What to do with Yakima roof mounts?

So, while I doubt this is common, I figure it can't hurt to ask anyway....

I recently bought a shell, and it has 4 Yakima landing pads pre-installed (straight through the roof, not on tracks). The problem is, Yakima seems to think their products are made of gold, and want at least $350 for the "control towers" bars and locks, not to mention any other accessories I might want (basket or ski rack)...

So, eight that said, are there any other non Yakima systems that are compatible with the mounts, or even the screw holes, and is actually reasonably priced? I would love the extra storage, but not for the rip off prices they are asking.....

So.. any ideas?

 

Often, Thule and Yakima are interchangeable. For example, they both use the same track system - so Thule parts will fit into a Yakima track.

I'm pretty sure this is the case with the landing pads, too, but you'll have to verify that on your own.

That said, you can often do well getting the parts you need off of Ebay or Craigslist.

 

You can find control towers, bars and cores easily on ebay. I bought my whole Yakima setup used for my Tacoma shell on ebay, just as individual parts as I could find them and as the prices were right. Yakima parts last a crazy long time. I still have my last full rack I used on my Subaru, it's a 15 year old rack with bike, ski, canoe and kayak accessories and all works as day one and still in good cosmetic condition. WD40 cleans Yak parts to near new quality.

 

I guess finding parts isn't totally hard, but finding them for a usable price still is. I'm sorry, but it is crazy seeing them ask $160 for some plastic, and then them having the audacity to ask another $60 for locks that should have been included in the first place....

/steps of high horse..

OK, i know good things are always overpriced, i just was hoping there was something also good, that i could use with my setup, that didn't make me feel like i was getting bent over...

 

You won't need the locks. At least, not for the towers. They are practically impossible to get off quickly, and if they have the time to grab them - well, the locks won't make much difference.

For the gear - get a cable and regular bike lock or some such. The only advantage to the thule/yakima system in having all the locks keyed the same.

 

On Yakima control towers, it literally takes seconds to remove a pair of towers and an attached bar if no cores are used and locked. Just the landing pads and rail would remain. Control towers design is different from rail grabbers. So I would recommend locking cores to protect your investment.

Yakima control tower instructions: http://www.rackattack.com/product-pages/product-pdf/yakima-control-tower-instructions.pdf

 

Check ebay and craigslist for used parts.

What I did is went to Orsracksdirect.com and figured out what parts I needed. Then browsed ebay and bought them used individually. The only thing I couldn't find used were the tracks which I bought new off Amazon for about $120 and a set of locks which I bought at REI. I got my whole Thule system for around $225. Then I also found a set of used Thule Glide and set kayak saddles for my kayak for $70. I've been patientently waiting to find another set of used kayak saddles for my fiancee's kayak for the cheap. Still no luck yet so we're just using those foam yakima saddles for her kayak for now.

 

I shouldn't have spoken universally, I guess.

The new Thule 460 are pretty hard to remove. The locks only serve to keep the plastic fascia on - 10 seconds with a screwdriver and that's toast anyway. After that, they would need to undo 4 bolts that are a pain in the ass to get to.

So, yeah, depending on what system you get, the locks might be better or worse.