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These multipurpose, galvanized steel crossbars supply the backbone for your aftermarket roof rack system. Works with accessories that clamp around the bars. Pair with Yakima towers, fit kit, and RoundBar SL Adapter to create a complete roof rack.
Features:
Yakima 66" RoundBar LG:Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hey everyone, it's Evangeline here at etrailer and today we'll be taking a look at our Yakima SkyLine towers. These are designed for your fixed mounting points, your flush rails, or your track systems. So if the roof of your vehicle looks like this, you probably need these. If you wanna carry around roof mounted accessories like kayaks or ladders or maybe you need to bring a Christmas tree home, you first need a roof rack system. Now this is gonna be the Yakima SkyLine towers for those vehicles that specifically require a custom fit kit for their fixed mounting points. Now if your vehicle does not look like this you might have a naked roof or raised rails.
That's why it's very important before anything to use our fit guide here at etrailer.com. Put your year, make model and then find the right fit for you. And if this is one of them let's take a look at how it works. Etrailer.com also helps you get the full kit for your vehicle because the skyline towers don't work alone you also need the appropriate crossbars as well as the correct fit kit or landing pads for you. But with this, you get a low profile roof rack so it doesn't stick too high up.
You get a heavy duty weight capacity since this is an aluminum roof rack. So usually they have 165 pounds capacity, depends on the vehicle, and you have this very sturdy but also very custom fit kit for your vehicle. That way, no matter what you put on it within reason and wherever you go, you know it's gonna stay there. But my favorite feature about this roof rack is the door design. So you pinch on the door to open it and that's it.
Just like that, you can lift the whole roof rack off of your roof. When you need to install it, you just pop it right back on. So the height of the tower is about 3 1/2" from your fixed mounting point to the top of the tower. The actual height can change depending on what crossbars you have and what rails you have, but compared to a lot of the other flush mounted crossbars and roof racks, it's just very low to the roof. Now with this style of a rack though, you are limited to the fixed mounting points or the flush rails of your vehicle.
So wherever they are, that's how much crossbar spread you get. For example, ours is set to 28" apart. On the other hand, if you have an aggressive tilt to your roof, you can actually adjust this up to six degrees forward or six degrees backward to help even out the playing field. Now I like to leave my roof rack on my vehicle and Yakima is pretty known for its durability. So the SkyLine towers are made of glass reinforced plastic, aluminum, stainless steel and elastomer. So all that is combined to help them stay strong even if you leave them on all day, all year. But if you do need to take off your roof rack you also have a feature to make it more low profile. Start by flipping both doors open and then you can lift the roof rack up and off of your roof. This way you can store it inside of your garage or in your house. You can leave your base on your roof rails. All you need to do is cover them with the included cover and that's it. You're done. The covered bases sit about 2" high up off of your fixed mounting point and makes for a much more low profile look. Your towers will have everything you need to install them which really is just one tool. And your fit kit has the hardware needed to undo the factory mounting points on your vehicle or for your track system if that's what you have. Now, that install process is extremely simple. Let's take a look at it. So these are what your towers look like when they are not on your roof. So they come all assembled in the box. All you need to do is get the appropriate landing pads for your vehicle. These landing pads can look different depending on your car and that's why it's very important to use our fit guide to get the right fit for you. You have four towers as well as the torque tool. And depending on your crossbars, you will also get a separate adapter to be used with those specific bars. With your landing pad kits, you'll get a part that fits your specific vehicle. You will get the hardware needed to install that part and you will have the base as well as the base cover. So if the towers are not on your vehicle you could just cover that base pad and take the cover off to install the tower. Here's an example of how the landing pad can be used depending on your cars. So you have a factory mounting point in this specific flush rail. So the pad goes over that hole and then you're gonna get your base which goes on top of that pad. And then you have a bolt with split washer and flat washer which is used to tighten down those two pieces to your car. The torque tool for your towers comes in handy whenever you're tightening down those bolts because it has a setting for tension. Once you get enough tension, it automatically clicks and prevents you from over tightening. Now to set up your tower for your crossbars there's different adaptor pieces. We're using the one for the JetStream crossbars. So we start by pushing in this plate into the tower. So you are gonna hear some clicks and that's how you know it's secure. Now we're gonna open up the tower door. So this involves pinching the door and pulling. Be careful because if you slide your fingers forward it doesn't feel as good. But with the door open, you can then loosen this bolt up front. It says to do it eight times. I just go until the bolt underneath is visible so you can see underneath what I mean. Notice how you have this little bolt head hiding around. You're gonna try to get at it with the tool. You can see how I do have access. That means as we flip this tower back over I can put this plate up top and then I can tighten down and thread onto that plate. With adapter and plate, this can now slide into your crossbar. For other adapters, they're designed to slide over or around your crossbar. With this specific style, I do recommend for the initial slide making sure that this is loose, but after that even if you have it fully tightened down you'll still be able to slowly adjust it on the crossbar. So with the towers on you're then ready to put this onto your roof. Now what I do is I just kind of roughly measure how far apart our landing pads are and that's when I can measure on the towers the distance apart they roughly need to be, in my case, 43 1/2. You could be off by 1/2" or so 'cause you can still move them. Also, supposedly this is when you put the rubber pieces inside of your crossbars. I do that after I've already installed them onto the roof. I take them back off and then I push them in so that I know exactly where the towers will be sitting. Make sure your towers are torqued down at their bottom bolt. Do that for both sides before installing. This is a lot easier with a friend on the other side but still doable with one person. So leave those doors open so that you can gently place them onto your roof. The bottom bracket with the door open fits onto your base so see how that just pushes into place. And then to secure it, just push that door close and you've got a sturdy fit. If you're using Yakima same key system lock cores, this is a time to switch them out on your towers. But other than that, just double check that all the towers are strong and secure and everything is sturdy. And that's it for the install of your roof rack. That right there was a look at the Yakima SkyLine towers for your Yakima crossbars for when you have vehicles that have fixed mounting points, flush rails or track systems.
