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These crossbars combine the strength of steel with an aerodynamic shape to create a heavy-duty yet quiet roof rack for your vehicle. Full-length bars maximize cargo carrying capacity and work with most clamp-on accessories.
Features:
Yakima CoreBars - 50" Long - Qty 2:Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hi, everyone, Aiden here with etrailer.com. Today, we're gonna be taking a look at this Yakima roof rack system here on our 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L. That's gonna be a great way to haul some extra cargo up on the roof. This is a very large vehicle with a third row seat. So when you have that third row up, you've got it filled up with passengers for a road trip or something. You're losing a lot of cargo space in the back and you need a place to put it.
If you are maybe pulling a camper or something with the hitch, or you just have a bike rack or something back there, the roof is your next best option to put a basket, a box, and put that extra luggage up there on the roof for your trip, getting more leg room for everyone inside. Let's check it out. Now the main piece of the system here is going to be your Yakima core bar. These bars are 50 inches long and made out of steel. That steel is gonna give them a really heavyweight capacity of 220 pounds.
But just keep in mind that the towers in the system here are only greater for 165 pounds. So you want to make sure you're going with the lowest rated component, whether that's those towers or the roof of your Jeep. The bars are gonna be an arrow shape, which means they're thicker here at the front and taper off towards the back. It's gonna make them a little bit more aerodynamic, cut through the wind a bit better, knock down wind noise, and is worth mentioning that on the top here, there isn't any sort of T-track system. So you are gonna have to use clamp around accessories that go around the bars like that, which isn't so bad.
I think that's really the majority of accessories that use that system anyway. And the fact that there isn't a track means there's no gaps in there for wind to get in. So when you're going down the road, you shouldn't be hearing it up there. So this is going to be utilizing the factory holes that you can find here on your flush rails of your Jeep. It's gonna make install really easy 'cause you have fixed points.
You don't have to measure any certain crossbar spread to get it installed. So I really like that part. We've got it installed in the further out position right here, and it's gonna give us a crossbar spread center to center of about 40 inches. You might have some issues with certain accessories. So, if you are going for a basket or a box, go for one of the longer ones, you probably want to maximize the roof space anyway. So if you are doing that, I don't think you'll have any issues. As far as how high it's going to sit up off the top of your roof, you are gonna be adding about six inches from the roof to the top of the bar here, which I don't think should be any issues for any garage at home, but, just remember that when you add something like a box or a basket, because that's gonna be adding even more from the top of that crossbar. And the standout things for me with these towers, is the fact that you can remove them whenever you don't wanna use them. So all you gotta do is come to this cover, pinch it and pull it back, and you can just lift it up and out of the fit kit there. You can see at the bottom that when I pushed this in some locking tabs go out, and that's what holds it into your fit kit down here. So if you do want to go through a carwash or you just only want it up there for when you're actually using your roof rack, you don't have to have it on full time. Now because it is so easy to remove, I would be concerned, maybe, what's stopping someone from just doing that and taking off with it But, you've got these plastic caps here that can be swapped out for lock cores from Yakima, so you can actually lock this down to your roof, and those locks can be used to key like your other Yakima accessories, so that you only have one key on your key chain for all your systems. And kind of like I mentioned before, install with this is a breeze. It didn't take any time at all, check out how we did it. So for our install, we're gonna start with our fit kit here. It's gonna go into the flush rails on our Jeep. We're just gonna take off this cap that says Yakima here. Those are nice for when you're not using the roof rack. You can put these on to keep everything watertight. And we're gonna go ahead and take this rubber piece here with those tabs, line it up with the holes on our fit kit here, and just pop that in. Now because those tabs are rubber, they might have a tendency to kind of bend on you and not wanna go in their homes. So, just be patient with it, might have to kinda peak around there, try to see what's not lining up, what is, and you don't have to get it perfectly in place because once we actually put it up on the roof, and get it bolted down, that will help push everything into place up. Up here on the roof, we're gonna figure out where we want to mount up these pieces for our fit kit. We've already got our front crossbar in place, and we have choices for this spot or this spot where we have these factory holes. I'm gonna go with the rear ones just because there is a clearance issue with this tab right here on our fit kit. So I'm just gonna take a small flat bladed screwdriver, pop that in these little plastic covers, and just push out on them to remove them. It's just gonna be a friction fit push pin. So we can set that one aside and do the other one right here. And do keep these around in case you ever decide to remove the fit kit. You never know when you might need them. Now with the fit kit here, you'll notice that there is a slotted hole here at the back, and two other holes to choose from for our bolts. In our application today, we're gonna be using this bottom lowest one right there and the slotted hole towards the rear of the vehicle. Now, when I line this up here, I'm gonna be