Temporary Roof Rack Solution Using Tracks on Bed Rails of 2012 Honda Ridgeline with OEM Tonneau

Question:

I have a 2012 Honda Ridgeline with the factory hard folding tonneau cover. I have a ton of Thule, Yakima, and RockyMounts accessories that I used on my Honda Odyssey that I’d like to put to use. My wife and I are not tall people, so a roof rack on top of the cab isn’t that useful. Can you recommend a rack that would be removable? I know Yakima and Thule used to make track systems for use with truck caps. I’d really like to be able to mount ski carriers and a Thule box over the bed once in a while, but I want to retain the ability to fold the tonneau in half so I can still use the bed when necessary. I’m not afraid to drill into the bed rails to mount the track, but the bed does have that funky downward slope. For reference the bed is 56” wide at the forward end, and 54” at the back.

asked by: Michael L

Expert Reply:

There isn't a roof rack option specifically designed to mount on top of your bed rails and work together with the OEM tonneau cover on your 2012 Honda Ridgeline, so the closest option I have for you is going to be a Yakima Custom Install Roof Rack. To accomplish this, you'll need a set of SkyLine Towers (qty 4) # Y53TR, a pair of CoreBar Crossbars # Y00422, four total landing pads # Y00221 (sold in pairs), and 54 inch Tracks # Y01127.

The Yakima Tracks, # Y01127, are designed for sheet metal applications, this just means you will need to drill through the plastic bed rails caps and into your metal bed rails, where the included Palnut hardware can securely attach. Your bed being slightly narrower toward the rear isn't an issue, but keep in mind that the Yakima Tracks may not sit completely flush against your rail caps since they feature some ridges or raised portions as shown in the photo you provided. Removing the plastic rail caps isn't really an option for you since my research suggests the factory tonneau cover would not be able to opreate well without them.

With the Palnuts installed in the bed rails, you can then install the track and the rest of the roof rack components. The crossbars, towers and landing pads can easily be removed, creating a temporary rack solution, and allowing you to still fold your tonneau cover back when not in use, just like you wanted.

The Corebar Crossbars feature a 220 lb capacity and will accommodate most universal-mount clamp-on carriers and accessories such as Thule, Rockymounts, and of course Yakima.