Tried the fit guide, and Thule recommended the "high" foot. Anyone using the standard foot? I measured 5 inches from the channel to the roofline, which is what the standard foot says it clears the gutter by. Even if it fits, I worry that slight sag in the load bar would mean roof contact...

Anyone mounted a Thule/Sportrack/Yakima etc. that can answer this for me, on a genII? Just want to know if I need the higher gutter mount feet to cleat that huge roof on the back. I'd rather use the standard height ones, otherwise the front will be way up there...

Yakima recommends the std foot for gen II's. It recommends the taller foot for Gen I's. I used the stndrd foot for both. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Not sure about Thule.

Don't forget though. Both will get snagged easily on brush off road much more so than the OE rack if you have that option in Betsy. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

I use a standard Thule up front with the cross bar attached with custom steel brackets in the rear.
Some loads may be carried better with the tall fronts.

Standard Yaks on my 95. I had an OEM rack, so I have the rubber bumpers on the roof ribs. The back bar touches the bumpers and presses down oh so very slightly on the roof. Nothing at all like it's denting it, and I much prefer the lower sitting point.

I had a Terzo on Betsy one through three, so I'm not too worried about snagging (although I did hit a low hanging branch hard enough one time to pull the rack and basket off the roof and onto the trail behind me!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />) - I couldn't put one on Betsy4 because of the lack of gutters. Now I have gutters again (but no factory rack), so I'm just gonna rack it again with some form of multi-system. Nice to know I can fit a standard one though. Wasn't sure if it was higher than my genI roof or not - nice to know it isn't... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> Thanks fellas.

Just to update, I found a Terzo roofrack on Kijiji, called about it, and then went and picked it up (real good price!). Almost identical to the one I had on BetsyI-III. Japanese manufacturer too, so appropriate. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Like this:


Between myself and mitsulvr (Betsy III's current owner) we beat the old Terzo rack up pretty good (low branches and stuff), but there's enough bits left to make one more good bar, so with the long roof on Betsy V, I'll have three bars. Now I need to find a basket...

Hi, I hope I am not hijacking this thread but I went through the whole Thule experience last summer - wondering which one fits. Thule told me to "use the tall one". I didn't believe them at first but they are right. It is really high but my rack sits down in between the rails about half-way. If you want to use the rack on the highway at 60+, you will want a windscreen - the buffeting gets sever with just the rack alone. If you have canoes on it, disregard.

The windscreen must be stiff or it buffets. I used 6061 AL cut on a water-jet. It is VERY quiet and even with it loaded. I hardy know it is up there at 70+. While we were making the CAD file, we added the diamond-star logo. I used 1" sq tubing with 1/8" wall. There is one support down the middle and 1/8" x 1" expanded metal for the floor. I can easily stand on the rack with very little deflection and use it sometimes use it as a shooting platform for rock-chucks if the wind isn't blowing too much. I guess I could have thrown a couple of chairs on if for our annual Spokane St Patrick's day parade. There is about 1/2" between the ridge of the roof and the bottom of the rack rail.

I hope this helps. Cheers, Jeff





















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For the Yakima fit, here's what I did when we had the '98. I couldn't find a single picture of my rig to help illustrate what I'm talking about though.

You can get by with the regular tower, but if you are mounting toward the rear you may not have much clearance between the rear cross bar and roof. That made it difficult for me to mount many of the Yakima accessories. Probably OK if you are planning to mount a cargo basket with u-bolts though.

On the '98 I took off the factory rack. I already had the Yakima 1A towers so I purchased the hi rise kit which is basically the spacers and additional hardware you get if you buy the hi rise towers as a package. I cut the hi rise spacers down so the rack didn't look so freakish and the crossbars sat closer to the roof. If you go this route you have to replace or shorten the bolts that run (vertically) through the spacer. Hope that all makes sense.

Not that I ever had a problem with the Yakima (it is still going strong on the '89), but if you are going to put a cargo rack up there and load it down, I like the Thule towers because they are one solid piece of metal vs the composite yakima tower.

Nice job on that rack. Functional period...

You need to make a thread and spill the beans on those bumpers, though...

Congrats on the find, Phil. It's always nice to get exactly what you want sometimes!