putting in a bolt and washer, and go ahead and do the front one first. It can be a little tricky to see because they are kind of looking around the edge there, but once you get it lined up, kind of push down a little bit, start it by hand. We will come back with the tool to tighten everything up once we've got it started. And on this last one here, we don't need to tighten it down too terribly much, just enough to get it nice and snug to that flush rail there. And we can return down to our table. Back on the table, we can take our towers, flip those upside down with our bars. We've got that threaded portion right there. We'll just line up that hole, got a bolt down there and the bottom of the tower. And we'll just use our included tool to tighten that down. And once we've got it properly torqued down, we will hear some clicks from the tool, letting us know we've hit that torque rating. And then we can take our whole assembly here, making sure that these caps are opened so that the tabs are inset. We want the thicker part of the bar facing towards the front of the vehicle, and the tapered edge to be towards the rear. Go ahead and open that door. And we can carefully set this up onto the roof. I will say having a second set of hands will make it easier just to get that other side set in, but it is definitely doable on your own. I'm careful to get that in the proper slot, so we're not causing any damage to the vehicle. And we can do the same thing on this side here. And we'll go back, make sure that the crossbar is even on both sides. It actually looks pretty darn good from here. So I'm gonna grab that tool one more time and we will tighten down this bolt inside the tower. Same thing, we're gonna be listening for those clicks. And, there they are. Once we've done that on both sides, just push this cap up, those locking tabs will go out and you can see we're nice and secure in there. And with all that done, we can our final shake test. You can see everything's up there, nice and tight. We're shaking the whole car back and forth. So we're ready to hit the road. Overall, I think it's gonna be a really solid roof rack option for your Jeep. The fact that it's so easy to take off when you don't wanna use it, and you can put it back up there whenever you need it is really nice. Or, you can just leave it up all the time. I think it looks really sleek and you can't really beat that when you're picking out something that is gonna live on your car for a long time. Again, my name's Aiden here at etrailer, thank you for watching..
Average Customer Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (163 Customer Reviews)
These crossbars combine the strength of steel with an aerodynamic shape to create a heavy-duty yet quiet roof rack for your vehicle. Full-length bars maximize cargo carrying capacity and work with most clamp-on accessories.
Placed the order for the rack a year ago. I didn’t like the way it sat on the roof of my vehicle, but because I had already installed it, etrailer customer service refused to take it back. I would’ve gladly paid for the return shipping or some sort of restocking fee, but that wasn’t an option. I’ve had brand new rack and hardware sitting in their original boxes for a year.
I've just recently installed this setup on my 2015 Toyota Camry.
etrailer - Shopping for this rack was fairly simple, and the shipping from etrailer was quick and reliable. I received the rack in 2 different shipments but they both arrived at the same time. etrailer made sure the all the contents were available. They also have several resourceful videos on their YouTube page, which was helpful while shopping for the rack and during a few trouble shooting items while I was installing.
Yakima Core Bar - Overall a quality product. Everything necessary was supplied, including a handy measuring tape and some very well written instructions. The fit is clean and very sturdy. The only qualm I have is that the hex hole in the large anchor bolts are a bit larger than the supplied hex driver. Toward the end of the installation, the tool was worn and ended up turning inside the bolt itself (not due to over torquing whatsoever). I ended up having to use a hex set I had in my toolbox to complete the installation because the provided tool was starting to strip out the anchor bolt. With that said, the kit is still a great kit that meets my expectations.
Wind noise is quieter than my OEM VW bars on my 2017 Volkswagen GTI. It's noticeable, but nothing extreme - I believe that's just the price you pay when adding crossbars to a vehicle.
Verdict - etrailer has definitely met my expectations, and the Yakima kit provided is a well designed kit that fits well!
From start to finish, the folks at etrailer -- and I spoke to several people there, so it was a consistent corporate vibe -- were fantastic to deal with.
There were delays in getting my product that were on the supplier side and out of etrailer's control, yet etrailer folks kept me up to date and also worked on a customized solution.
My goal was to be able to carry my surfboard on the roof of our 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe to the beach more than 3 hours away. But the particular model we had had no existing racks, no recessed areas, nothing to fix racks to. Not even the dealer had a solution. I was sh*t out of luck.
But etrailer hooked me up. The racks did take me a while to put on, but most of that time was fine tuning to reduce “hum” while driving. I’m very happy with them.
Thanks to etrailer, I have gone surfing and can go surfing whenever I'd like to.
As described! Quick delivery!
Great product great service
Great secure product though some written instructions on their setup and installation would be helpful.
Very good product. The Yakama towers and cross bars feel very solid and appears to be high quality. Very easy install. Others have complained about the instructions, but guess I'm a visual person because the pictures all seemed very clear to me and the install was very easy. They do sit higher than I expected. After adding a Rhino Rack cargo basket, we only have about 4-5" clearance below the garage door.
