To see if this custom-fit item will work for you please tell us what vehicle you'll use it with.
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 48" RoundBar SM: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: 4.8 out of 5 stars (239 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.Great quality! They come with two different style bases. One flat, and one that is stepped to account for the raised area near the gutter trim. Good variety of screws to meet your application. My 2015 Mazda 3 (with fixed points) needed the medium length screws. Seems very solid!
I left the plastic gutter moldings on and just drilled holes for the screws to go through.
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.
I ordered the Yakima roof rack, with the Hullyrollers for the back crossbar and the Mako saddles for the front crossbar to use with my kayak. It arrived just like they told me and I put them on my car the eveningit arrived. Got to finlly use the roof rack on June 22 to go out kayaking and it worked great. Only thing is I did not know about the air reflector piece for the front crossbar. Now I will be ordering it to help with the wind noise.
Everything came in a timely manner and ready to install. Looks great, solid rack.
Great rack, go on fast, easy to install and work well on my VW TDI wagon. Care has to be given and follow the instructions for the install to what type of rails you have. Works great carrying the VW luggage carrier and plan on using it to carry kayaks as well. Just have not decided what kayak rack type to get yet.
Very nice quality towers. Very heavy duty! They have a cool "snap" on / off mechanism for quick removal and installation.
I've attachec a few pictures of the Yakima rack on my Audi Q7. It took a few attempts to find the right combination of attachments, but in the end, the pin attachments work best with the access points on the factory flush-mount rails. Great product!!!!!
roof racks showed up in great condition, and showed up as one package.... I should have ordered the J racks from here but I found them cheaper locally so Thule J racks compliment the whole setup and i am just about ready to hit the water :)
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!
The installation of this rack system went very well, all of the instructions were easy to read and use. I have attached some pictures of our installation. The vehicle is a 1994 Honda Accord EX four door sedan
Everything from etrailer is timely and of good quality! The Yakima crossbars are no exception - they are indestructible.
Roof Rack 2008 Saturn Astra The roof rack arrived one day early...The packaging was excellent and the quality of the product more than met my expectations. The instructions made the insulation very easy. It took less than 45 minutes to install the unit complete.
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.
necessary for using the widest cross bar option (78"). East to install
You guys provide great products and excellent customer service.
Thanks
Everything arrived as promised and earlier than expected just installed. Looks like it will do everything I need it to which is haul around paddleboards. So far so good!
Great product and very easy to install! I called in to put my order in due to not trusting myself in getting one that fits my car. Jessica W. Was beyond professional and helpful in the process. She went also well above her position and tracked my order and sent additional information. Couldn’t be happier with the product and customer service!
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.
We got a Yakima Roof Rack system with locks and fairing for a "lime squeeze metallic" (Green...) 2011 Ford Fiesta 5dr Hatchback. Received the package yesterday and set it up within about an hour.
Parts arrived quickly. Installation was a breeze. Everything needed for a quick and professional installation was included in the shipment.
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.
Have been rocking my Yakima rack from etrailer.com for a year now. I am using rack in conjunction with a Tepui tent. Once I added the air deflector, I would say it's the perfect setup. The Yakima gives more clearance over the factory rack, so I was able to get my hands under it to secure the tent hardware. If you're thinking of upgrading your factory rack, I would not hesitate to use etrailer.com
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