GEN 2 ROOF RACKS & TRACKS INSTALL

[windguy]

 

FORUM RACK THREADS

 

Before sharing my install notes, I thought it would be useful to reference the Gen 2 threads I found regarding roof racks and rails. There may be more. The first one I found to be most useful when I started researching rack options even before I ordered my van. For my cargo van I wasn't able to order factory rails and the cost from Ford parts to add them after delivery was crazy expensive. Aftermarket tracks and racks would be my only reasonable option.

 

http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/2406-roof-attachment-points-on-2014-transit-connect/

 

http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/6322-cross-bars-for-2017-tc-wagon/

 

http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/5542-diy-roof-rack-for-under100/

 

http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/6179-roof-rack-cross-bars/

 

http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/4245-can-you-add-roof-rack-rails/

 

http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/5305-factory-roof-rails-revisited/

 

 

MY INSTALL

 

I finally got around to adding tracks and a rack setup for my 2015 TC XLT LWB Cargo and want to share my install. I did the install a few months ago so some of the details are a bit fuzzy at this point. I didn’t have an immediate need for racks but wanted to have them available in case the need arises. Primary use will be to offload windsurf/surfboards from inside the van to the roof rack when I need more space inside.

 

I decided to get all rack parts made by Yakima rather than cobbling them from different sources. My understanding is that the track design is universal from Thule, Yakima, Van-tech and others. Yakima rack items are expensive and price fixed, but they appear to be well made and integrate well. A few times a year it seems Yakima allows its resellers to discount their items up to 20% off, so that’s the best time to buy if you’re price conscious.

 

 

MOUNTING HOLES

 

The TC has five mounting holes on each side. The holes are covered with a black plastic plug that you can easily remove using a plier from the inside by squeezing the side tabs together or I’m sure you can lever it out with a screw driver from the roof side. The back four plugs are easily accessible from the cargo area. The front plug is shielded behind the cab area roof liner. I’m not sure how this myth got started that you can’t use the front mounting hole because of the side curtain airbags. We all know that the factory rails are using this mounting point as the rails extend the full length of the rain gutter. I used a flashlight to peek behind the headliner to see the forward mounting hole. Not sure how to describe this but there is a flange extending from the side of the roof that projects out and shields the mounting hole from the airbag. You can see the air bag folded up and sitting well below this flange. Perhaps 4-5 inches between the mounting hole, then the flange, then air bag. The front mounting hole doesn’t appear to be affected by the air bag unless I’m grossly missing something. Wish I could take a picture but it would be hard to capture in a tight dark space. You would have to remove the headliner if you want to use this mounting hole unless you can wrangle in some type of captive nut from the roof side. I don’t think it’s worth that effort unless you really need to have a wide spread for your cross bars. Also, the roof starts sloping down more as you get closer to the front so that’s another consideration. I considered drilling my own hole that was more forward but ruled that out as there is extra plating in areas around the rain gutter and thought best just to adapt to using the existing four holes.

 

 

TRACKS

 

I ended up getting 6ft long tracks, but in hindsight 5 footers would have been just fine. I didn’t want to end up too short and thought I can add my own mounting holes but I would recommend going with the 5ft option. Verify the exact length before ordering. Plus, the 6ft track from Yakima is hard to find online. I was able to get them at a semi-local pickup truck shell installer as they use these for their installs. You can order the 5ft rails from any Yakima reseller. The tracks come with mounting hardware, either plusnuts or capnuts. The place I got my tracks from told me I’d be better off using my own hardware, but I wish I had taken the install bag of hardware with capnuts. It’s hard to find capnuts in the thread size I wanted and I ended up harvesting some from an old fluorescent light fixture.  

