Roof-rack issues.

JoeBalz

JoeBalz

2005 LGT's suck.
Sooo, I bought this Yakima roof rack from a guy who had a Forester, so I assumed it would fit my Forester, apparently that was not a safe assumption. It appears Subaru changed their stock roof racks sometime along the line and this is made for the older one. But I am determined to make this work on my car, so any ideas. Here are some pics.

photo 3.JPG

You can see that the tower doesn't sit flush on the rail but that shouldn't be too much of an issue, the biggest issue is when I tighten them down the outer edge of the tower has nothing to grip and just works its way off the top of the rail.

photo 2.JPG

What the attachment apparatus looks like, I think if I can just modify either the rail or the tower so that the towers cant work their way up I should be golden.

photo 1.JPG

This is what the inside edge of my rail looks like.

 
@JBeezy

I wouldn't sell it just yet, unless you want to give up on trying to make it work, and lose money in the process. I aquired a Thule roof rack from a buddy of mine, which was originally designed for a VW Jetta. I made it fit simply by purchasing some threaded rod from Home Depot, and extending the Thule Rack arms so they could bite into the roof rails on my 2nd Gen Legacy. A little ingenuity goes a long way, it's not always about how much of this stuff: ($) you have. #thulerack #vw #swag #legacy #nomorehilariousjokes

 
Yeah, Rick, I was thinking I just need something to keep the outer part of the rack from slipping up and off of the roof. I'm sure i'll get it figured out.

 
Yakima cause the forester has had the same roof bars from 98-08 pretty much in 09 they went with a raised style like the rest of the subaru family which that clamp looks like it would be better fit to one it can clamp all the way around the roof bar

 
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yeah, my racks are from a 99 forester, so those are probably for the newer rail style like gabe said

 
You guys could be right, I looked at the racks on an 09 forester today and that would make sense. I'm still not ready to accept defeat, I will make this work. So if anyone in the Bangor, Old Town, Orono area is an expert on jury-rigging let me know..

Also, I tried the Yakima site and according to them they don't currently make a rack for my car, doesn't say anything about the past though.

 
TJ, are you talking about like how I had my rack on my legacy? Because I have them, but only the front windows and back seat windows have them, so they wouldn't be able to be a reasonable distance apart, plus the factory roof rack would be in the way of the feet.

 
I dremeled some notches in my forester rails and my Thule mounts never broke off even with a full load and spirited driving. What about cutting a lip into the plastic?

 
That's actually what I was thinking about doing. I'm beginning to think a nice Dremel is going to be my next gift to myself.

 
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