hey guys I was wondering how much were your ski racks. Thule/Yakima? I am in the market of buying one. I have a 4th gen.
thanks

 

ahh I have a ski hole , that good for me

 

I priced them out and I just decided to do without one. By the time you buy the rack, you still have the mounting kits for whatever activity you plan on doing. I priced my out to be $250.

Right not I'm using a padded roof rack I got when I bought my 14' kayak. I think they retail for like $40-60 or so and I think it's great. I use it also for my surfboard when I drive the Maxima. My Accord and 626's rear seats fold down and I'm about to throw my 7'0 board through. I think I've seen some on eBay. Just find out the part number on the manufactuer's website and find the corresponding model. I know the Maxima's roof rack fits on other more popular roof racked cars.

 

Check out www.thuleracks.com
Or check out www.rackwarehouse.com for price references.
Do a search and there are dozens of places on-line wiht prices.

 

Thanks guys. I guess I really got to do my research before I go to Eastern Mountain Sports and get ripped off!

 

I just got a Yakima Big Powderhound from Ski Chalet in northern Virginia. I got it for $63 + tax which is a lot less than retail and less than I've seen it used on ebay. I was down in DC for fall break and I couldn't pass up that deal. Everything up here in NY is full retail since Yakima is pretty strict on its pricing. They have a website but I'm not sure if they have it on there.

A roof rack does get pretty expensive once you add all the accessories. I've got a pretty complete setup including 2 bike trays, a luggage basket, fairing, and now the ski rack. The lock cores are almost $10 a piece since Yakima knows how to gouge you pretty well. I got most of it during a 20% off sale at REI but everything its over $600 if I had paid retail. I would have used the pass through but the car I have up here ('94 Diamante) doesn't have any type of pass through or fold down seat and my board doesn't come close to fitting in the backseat. I'm going to have the group of people I snowboard w/ reimburse me for part of it when the season starts.

 

Yakima's are ok. I had one on my Max but transferred it to my wife's Passat.
Mine was expensive after all the accessories, as mentioned previously it came to about $600 for a complete bike/ski rack.
I believe that Yakima racks are prone to rust however...YMMV

 

Most of my rack has been ok on rust except the bolts that hold the fairing on. Those rusted out completely and I had to buy new ones down at Home Depot. New stainless ones were about $1.50. There are also some light rust stains on the bike skewer threads but nothing major to compromise its function. I've also put that thing through some extremely bad weather in upstate NY w/ road salt everywhere. The rack has some gouges and scratches to the load bars now so I'll have to see how those hold up. There's no question that the rack is strong though. I accidentally parked against a branch w/ my bike on the roof and there was enough pressure to snap one of the tabs on my fork. The rack came out unscathed but my fork is done.

In comparison, Thule has some better design features but they cost even more. I don't know that much about the other brands except they usually don't offer as many options for loads or they have fewer fitment kits.

 

I have a Thule and my friend has a Yakima. After years of similar usage and care (mountain biking in the Pacific NW), the Thule has held up slightly better than the Yakima (tends to rust, some bolts and skewers needed replacement). Look carefully at the available accessory attachments relative to your desired usage though ... last I checked the Yakima had a better assortment for those who ski or snowboard. Saris racks are very nice as well.

 

i picked up a set of barrecrafters rack system for about $200. it beats buying the thule system because the thules have to be purchased all separately (bars, adapters, feet, clamps, locks, etc) and cost alot more. the nice thing is, the barrecrafter can accomodate thule add ons, because it has the square bars, plus the thule add ons are that much more superior, and also i can use the barrecrafter system on almost any car. so now i have the barrecrafter system, with the big mouth thule bike racks and the thule snowboard rack, which can hold 4 boards, 2 on top of each other.