Installing Yakima Tracks on Camper Top

Yeah I guess most folks don't move theirs much, I do move mine on occasion. If I'm not carrying anything else I'll move them further apart to give more support for my touring boat but they have to be closer together for the bike rack, Space Booster, whitewater boat, etc. I've moved them closer together to move a couple of tables once as well; the back had boxes of other household stuff. I was thinking the capnuts being rounded should be fine under his mattress as opposed to regular nuts or even acorn nuts which may poke holes or tear it.

 

You could use binding posts but you would need to know the thickness of the shell and tracks to order the right ones. https://www.mcmaster.com/#binding-posts/

 

I installed Yakima products for 10 years. I’ve never heard of tapering the tracks. I would think it would put a lot of unwanted stress on the towers and bars. Most Yakima accessories require 32-34 inches of space between the bars so most people never change the spacing. When carrying boats, lumber or anything else long I would recommend a lot more space between the bars.

 

Finally did mine fairly easy just had to get bigger screws the ones that came with it were to short

 

My advice is to mount the tracks as far to the rear of the cap as possible. That way when you load something long you don't have to worry about hitting/scratching the top edge of the cap.

In the picture, the (factory mounted) tracks could have been mounted a couple of inches further back and then I wouldn't have to pad the edge of the cap every time I load something long.

 

Subbed for potential install

 

Why, the cam nuts adjust in the tracks, it looks better, the tracks are not towards the outside edge of the canopy at the rear. To each his own.

 

Dead post revival: approximately how long has it taken you all for the install of just the tracks? Debating two different mismatched toppers at the moment. The truck is black. The options are 1) an ARE with access side window with tracks already installed on top in gold for $700 or 2) magnetic grey LEER 100XR without the tracks for $500. I personally think the black with magnetic grey would be much less of an eyesore, but I'll need to mount my own tracks. Open to any and all rec's.

 

The side windoors would be the deal breaker for me- the tracks aren't that expensive but the windoors are really expensive to buy separately. You can always repaint it yourself, pay someone to do it, have it wrapped or spray it with bedliner.

 

A local body shop quoted me at 1,200$ to paint it. But maybe the windoors will make the eyesore worth it.

 

$1200 is absolutely nuts. There's not that much to them, I'd do it myself before I paid that (disclaimer, I have some experience repairing fiberglass and using a paint gun but it's honestly not that hard with a little practice). Another option would be to do the prep work yourself since there's where the real time is then take them the prepped shell.

 

It was pretty easy for me to install the tracks on mine and I would do it again. Less than 2 hours though I didn’t have a stop watch.

 

Tracks are an easy install. Just don't rush. Take your time and lay everything out. My shell has a seam near the edge of the top. I ended up mounting 1" off the seam, this made the tracks not parallel, but it looked better. I've only had to adjust the cross bars once, so no big deal.

 

The factory installation on my Leer isn't parallel either. Doesn't really affect much, I just have to get the right cross bar in the front and back when I put the rack on, they won't fit the other way because the distance is slightly different.

 

Has anyone heard of fiberglass shells cracking because of rooftop tent usage?

 

Just wanted to give a shout out to WESTADVENTURES! Installed my tracks this weekend following your instructions. I have a SNUGTOP Rebel. I put my tracks 40" apart, 20" from center, and ran them parallel with each other. Needed longer stainless screws due to the thickness of the canopy, used 1.5" 10/32 stainless button head screws, replacing the 1" that come in the pkg. HD carries the screws. Used painters tape to protect the paint, measuring multiple times...driling once! Came out perfect! Putting rack on today.

 

FYI.. If you have a Snugtop shell make sure to install the rails on the section of your shell that has the honeycomb. This is per recommendation by Snugtop (called them directly) and confirmed by 3 separate Snugtop shell retailers. The honeycomb is the thicker portion of the shell. You can tell where this section is by looking inside your shell on the underneath side of the roof. Look from the edges (above the windows) towards the center of the shell and you should see a bump where the shell gets thicker. This is where the honeycomb starts. Snugtop and retailers both said to make sure you install the rails in the honeycomb. Recommendation was about an inch inside the honeycomb.

On my shell (SnugTop Extra Vision, 6 foot bed, purchased in 2016) this means the rails will not line up perfectly the existing factory rubber strips running along the top of the cab but will offset just a bit towards the center of the shell/truck. A bummer esthetically but worth the slight visual offset to insure use of the reinforced section as advised.

 

Yes, my rails are about an inch inside the edge of the honeycomb. That honeycomb measures about 42.5-43" wide.

 

I'm just trying to understand why they would recommend that. If you tighten down the bolts in that section, you will start to compress the honeycomb in there. It's basically just cardboard. My thinking is that it would be stronger mounted just outside of the honeycomb. I thought the honeycomb was just to help keep the large span of the roof rigid, not for weight supporting capability.

 

Maybe they use some type of spacer between the holes to prevent crushing.