Any Skiers using OEM roof rails?

Looking to find out if the OEM roof rails work for skiers? Seems like quite a spread on the rails, not sure the distance since I don’t have them yet.

But, for skis around 168-170cm, anyone able to get them roof mounted using this OEM setup?

 

I set some Yakima FatCat Evo 6 on them but the spread was too wide for my wife's board (149 cm) so I ended up grabbing a Bed Rock system and just installing them on it. The OEM bars are also REALLY loud when set in the cross position. So far I haven't really found them useful for much of anything... just don't tell my wife.

 

They're really flimsy too. I bought them after the fact and installed them myself. I've got some buyers remorse.

 

Was it at least close on the 149cm board?

 

The nose and tail effective edge were inbetween so I would have been clamping down on the raised ends. This is with the FatCat which is a little wider then some other systems so your mileage may vary. If you don't already have the OEM bars the Bed Rock system with bars is about the same price and a hell of a lot more functional. My Taco is in the shop getting the transmission looked at but later on when I get it back I could set a couple of boards on the rails and upload the pics so you can get a feel for how wide they actually are.

Same with me. They just don't feel solid and I ended up spending more. I can't in good conscience recommend them to anyone.

 

Same with me. They just don't feel solid and I ended up spending more. I can't in good conscience recommend them to anyone.[/QUOTE]



Ufffff, once again TW comes thru, i was just searching about the oem roof rack, found a local seller selling a set(gen2) and i was searching if they would fit my gen 3. Anyway after reading this i guess a different set is in order.

 

I ran 172mm skis on fatcats and OEM rack for a while. Worked just fine.

 

I actually really like the OEM rack, I use some old offbrand ski holders that work fine for my 170cm skiis and 160cm snowboard.

I've loaded up 100lbs worth of paddleboards/surfboards/kayaks etc... one time even put 160lbs of cargo basket and gear and offroaded with it, technically overloaded but it did great.

In my experience the OEM racks are actually the QUIETEST at highway speeds plus in my opinion they just LOOK a lot better. I like keeping as factory look as possible, I call my mod style "OEM plus" so I like a nice OEM look that flows. Other racks just look out of place to me but that's just a personal opinion.

I'd of course love the extra capacity of a rhino rack but the additional cost is just not worth the additional load capacity for me right now. So far the OEM rack has handled everything I've thrown at it.

 

I just throw mine in the bed. 189cm. Diagonally.

 

I want to avoid that and keep them secure. A bit of an investment for me, so they deserve to be secured.

Sounds like this will work.

I appreciate the replies

 

I understand that as well. Fortunately, I have a tonneau cover. I've tried racks in the past. I like storing them out of sight, personally, and away from all the salty crud that gets kicked up by other cars. And it's much easier to load/unload, and if you've got goofy hands like me, scratches to the roof are to be expected. But factory rails should be able to handle skis without issues.

 

I took some 5' lengths of 1" x 1" square tube and bolted it to some 90 degree bent 1/8" x 1" x 6" bar. I bolted the bent bars to the sliders on the side of the bed. I attached my thule ski rack to that and it has worked great.