 

Capnuts vs Plusnuts Comparison

 

https://www.etrailer.com/comparison.aspx?pc=Y8810155&pc2=Y8810102

 

 

MOUNTING THE TRACKS

 

The tracks come with end caps that you would normally be held in place using a mounting hole. Because the van mounting holes didn’t line up with this, I used a short stainless steel bolt and nut to hold the front end cap in place. I didn’t use the rear cap since I want to be able to remove the landing pad nuts that sit in the channel of the track without having to remove the cap. For bolts I used stainless steel 8-32 threaded bolts to match the capnuts I found. Two bolts were ¾” (back holes) and two were 1” (front holes). On the inside I used a 3/16 x 1” fender washer because the hole opening is pretty large and I wanted a large diameter washer. The forward two mounting holes are hard to get to on the inside due to the slider track framing. It’s a two person job to hold the bolt and get the washers and nuts in place. That’s why a capnut is useful. I drilled my own mounting holes in the tracks so they’d line up with the existing mounting holes in the roof. Because the mounting holes in the roof are rather large, I used a 3/16 x 1 ¼ “ neoprene washer to seal up the hole opening. Before mounting, I applied an ample amount of DAP Auto/Marine sealant around the hole opening and then put the neoprene washers in place. Also used the sealant around the bolt threads and on the inside fender washer.

 

 

CROSSBARS

 

The Yakima and Thule systems use a landing pad that mounts to the track using two bolts and nuts that sit in channel in the track. You can remove the landing pads if your racks aren’t being used all the time but I think it’s easier to leave them in place. Yakima provides caps to cover the landing pad and it sticks up few inches above the tracks, not a big issue. The cross bars attach to the landing pads using a tower. For the Yakima system, the Skyline towers are used for this setup. You can also order a set of locks called SKS cores that are very easy to install and help secure your rack in place. The cross bars and tower can easily be removed together when not in use. I went for 60” wide cross bars. Yakima offers three types of crossbars. The round ones are the original style and the other two are of an aero design. I went with the Corebar aero style for reduced noise. I considered the round style with the thought of adding some type of roller that would make it easy get something large on the roof, like a sheet of plywood.

 

 

ITEMS ORDERED

 

Below is a list of the items I ordered. I got mine from rackattack.com since they had all items in stock with free shipping and 20% off at the time. Total cost around $540 plus misc hardware and sealant. As I said, Yakima is expensive even when it’s on sale. Best to verify part numbers as things may have changed since I ordered.

 

Tracks: Yakima 72”, #8001607, set of 2 (the 60” track with capnuts is #8001135)

 

Landing Pads: Yakima Landing Pad 1, #8000221, 2 sets of 2

 

Towers: Yakima Skyline Tower, #8000148, set of 4

 

Crossbars: Yakima 60-inch Corebar with endcaps, #800422, set of 2

 

Locks: Yakima SKS Cores, #8007204, 4-pack

 

 

Edited November 25, 2017 by windguy

[windguy]

Below are some pics of the install. First two pics show the inside mounting hardware for the back two holes. Last pics show the neoprene washer used as a gasket over the mounting holes.

 

Edited November 25, 2017 by windguy

[windguy]

Pics of the track - First three pics show the front end cap held in place with the small bolt/nut. If used on a truck shell, this would be a regular mounting point. The last pic shows a good cross section view of the track and the channel that holds the mounting nut for the landing pad bolts. You can see that the weld sticks up a bit in the rear of the gutter so the track doesn't lay perfectly flat in this area. Didn't seem to be an issue and I wanted the track as far back as possible using the rear mounting hole.

 

Edited November 25, 2017 by windguy

[windguy]

Last pics showing the rack in place

First pic shows the landing pad in position in the rail with it's plastic cover.

 

Edited November 25, 2017 by windguy

[Fifty150]

More of a pain in the a** with a wagon.  Interior and headliner obstructs access.

[desert_connect]

50 minutes ago, windguy said:

 

FORUM RACK THREADS

 

Before sharing my install notes, I thought it would be useful to reference the Gen 2 threads I found regarding roof racks and rails. There may be more. The first one I found to be most useful when I started researching rack options even before I ordered my van. For my cargo van I wasn't able to order factory rails and the cost from Ford parts to add them after delivery was crazy expensive. Aftermarket tracks and racks would be my only reasonable option.

 

http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/2406-roof-attachment-points-on-2014-transit-connect/

 

http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/6322-cross-bars-for-2017-tc-wagon/

 

http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/5542-diy-roof-rack-for-under100/

 

http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/6179-roof-rack-cross-bars/

 

http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/4245-can-you-add-roof-rack-rails/

 

http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/5305-factory-roof-rails-revisited/

 

 

MY INSTALL

 

I finally got around to adding tracks and a rack setup for my 2015 TC XLT LWB Cargo and want to share my install. I did the install a few months ago so some of the details are a bit fuzzy at this point. I didn’t have an immediate need for racks but wanted to have them available in case the need arises. Primary use will be to offload windsurf/surfboards from inside the van to the roof rack when I need more space inside.

