I put '98 Subaru Legacy Outback Wagon roof rails on my car. If I had mounted them a little bit further apart I might have been able to re-use the stock crossbars, but since they tilt inward on my (flatter) roof more than the Subaru, maybe not..... Either way, I couldn't beat them for $25 at the junkyard.
I've actually splurged and ordered a set of Yakima RailGrabs to mount to the rails. I got locking cores with them, but not cross-bars. Yakima crossbars are painted 3/4" pipe from the hardware store. ~$6 for 10' at the store, and $66 for two 4' pieces from Yakima. I'm going to have mine painted black when I get some work done on the car. Those suckers set me back ~$200
Until then, I've made temporary crossbars of 4' long 2x4s, with 5/16" 2x3" square U-bolts attaching them to the rails.
wooden roof rack...thats fancy! I found a thule roof rack on craigslist for $125 usd. It was off of a 2003 civic sedan i think the guy said. I slid the towers inward a little and then it went right on
cheapest roof rack ever,
go to pick and pull/ pull a part/ junk yard
find any subaru loyale/ legacy whatever,
pull that roof rack,
go home, drill, silicone and bam
silicone keeps out the water and roof rack is minty fresh.
i did this on my old subaru wagon. put a basket rack on it and hauled camping equipment/ tires and me with no problem.
Im sure there are better quality tools and threaded inserts, but here is info from my build. Worked fine for me. My basket is about 3.5 ft long. You can check my build for additional pics.
I have had the JDM rails for a while and ran across a basket on Craigslist this past week. It also just so happend it was in Woodstock (of all places) and the lady was practically giving it away.
Here are the original goods:
The full basket was bout 12-18" too long, so here it is with the middle 24" section removed:
Thanks to Bam's guidance and referencing his mulitple build threads and roof rack installs, I picked up this tool. I will be using the SAE #1/4" course threaded inserts. The OD of the threaded sleeve is about 3/8". Although not required, I used a thin layer of Honda Bond around outside of sleeve for some added insurance.
The rails were mocked up and the mounting holes marked using a sharpie.
I then used a spring loaded punch to mark center holes.
Using the BAM-Tech Drill stop and a 3/8" bit, I drilled the 8 holes in the roof required to mount the rails.
After drilling: Make sure you blow off all of the metal shavings in between holes to keep from unwanted paint scratches.
Adding inserts:
Closeup of inserts:
Roof with the 8 threaded inserts:
Had to take a final pic as she sits last night. I will def post better daytime pics when its final.
All in all the install went pretty smooth. The only hang ups were the very front rivets on each side had to be shorted ~1/4" due to the lack of space because of the roof contour down to the windshield. This required me to use a couple of washers on the tool threads in order to crimp the inserts down tight.
I will be picking up some smaller U-Bolts in order to mount the rack firmly to rails as descrete as possible. Then I will be adding some custom stickers to the fairing.:encouragement:
I am so glad to finally see someone install an EDM/JDM roof rack correctly. Great job, and I am in for some rivnuts as well. Those will definitely be handy.
Comments
I've actually splurged and ordered a set of Yakima RailGrabs to mount to the rails. I got locking cores with them, but not cross-bars. Yakima crossbars are painted 3/4" pipe from the hardware store. ~$6 for 10' at the store, and $66 for two 4' pieces from Yakima. I'm going to have mine painted black when I get some work done on the car. Those suckers set me back ~$200
Until then, I've made temporary crossbars of 4' long 2x4s, with 5/16" 2x3" square U-bolts attaching them to the rails.
Mine doesn't
go to pick and pull/ pull a part/ junk yard
find any subaru loyale/ legacy whatever,
pull that roof rack,
go home, drill, silicone and bam
silicone keeps out the water and roof rack is minty fresh.
i did this on my old subaru wagon. put a basket rack on it and hauled camping equipment/ tires and me with no problem.
i think i am going to buy a ebay one and mount it to my stock rack.
Did you read the thread before you posted? It clearly tells you what they are off
i might make a rack and that would be the best way to install it. i might use those with bolts and nuts on bigger parts
my stock one isnt good enough.
Probably higher than the weight limit for the roof skin of a wagon. Im sure the box will say as each brand will differ