Removable Roof Racks

I own them but still havent put them on yet. My goal is by the end of the week. Will post when I do.

 

...back in the day there was a Saris rack fitting Gen-2 Prii and extremely easy to work with.
Unfort they stopped making the racks around 07, sometimes you see used ones...if they fit on a v is another question.

>>Just looked the Thule Aeroblade rack video...sort of looks like Thule copied the Saris concept so maybe that is nice option now.

 

I finally put these up last week. It was WAY easier than I thought it would be. The YouTube videos are extremely helpful! Here are a few of the pictures:

 

The Thule rack looks great! He does it compare to Yakima's?

 

I installed the Yakima Roof Rack, It is easy to instal but takes 2 people. It does create a lot of noise while driving but it is worth it for transporting bikes or kayaks.

 

I've read that metal parts in the Yakima will corrode if you leave the rack on your car for long periods of time. Supposedly, the Thule rack doesn't have that problem. I don't know if that's still a problem or even how much of a problem it might really be. I've also heard that the Yakima "towers" can mar the car's paint, but I suspect that any tower would do that to some extent. FWIW, I own a major amount of Yakima equipment and if I ever want to carry my canoe or bikes on my Prius v3, I plan to buy a set of Yakima towers and use my current bars and accessories.

 

If someone has the Thule, do you think the 47" aerobars could be used so that there isn't as much overhang at the ends or would 47" be too short? Thule recommends 53" bars but that leaves so much overhang at the ends.

Has anyone tried to see if they can fit their racks for storage where the cargo cover would go? (I believe the cargo cover is like 53" and roof rack bars are like 50-53")?

Also if you have the Thule, do you know the measurement from the bottom of the feet to the top of the bar?

 

Could I haul a 4x8 sheet of plywood on the Thule racks?

 

The standard separation for the Thule load bars is 28". That means that the plywood would overhang about 34" in the front and 34" in the back. In my opinion, that would not be safe especially at highway speeds. If you increase the separation of the bars to say 48", I think that might work. However, I'm not sure the Thule towers would clamp properly. Anyone tried it? How about with Yakima towers?

 

I have a Thule kit. It's not terribly difficult to put on. To speed things up you can mark inside the doorframe where the clips go so that you don't have to measure every time. I wouldn't want to have to do it every weekend just to load my kayak, so I leave the bars on all summer, but if I was just using a roof box a few times a year it would not be a big deal to spend an extra 30-60 minutes putting the bars on just for those trips.

They generally don't recommend hauling plywood or other such things because the rack clamps aren't really designed to withstand upward forces that can come from wind blowing under them. You might be able to get away with it at low speed, particularly if you use a fairing to direct air above them instead of below, but you are probably better off strapping plywood directly to the roof (or rent a truck).

 

Jzerocsk, do you think the 47" aerobars could be used so that there isn't as much overhang at the ends or would 47" be too short? Thule recommends 53" bars but that leaves so much overhang at the ends.

Have you tried to see if you can fit your racks for storage inside the car when not used, under the trunk where the cargo cover can be stored? (I believe the cargo cover is like 53" and roof rack bars are like 50-53")?

Also if you have the Thule, do you know the measurement from the bottom of the feet to the top of the bar?

Thanks,

 

I have the old school square bars from my last car, so I am not familiar with the way the aeroblade bars attach to the 480R feet. My bars are 50" which is the shortest of the square bars. Looking at the instructions, the spread between the feet is the same for square bars or aeroblade, 41" in the front and 39 5/8" on the back. That's measured from the inside of the feet, so you have to add 3-4" for each pair of feet, but it seems like 48" should give you enough bar width...I just don't know if the aeroblades need some extra overhang to work somehow.

I have not tried that. Assuming you are correct that the cargo cover is 53" there is no way that the square bars would NOT fit in that space, and I think the aeroblades would as well. You would have to remove the feet, however (although the feet would probably fit under the trunk floor in one or more of the other compartments), which adds an extra step to both installing and removing. You would definitely want to mark the positions of the feet on the bar so that you don't have to measure every time.

I'd have to go measure when I get home, but I think it's about 6", but again my square bars may sit at a different height than the aeroblades.

 

With the 50" square bars, how much overhang outside the feet do the bars stick out approximately?

 

It's about 4" overhang on each side.

 

I picked up a set of used Yakima racks and have a single Yakima BOA bike rack. Look up 2006 civic racks, they have the identical fit kit pads as used on the prii. So happy I got them.