 

I decided to get all rack parts made by Yakima rather than cobbling them from different sources. My understanding is that the track design is universal from Thule, Yakima, Van-tech and others. Yakima rack items are expensive and price fixed, but they appear to be well made and integrate well. A few times a year it seems Yakima allows its resellers to discount their items up to 20% off, so that’s the best time to buy if you’re price conscious.

 

 

MOUNTING HOLES

 

The TC has five mounting holes on each side. The holes are covered with a black plastic plug that you can easily remove using a plier from the inside by squeezing the side tabs together or I’m sure you can lever it out with a screw driver from the roof side. The back four plugs are easily accessible from the cargo area. The front plug is shielded behind the cab area roof liner. I’m not sure how this myth got started that you can’t use the front mounting hole because of the side curtain airbags. We all know that the factory rails are using this mounting point as the rails extend the full length of the rain gutter. I used a flashlight to peek behind the headliner to see the forward mounting hole. Not sure how to describe this but there is a flange extending from the side of the roof that projects out and shields the mounting hole from the airbag. You can see the air bag folded up and sitting well below this flange. Perhaps 4-5 inches between the mounting hole, then the flange, then air bag. The front mounting hole doesn’t appear to be affected by the air bag unless I’m grossly missing something. Wish I could take a picture but it would be hard to capture in a tight dark space. You would have to remove the headliner if you want to use this mounting hole unless you can wrangle in some type of captive nut from the roof side. I don’t think it’s worth that effort unless you really need to have a wide spread for your cross bars. Also, the roof starts sloping down more as you get closer to the front so that’s another consideration. I considered drilling my own hole that was more forward but ruled that out as there is extra plating in areas around the rain gutter and thought best just to adapt to using the existing four holes.

 

 

TRACKS

 

I ended up getting 6ft long tracks, but in hindsight 5 footers would have been just fine. I didn’t want to end up too short and thought I can add my own mounting holes but I would recommend going with the 5ft option. Verify the exact length before ordering. Plus, the 6ft track from Yakima is hard to find online. I was able to get them at a semi-local pickup truck shell installer as they use these for their installs. You can order the 5ft rails from any Yakima reseller. The tracks come with mounting hardware, either plusnuts or capnuts. The place I got my tracks from told me I’d be better off using my own hardware, but I wish I had taken the install bag of hardware with capnuts. It’s hard to find capnuts in the thread size I wanted and I ended up harvesting some from an old fluorescent light fixture.  

 

Capnuts vs Plusnuts Comparison

 

https://www.etrailer.com/comparison.aspx?pc=Y8810155&pc2=Y8810102

 

 

MOUNTING THE TRACKS

 

The tracks come with end caps that you would normally be held in place using a mounting hole. Because the van mounting holes didn’t line up with this, I used a short stainless steel bolt and nut to hold the front end cap in place. I didn’t use the rear cap since I want to be able to remove the landing pad nuts that sit in the channel of the track without having to remove the cap. For bolts I used stainless steel 8-32 threaded bolts to match the capnuts I found. Two bolts were ¾” (back holes) and two were 1” (front holes). On the inside I used a 3/16 x 1” fender washer because the hole opening is pretty large and I wanted a large diameter washer. The forward two mounting holes are hard to get to on the inside due to the slider track framing. It’s a two person job to hold the bolt and get the washers and nuts in place. That’s why a capnut is useful. I drilled my own mounting holes in the tracks so they’d line up with the existing mounting holes in the roof. Because the mounting holes in the roof are rather large, I used a 3/16 x 1 ¼ “ neoprene washer to seal up the hole opening. Before mounting, I applied an ample amount of DAP Auto/Marine sealant around the hole opening and then put the neoprene washers in place. Also used the sealant around the bolt threads and on the inside fender washer.

