seeing two canoes up there, and see if I can entice one or more of my daughters to get out there.

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

Wrapped some red reflective tape around the ends of my wide bars. Works fine most of the time.
I did take care to position the front bars so they weren't directly located in the way of my head as I stand up when getting up from the seat.

 

[Will Derness]

You'll make a lot more canoe friends with bars wide enough for two canoes. If all you can carry is one boat, you're nearly useless when planning shuttles. Keep on going on, you're headed in the right direction

 

[Guest]

I have both wide and narrow bars. I use the single on long drives when going solo. This saves my head even though I also use tennis balls. Quieter too.

 

[stripperguy]

I have two sets of 78" Thule racks. One set for my Honda Element, and another set for my Wrangler LJ. Had the same 78" bars for 20 years or so, just keep swapping out the feet to suit the vehicle. No worries about hitting my head on the Element, and the LJ is waaaay high up there.
But...as I was backing out of a site, I carefully watched my mirrors to be sure I had plenty of room behind me, and I failed to consider that my racks are WIDER than my Jeep!. Yup, snapped the rear mount that I had mounted to my hard top. We had to tie MDB's boat down to the spare tire to keep in in place.

Here is the set up a day or two before my brain fart.

View attachment oA89Qk6ZOfupymWR_EdMhZBf0t0r-EMDcVowAEjxkGATCpjPeyCSLoUv05mwlCX8OlFE_Th3zO6l-9o9eFoeLFo-F8F6mEv6tgGE

 

[lowangle al]

But...as I was backing out of a site, I carefully watched my mirrors to be sure I had plenty of room behind me, and I failed to consider that my racks are WIDER than my Jeep!. Yup, snapped the rear mount that I had mounted to my hard top. We had to tie MDB's boat down to the spare tire to keep in in place.



That was probably better than cracking the hard top, which is what worries me. Are those hard tops fiberglass?

 

[stripperguy]

l al,
Yes they are...and the Wrangler LJ was only built for 2-1/2 years, from mid 2004 to 2006. Mine is an OEM top, no longer available, going up in price every day!! It would be very difficult to replace that top today.
I had through bolted the Thule Tracker II mounts directly to my hard top. Boy, was I glad (well, considering) that it was only the mount that broke!
MDB claims that I wasn't looking behind me, but I was!! However, I didn't look along and above me!!

 

[Magnus919]

No Title

I have both wide and narrow bars. I use the single on long drives when going solo. This saves my head even though I also use tennis balls. Quieter too.

Tennis balls. CHECK.

 

[latremorej]

Another option for the ends are those rubber chair feet caps, you can see them on my pic above... not as forehead friendly as tennis balls but surely visible. I've had that same set on there for a few years now and they are still holding up. And they stay in place at 75mph too!

Jason

 

[latremorej]

SG, I've been there! I had my 17' bell on the roof of my old Chevy aveo... my bars also were wider than that little car. I park on the wall at home so the Mrs can park around me... no driveway car swapping shenanigans in the morning.. anyway, I cut a 3 foot gash in my vinyl siding once the afternoon before a trip, no damage to the yakima bars though. I didn't have any end caps on back then and it was bare metal vs sun heated siding. Lol

Jason

 

[Magnus919]

It works!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Canotrouge]

No Title

What about 8 feet bars... I can squeeze 3 full size tripping canoe on them and put 6 people and there gear in the truck!!

 

[latremorej]

Now that's a loaded truck! You look like an outfitter preparing for a shuttle! Lol

 

[Canotrouge]

Hahaha, not an outfitter, just a bunch of friend going down a favorite ww run of the Lapie river !! We were a lot more people... and I did put more canoes on top of my truck before that, I think my max was 7 canoes on the roof!

 

[Odyssey]

Are there any ideas for a quick fix for temporarily upsizing a factory single rack for a weekend?

 

[lowangle al]

Are there any ideas for a quick fix for temporarily upsizing a factory single rack for a weekend?

I attached 2x6s to a rack that came on an aluminum camper top with U bolts. I chiseled out squares for the upright stubs at the ends and the bars were square so that made it easy. This was a permanent fix.

I may have to rig one up for a Subaru Forrester with a factory rack this fall. I'm thinking 2x4s with enough parachute cord or tie wire and duct tape to make it happen. I will probably run the straps through the open doors which is a PIA, but this is only a temporary fix.

 

[Odyssey]

Thanks Al. I'll measure for U bolts and keep them handy for when I need them.