Received this Yakima roof rack system for my flush-rail 2019 Mazda CX-5 Signature on Thursday, and installed it on Friday.
It’s not the simplest installation I’ve encountered, and I’d had a number of Thule products before. I found the installation “picto-grams” not that helpful. Also the 3.5 newton-meter torque screwdriver provide would not “click”.
It looks great on the Mazda, but took about 4 hours to install - getting the clips in place was an issue ; I got the outer to clip on, only to find the inner had come off its attachment clips- very frustrating.
With exception of getting wrong towers (crossbar vs streamline), installation was fairly painless. Pay attention to measurements during install! Looking forward to the Yakima 16 to be fitted shortly and then ROAD-TRIPPING.
Of all of the many racks I’ve purchased over the years, this, by far, is the worst. Once installed, it is okay, but installing these towers is extremely frustrating. The front and back “clips” fall out requiring multiple attempts. When I contacted Yakima customer support, they acknowledged that they have received complaints about the product. Their solution was to just leave the racks on the car. I asked to be notified when a better product was available but a year later I’ve received no response. If this is the only option available for your vehicle (as it was for mine), then prepare to be frustrated. Otherwise, purchase a different product.
These crossbars feel like they are well made and sturdy. It took less than 30 minutes to install with the Ridgeline Towers. I love the look of the bars! Can't wait to load the Kayaks up and get out on the water.
Should include extra end caps just in case they fall off.
Roof rack fits and works as advertised. Over the phone customer support for sales and install directions were very helpful and thorough. Geoff is an excellent brand ambassador who goes above and beyond to fulfill customer expectations. I will definitely be shopping at etrailer for my future vehicle needs. Well done!
Timely delivery of my order, as usual! Easy to install on my 2015 4Runner. After I had the mounts ready and put on both bars, I installed the front one and fine-tuned it, the second took even less time then. I now have the ability to carry up to 3 kayaks, perfect! etrailer is a great company!
My experience with etrailer has been excellent. There was going to be a potential delay in one of the products, but their customer service promptly informed me, half the price of some of their competitors so can't really complain. In the end they got the part ahead of schedule and was able to ship in a timely manner. I will definitely keep them in mind for future purchases.
Very sturdy, well made. The assembly instructions are not too good but if you call Yakima they will provide additional instructions.
I bought both the roof rack and the cage from etrailer! Put everything on myself...easy peasy!
1 year later and still love my Yakima JetStream system. I've mostly used them to transport my kayak however I've also been able to transport some big box store items as well. They are very versatile. There is a t-track option as well as wrap around attachments. I've use ladder attachments, eyebolts, and Thule Hullavator in t-track. I've used Malone MegaWing and Yakima Skybox as wrap around attachment. What I really like about the t-track system is that you do not need to cut out the rubber track insert. You simply slide over the rubber, which allows you to adjust your system, on the fly, to load what you need to carry.
Customer service was excellent, they called me to tell me one item was backordered and how long it would be. Package was shipped with enough packing material. Install was pretty easy, some of the Yakima measurements in the manual are a couple inches off but no big deal. This will be used to carry a box for when the family takes trips. Can pile all the luggage up top and have more room in the car. I would recommend the Yakima corebar roof rack and etrailer! Their price was lower than 2 other sites I checked.
I am thrilled this got delivered sooner than anticipated! It was quite easy to install once you started actually putting it together and measuring everything out. I like that this can easily be removed and installed onto the vehicle.
I needed crossbars for my new 2018 Mazda CX5, which came with flush side rails. The RidgeLine Towers for the Yakima crossbars, along with the vehicle specific kit worked great. The installation (10-15 min) is super easy. They look cool, and performed great (I strapped 160-lbs rooftop tent on them!). Removing them is also super easy (10 min tops). Highly recommend.
Very happy with the Yakima roof top rack kit for my 2017 Ford Edge with glass roof. The instructions were a little confusing at first, but after reading through them a couple of times while working with the product they became much clearer. The Yakima fit site was helpful as well. After the initial cross bar mounting measurements and set up, attaching and detaching the racks from the roof is a very simple process.
Because of the 'rona-induced supply chain interruptions, I was unable to purchase all of my Yakima components from etrailer, but I did get these, and they are typically excellent Yakima components. Well-made, easy to install, good directions, no problems.
It's a great roof rack, but the paint is getting all scratched off...probably from sliding kayaks up onto it. I hope it doesn't rust. So far no signs of that.
I loved how easy these towers were to install. Took less than 30 mins total. They look nice and feel very sturdy. I am looking forward to loading the Kayaks up and getting out on the water next weekend.
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