 

 

CROSSBARS

 

The Yakima and Thule systems use a landing pad that mounts to the track using two bolts and nuts that sit in channel in the track. You can remove the landing pads if your racks aren’t being used all the time but I think it’s easier to leave them in place. Yakima provides caps to cover the landing pad and it sticks up few inches above the tracks, not a big issue. The cross bars attach to the landing pads using a tower. For the Yakima system, the Skyline towers are used for this setup. You can also order a set of locks called SKS cores that are very easy to install and help secure your rack in place. The cross bars and tower can easily be removed together when not in use. I went for 60” wide cross bars. Yakima offers three types of crossbars. The round ones are the original style and the other two are of an aero design. I went with the Corebar aero style for reduced noise. I considered the round style with the thought of adding some type of roller that would make it easy get something large on the roof, like a sheet of plywood.

 

 

ITEMS ORDERED

 

Below is a list of the items I ordered. I got mine from rackattack.com since they had all items in stock with free shipping and 20% off at the time. Total cost around $540 plus misc hardware and sealant. As I said, Yakima is expensive even when it’s on sale. Best to verify part numbers as things may have changed since I ordered.

 

Tracks: Yakima 72”, #8001607, set of 2 (the 60” track with capnuts is #8001135)

 

Landing Pads: Yakima Landing Pad 1, #8000221, 2 sets of 2

 

Towers: Yakima Skyline Tower, #8000148, set of 4

 

Crossbars: Yakima 60-inch Corebar with endcaps, #800422, set of 2

 

Locks: Yakima SKS Cores, #8007204, 4-pack

 

 

Excellent write up on your roof rack install.

Thanks!

[G B L]

I can see you are an over thinker.  The result is a Wonderful Job!!

[windguy]

21 hours ago, desert_connect said:

Excellent write up on your roof rack install.

Thanks!

 

20 hours ago, G B L said:

I can see you are an over thinker.  The result is a Wonderful Job!!

 

Over Thinker? Ha, ha, big time - blame it on being an engineer in aerospace for 13 years on top of being slightly anal. Way too much analysis for even the most simple tasks. I've learned to live with myself, for the most part, but it's not easy. 

 

Thanks Guys! Hope my post helps another forumites down the road. There certainly have been enough questions asked about racks over the years.

 

Edited November 26, 2017 by windguy

[jakeru]

Hi windguy, I recently took delivery of a 2014 Transit Connect Wagon (more about it in my introduction thread here http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/6614-excited-new-owner-of-2014-xlt-wagon/ ) and first issue needing to be dealt with are some water leaks in the rear, dripping down in front of rearmost (3rd seating row) windows off the sides of the headliner, down onto the trim panels below those windows.

 

I suspect the Yakima rack system may not be completely water tight.  It was raining and wind was blowing the rain sideways like crazy when it was leaking, but living in the Pacific Northwest, waterproofing is still a must.

 

After removing some of the Yakima bike carrier and cargo box accessories, it appears we have Yakima rails.  They are mounted partially into the channels, but cocked sideways so one edge is down into the channel, and one edge up out of the channel.  Is this ok, or any theories why it got installed this way at all in the first place?  (Any ideas on what needs to be done to correct the water leak?)

 

I was reading about yakima's riv-nut system (edit: Yakima brands theirs "plus nut") which Yakima recommends for a generic installation of their rail onto a generic sheetmetal roof.  They use a rubber washer underneath the plus-nut (above the sheetmetal surface) , and they recommend a blob of silicone caulk into the threaded hole (10-32, a Yakima customer service person told me today), to waterproof the system.  (Yakima's installation instructions here: http://assets.yakima.com/Product/instructions/8001127/1 )

 

Initially, I was thinking I'd remove the rails, dig/tap out the old silicone, re-install silicone and hopefully correct problem.  But now I'm reading in your threads about possible factory oval/oblong shaped holes.  Are these oval holes found on the Wagon version also?  Thanks for any tips on how to proceed, and appreciate the detailed write-up!  Attaching a couple photos we took of the leading end of the rails on each side.

 

Edited November 28, 2017 by jakeru

[windguy]

 

@jakeru

 

Regarding the mounting holes, my guess is that they are the same for all vans, but that's not verified.

 

There is something wrong in the way those tracks are mounted. Perhaps they are too wide for the gutter.