Average Customer Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (223 Customer Reviews)
These multipurpose, galvanized steel crossbars supply the backbone for your aftermarket roof rack system. Works with accessories that clamp around the bars. Pair with Yakima towers, fit kit, and RoundBar SL Adapter to create a complete roof rack.Works perfectly. I am always impressed that Yakima continues to make parts for the "old roundbars" since they have since moved on to the superior JetStream bars.
Fit our Subaru Forester perfectly. Install was a breeze. For the money I wish they came with the core locks.
should come with end caps.
Very nice quality towers. Very heavy duty! They have a cool "snap" on / off mechanism for quick removal and installation.
Kimberly has shown that great customer service is not dead! etrailer and Kimberly are great to work with and have earned my business and will always be the 1st and last place I look for my rack+ needs!
As for the application, I needed more space to fit my cargo box on top of my 4Runner TRD Pro’s rack. I came up this this… Thank you!
Excellent selection of rack parts. Very useful installation videos help when choosing between products. Easy ordering process. Quick delivery.
One quick phone call and Gwendolyn figured out exactly what I needed for our new car to use my old Yakima rack.
Parts arrived as advertised for the model
Car so happy to find the right fit
But super pricy for some plastic.
necessary for using the widest cross bar option (78"). East to install
You guys provide great products and excellent customer service.
Thanks
At first, a little tricky to install, as the kit comes with hardware for a variety of applications (different length/size bolts, etc). But after a quick look at the directions and identifying which bolt to use for my car, install was a breeze. I love this Yakima setup because I can remove the bars/towers and leave the landing pads with a cap. Makes it great for taking the canoe out on weekend trips, but not taking the fuel-economy hit during the weekday commute to work.
These crossbars were easy to install and adjust. Be sure to get all the pieces you need. There is no mention of the Landing Pads necessary to use these.
I have been using Yakima racks for around 40 years and have never had any problems. However, I am amazed at the price increases over the years. Etrailer prices were by far lower than most. Overall, a very excellent purchase.
Great products though, again, written instructions would have been nice.
The rack has been so useful since I purchased it. Staff at etrailer.com were exceptionally helpful in getting the best option for my car and answering questions. I recommend this company, for its 110% customer service, excellent prices and timely delivery.
Haven’t used them yet but they should work as expected
Yakima SkyLine Towers are well-designed and well-executed. They easily fit into the Yakima Landing Pads and form a tight fit when closed. And they also fit nicely into the Yakima JetStream Crossbars when following the Yakima instruction manual and various YouTube videos. I did run into a snag at first where I found the rubber seal on one SkyLine Tower getting caught on the JetStream Crossbar track, but after that I was careful not to let that happen with the other towers.
I find the appearance of the Yakima SkyLine Towers to match their level of quality in materials and design.
Great company. Fast delivery.
The yellow pads on the crossbars are pool noodles secured by zip ties. They provide padding for a third or even a fourth kayak.
Kit worked perfectly on my 2021 Subaru Forester. The whole install took 30 minutes. Never been disappointed with etrailer.
Great service - great price
Product works as advertised thus far. When you buy the yakima towers, you are required to purchase these as well to fit the rounder bars (I feel sure there are other adapters for other bar shapes). These should have come with the towers in my opinion, and I resented having to shell out more $$ to purchase these "must have" adapters to mount my bars. 3 star overall rating based on function, price. Delivery and packaging was top-notch through etrailer.
The Yakima roof rack system is an Outstanding product. I purchased the product to replace the OEM roof rack because it was too flimsy to carry the tandem bike mount and my bike. The Yakima roof rack is solid and provides me the peace of mind while hauling my bike on the roof of my car. etrailer provided the product for the best price as always.
Ordered new towers and clips so as to use my old-school round bars (I bought these at least 18 years ago, maybe even earlier) and bike and canoe accessories on a new vehicle (naked roof 2018 CR-V). Installation was tedious, as usual, but not difficult and the written instructions were straightforward. Youtube helpful too but not necessary. Have hauled bikes and the canoe in high wind on the interstate (no more than 65 mph though) on the CR-V and so far so good. Have had excellent results with Yakima racks on 3 vehicles now (2 sedans and now the CR-V) over last 28 yrs. This is my first purchase through etrailer. Very pleased. Good price, excellent service online and via phone, rapid delivery. Highly recommend.
first try was missing what was needed
Etrailer helped. It was great!
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