My Yakima tracks look different than your so I'm guessing these are not a Yakima product. It doesn't matter whose they are as long as they fit and can be mounted flat.

My tracks are about 1 11/16 wide and the gutter is about 1 13/16 wide at the bottom and 2" at the top. Rough measurements.

What's the width of your track?

 

The length also seems longer than what Yakima offers. Yours appears to be close to 7ft and the longest track Yakima offers is 72".

 

Can you tell how the tracks are bolted down?

Since you have a wagon version with a headliner, you don't have easy access to the inside/nut end of the mounting bolts. Most headliners are pain to get behind because of all the trim pieces.

Perhaps another wagon owner can comment on the feasibility of peeling back the headliner so you have access. I'm not sure how you can do this otherwise.

I really think these tracks need to be remounted properly if they will fit flat in the gutter. If not, then you need rails that fit right. Your crossbars appear to have a spread of 4ft or less so I would go with 5ft rails and plug up the front mounting hole with a Ford factory plug. I have no doubt that the mounting holes are the source of your water leak.

 

Is there a chance that your van is a pre-production unit?

If it's a 2014 and it was at the 2013 SEMA show, that would have been in early Nov 2013 and someone spent some time fixing up this van.

Wasn't the first Gen 2 a partial year production, latter part of 2014 and then 2015 was a full production year?

My point is that maybe things aren't quite the same on your van versus the production version so mounting holes might be different. Just a thought.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2017 by windguy

[jakeru]

Thanks for the quick reply, windguy!

 

I just measured the tracks, and the extruded aluminum portion is 80" long, and 1-15/16" wide.  Looking at them in person, you are right that they are simply too wide to fit flatly in the channels.  The seller said something about this being one of the first batch of imported transit connects in this newer body style, but I don't know much more than that, yet.  I just took delivery on this Wagon a couple days ago.  You are correct that the headliner blocks access underneath.

 

If not Yakima tracks, I wonder what they are?  The previous owner mentioned something about Yakima had been one of the sponsors this car's customization, and I can add that this car came with loads of Yakima hardware and equipment (skybox, bicycle carriers, fairing, round cross-bars) mounted above these tracks.

 

The tracks appear to be screwed down by a fairly large number of rather common looking, e.g., electro-plated silver Phillips head screws.  I could see at least a spot or two on each track where a hole was present all the way through the sheetmetal, but screws were missing!  Seems like an obvious pathway for water to be running in, so at least addressing those open holes will be a no-brainer.

 

It was hard for me to tell if these holes were simply drilled, or threaded.  As lighting was poor, I was looking through the (installed) rails, and it was dark outside, I couldn't get a very good look at these holes in the sheetmetal.  I'm pretty sure I didn't see any raised lip above the sheetmetal around the hole, like I'd expect if there were nutserts installed.

 

Maybe there were originally screws presents in these open holes, and they stripped?  Sure looks like a screw used to be there.

 

Edited November 28, 2017 by jakeru

[jakeru]

I believe my rails are Yakima "Whispbar".

 

Although it's still a mystery what these screws are actually threading into, maybe I should be thankful mine aren't mounted with pop-rivets , as called for in the installation instructions!  http://www.whispbar.com.au/instructions/Q7

[windguy]

20 hours ago, jakeru said:

I believe my rails are Yakima "Whispbar".

 

Although it's still a mystery what these screws are actually threading into, maybe I should be thankful mine aren't mounted with pop-rivets , as called for in the installation instructions!  http://www.whispbar.com.au/instructions/Q7

 

A quick search on Whispbar shows me it's a discontinued product for Yakima but still available in Australia and NZ.

 

Because those tracks are mounted on an angle, I question how the rest of the rack properly aligns since it's used to mounting on a flat tracks. That inward pitch is funky.

Because you have a roof leak problem, if it were my van, I'd remove those tracks and replace them with regular Yakima tracks that fit in your gutter properly. Not sure what else you can harvest off your racking. You will probably need new landing pads and then the towers have to mate to the landing pads. You'll have to dissect all those parts. Taking the old tracks off will reveal what's going on underneath and to help explain where the leaks are coming from. I'm sure the leak is close to where the mounting holes are located. You'll also be able to see what type of mounting holes you have, the standard on production vans like in my pics or something pre-production. Since you have the headliner inside, the plusnuts that Yakima offers might a solution for you. I have a feeling that is what was used with the existing tracks. You'd have to do more research, but I'm guessing the plusnuts are like a molly bolt that you use for mounting to walls when you can't access the inside and have to work only from the outside. The plusnut will expand inside the van and create a brace. You may be able to use the existing mounting holes if that threaded insert exists. When you remount you can use an ample amount of auto/marine sealant to waterproof your mounting holes and use some type of gasket like the neoprene washers I used if necessary.

 

ADD-ON - found two videos on Youtube on installing plusnuts in general. This might be the ticket for a wagon van owner without having to remove the inside headliner

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2017 by windguy

[G B L]

What is the track material of the Too wide Tracks?  

[jakeru]

Thanks for the info and relaying your thoughts, Windguy!  I think you're right I'll need to remove the tracks and see what's going on underneath the tracks.  For the time being, as a temporary measure to reduce water intrusion, I rolled up some pieces of gorilla tape, adhesive-side out, and rammed them into the holes that appeared to be drilled through the sheetmetal, but without any hardware.  All the landing pad, tower, and crossbar/etc hardware that came mounted here appear to be "traditional" Yakima.  Seems like it might be a heavier duty round profile bars.  To be honest, I'm not sure we'll be using the rack much.  If we can preserve it, in case we have future need for it, however, great.  A bit hesitant to install a different track if it means drilling even more holes in the roof of this car.

 

GBL - the track material sure seems to be extruded aluminum.  It's also got a black finish of some sort.  I think I read in whispbar's literature that their tracks use a black powder coat - which seems plausible for mine, based on what I've seen.

[windguy]

On 11/29/2017 at 8:45 PM, jakeru said:

A bit hesitant to install a different track if it means drilling even more holes in the roof of this car.

 

 

There's a good chance you can use the existing holes provided they did a good job in installing something like a plusnut to bolt to. I'm assuming they did.

With new tracks you can easily drill holes in the tracks to line up with the existing mounting holes. Then you can have a nice water tight track that sits flush in your gutter.

I'd want to get those old tracks off ASAP. No telling what damage they are doing to the edge of the paint on the gutter and any water damage you're getting inside the van.
Putting gorilla tape in the exposed hole is as you say a temporary fix at best. Please keep us posted.

[jakeru]

I may have found a good alternative to the Yakima plus nuts, from the McMaster-Carr catalog:

  https://www.mcmaster.com/#97217a359/=1ahm72u

 

Zinc/Yellow Plated Steel Rivet Nut for Plastics

10-32 Internal Thread, 0.020"-0.175" Material Thickness

$5.71 per pack of 10

97217A359

 

Material	Zinc Yellow-Chromate-Plated Steel
Thread Size	10-32
Thread Type	UNF
Thread Spacing	Fine
Thread Fit	Class 2B
Thread Direction	Right Hand
Drill Bit Size	R
Drill Bit Size Decimal Equivalent	0.339"
For Material Thickness	0.020" to 0.175"
Body
Type	Bulbed
Diameter	0.33"
Length	0.828"
Installed Length	0.410"
Flange
Diameter	0.510"
Thickness	0.038"

Edited December 2, 2017 by jakeru

[G B L]

Looking at the end view on Windguy's track the extrusion is hollow.  That fact  kills my Idea of Trimming the track down to the 1 and 11/16 that you need to go into the channel in the roof channel..    It would have allowed the tracks to be installed with the same holes.  Too bad.

[windguy]

10 hours ago, jakeru said:

I may have found a good alternative to the Yakima plus nuts, from the McMaster-Carr catalog:

 

I'm sure rivet nuts can also be used. Another poster on another thread used them as a replacement fastener for his door panels on a cargo van. It was a nice install.

The rivet nuts you referenced appear to be for plastic surface. There are ones for metal. But so are the plusnuts and that's what Yakima recommends using them for track installs, so that would be my preference. Keep in mind that if you get a new track you're going to get a bag of plusnuts with the track. But, as I said above, you might be able to use the existing mounting holes if they already have plusnuts or equivalent installed. First taking the old tracks off will answer that question. And drilling new holes in a track so they line up with the existing mounting holes is a very easy step to do. I did that for my install.

 

 

 

[jakeru]

On 12/2/2017 at 9:00 PM, G B L said:

Looking at the end view on Windguy's track the extrusion is hollow.  That fact  kills my Idea of Trimming the track down to the 1 and 11/16 that you need to go into the channel in the roof channel..    It would have allowed the tracks to be installed with the same holes.  Too bad.

Attached is a profile shot of the whispbar extrusion.  It looks like I might be able to just rip one of the side flanges off using  a tablesaw.  With one side flange trimmed off, it would put the overall width at 39mm (just a bit over 1.5").  I'm not sure if I'll do this, though.  For now, to make things waterproof, I cleaned things up underneath the tracks, and plugged/covered all the holes so that it's waterproof.  The installation wasn't as clean as I'd have liked.  Assuming a roof rack install shop did this work, it's a cautionary tale to be careful about who you use to install aftermarket roof racks!  Looks like sheetmetal screws were just screwed into drilled holes.  The sheetmetal looked a lot thicker than I was expecting.

[G B L]

Thanks for the porfile picture.

if you set the fence right and have the correct blade you can gain the clearance needed. it will make all the drilled holes  functional and easy to seal.

Could be an elegant solution

Keep us posted on the job!

[boardertj]

Hi All, 

Great info in this thread, thanks windguy for compiling

 

I came across this youtube video showing a thule chrossbar install. They don't use tracks and mount the towers directly to the mount points. 

Is this a possible solution? Seems like a good way to save $160 on tracks. 

 

 

[desert_connect]

If a person does not need exact distances between the cross bars then fixed bars would save money and time. I installed a pair of Van Tech J1000 cross bars on a NV200 using the existing threaded holes for a friend. These are semi permanent, not easily removable short of removing the bolts. I was impressed at how strong they are, the ease of installation and how aerodynamic the bars were with slots for accessories. He said they made zero noise. The pair of J1000 bars and brackets were under 200$ for the NV200 and just over 200$ for a 14+ Transit Connect, they also sell three bars sets. The only thing I found cheesy is the end caps, they are just a vinyl cap.  

~generic pics.....

[windguy]

6 hours ago, boardertj said:

Hi All, 

Great info in this thread, thanks windguy for compiling

 

I came across this youtube video showing a thule chrossbar install. They don't use tracks and mount the towers directly to the mount points. 

Is this a possible solution? Seems like a good way to save $160 on tracks. 

 

Sure, you can mount your crossbars to fixed mounting points, as shown in your video link. Looks like a clean solution. I opted with tracks for two reasons: I wanted the flexibility in setting the crossbars and to be able to remove the crossbars and towers since the racks will rarely be used.

 

I'm not familiar with the rack system in the video but if you can remove the crossbars and towers and leave the mounting pads in place then that would be helpful if you don't plan to use the racks on a daily basis. If it's seasonal use then you leave the racks on and remove them in the off season. All depends on how you plan to use your rack system. As I said in my original post, Thule and Yakima are price fixed products. If you are price sensitive and not in a hurry, then wait for the occasional 20% off sale that comes up on holidays and special events. I get emails from rackattack.com with their promotions so you can get on the email list from these places to find out when they have their next sale.

[olegburn]

On 6/2/2019 at 12:27 PM, desert_connect said:

If a person does not need exact distances between the cross bars then fixed bars would save money and time. I installed a pair of Van Tech J1000 cross bars on a NV200 using the existing threaded holes for a friend. These are semi permanent, not easily removable short of removing the bolts. I was impressed at how strong they are, the ease of installation and how aerodynamic the bars were with slots for accessories. He said they made zero noise. The pair of J1000 bars and brackets were under 200$ for the NV200 and just over 200$ for a 14+ Transit Connect, they also sell three bars sets. The only thing I found cheesy is the end caps, they are just a vinyl cap.  

~generic pics.....

 

I use same VanTech USA crossbars and love them.

I didn't install them in fixed positions but rather on the U-channel/track I also bought from them. 

Plus nuts were used to attach the track and slider brackets hold the brackets.

I can slide and position it anywhere on the track. Two nuts secure the brackets in place.

It is all aluminum construction. I'm happy.