[StreetDancer]

Okay all....I'd like to hear from those that have the factory cross bars on their nitro.

I have TONS of Yakima Rack accessories and have patiently been waiting for Yakima to come out with what they call towers (to fit the roof of the nitro) so I can add all my accessories and crossbars to the top of my nitro.

I've called them several times and emailed them a few dozen times over the last 6 months but to no avail, still nothing.

Apparently they need to have enough interest before they start looking into designing them. (We could all call to generate interest).

I finally got enough information about the Mopar crossbars to know that they are oval or egg shaped and probably won't fit all the Yakima accessories (hoping one of you out there knows the answer).

Ski season was horrible, now we're getting on to summer and accessories like bike racks, canoes, kayaks, and rocketboxes all need to fit on the roof of this car.

I've also contacted Thule and it's the same deal with them. If there's enough interest, they'll make a fit for their system as well.

Anybody got ideas (without having to purchase all new accessories and leave my other stuff out to pasture)?

 

[steve brittain]

I'm not sure of the set up of all your carriers, but I have the mopar bars on mine. They have a T-channel on the top used for mounting racks and such. If yours won't mate up, there may be a adapter that you can buy or fabricate to match up with the t-channels.

 

[BLKNitro]

Steve, i have a quick quest..

how much do the mopar ones cost?? and is there a way to hook up off road lights to them or your not sure

 

[steve brittain]

I think they were about 250. I think you could mount anything to them. Getting ahold of the right bracket to slide into the t channel shouldn't be too difficult. They could probably be made easy enough even if you couldn't buy them. Then you just mount the light to the bracket. The thing I like about the bars is that they are not curved left to right. They are flat across the top and are raised about 2 inched above the factory rails. As far as the other equipment installations, I noticed while installing my bars that there are D rings already in the factory rails at all 4 corners making securing anything to the bars very easy.

 

[StreetDancer]

Steve,

Do you have any close-up pictures of the bars? I have a lot of money invested in my yakima rack stuff. I did see that the bracket on Yakima's "Load Warrier" are pretty much universal and will fit just about any rack. That might be the way to go. Then again, 250 for the Mopar racks and an additional 350 for the Load warrier just to get the rest of my stuff to match up is a pretty big chunk of change.

I'll think about it a little more before I make the mopar plunge rack-wise.

 

[steve brittain]

I'll try to get a few pictures posted tomorrow. I am at work at the moment and it will be dark when I get home.

 

[Quiet Lunatic]

I have the "sport utility bars" on my Nitro, and tried to find a way to fit a kayak rack on them. Trouble is, the bars are teardrop shaped, not round or oval shaped. Maybe Yakima has something else that might fit, but the Mighty Mounts and a few other various things did not fit. Spent about 1-1/2 hours at the local kayak shop trying. Either the bars were too big, or the teardrop shape didn't allow for a vertical alignment. Hopefully the pic helps.

BTW, I paid $172 plus shipping online for the bars. I'm now figuring out if the mopar watersports racks are what I want.

 

[AirJunky]

Gotta love how Dodge builds a propriatary rack so they can sell us more stuff.
Someone has to have a way to use a conventional rack of some kind that fits these roof rails. Lets find it!

 

[StreetDancer]

I agian talked to Yakima Racks yesterday. Apparently it's a demand thing. They stated that Nitro is currently on the top of their list but no idea when it'll get done.

A few more callers and they might "see the light."


Looking at the pics posted, I'll definately hold out for an aftermarket rack (either Yakima or Thule) so I don't experience the same problems JMH has.

 

[AirJunky]

Got this back from Yakima today:

Hello Bill, thank you for your inquiry about Yakima Products, Inc!

We need to test every vehicle as it comes out with our racks to make sure that the fit is safe. Our Fit Team has not gotten an opportunity to test that vehicle. We cannot test anything until one becomes available from a dealership and then it has to go through rigorous testing to be sure it is a safe fit. Many times, once we’ve gone through all of the testing we can use one of our existing tower systems and call out the fit. That usually just takes a month or so after we’ve seen it. If we cannot use an existing system, we need to develop something especially for it and that does take at least 6 months to go through the development process. I have logged your inquiry to help prioritize things for our fit team.


Thank you,
Yakima Support

Anyone know of a dealer in the Portland, OR area who might be willing to donate a Nitro for the development & testing?

 

[StreetDancer]

Yeah surely there's somebody near their home office that'll go down there. I'm with Bill any takers?

Still sounds like it's 6 months out though. Maybe my option B is worth looking into. That was to get the Mopar crossbars and add the load warrier (has a universal mounting system to any crossbars) to the top of it, THEN all the Yakima components I already have will fit on the top of the load warrier. It would kinda look "stacked up" but what the hey...if it gets the job done...



Just an update: I Tried to post a PM to Nitro329 (or was it 326 I can't remember) regarding his rack system because his looks exactly like the option B I listed above. I've also perused his pics to see if I can get a better look.

 

[AirJunky]

Yea, I had an idea to pick up a safari style rack & modify the front & rear rails to integrate a Barrecrafters style rack. So standing from the side, it would look like a safari rack. But the front & rear would open up & allow skis or snowboards or whatever to be locked down. This would keep the rack from being stacked so high. Might take a little fabrication to pull it off.

I'm a bit leary of excessive noise though, especially because I have the sunroof. And the drop in MPG is a concern. So I'm been thinking about a rack that hooks into the receiver instead.

 

[Quiet Lunatic]

Any luck yet?

I haul kayaks, Whitewater and Sea. I'm still waiting for something from Thule or Yakima. Anyone had any luck yet, or should I just buy the OEM racks and the Oem kayak cradles?

 

[StreetDancer]

No such luck so far...thanks for the reminder....I think I'll call Yakima again and remind them. Literally it's a demand thing...the more people that want it, the higher it moves up the priority list.

I believe air got the farthest with somebody he knew down there at Yakima.

Give 'em a call, I'll do the same....maybe this will finally get done as I am more inclined to KEEP all of my Yakima accessories and not try to do some type of OEM fix.

 

[Quiet Lunatic]

Called and emailed

Ya, I called and emailed both companys countless times using different names and email addressess, trying to drive up the demand! We will see what happens. I also met personaly with a Thule rep at a Kayaking symposium, he said they are working on the issue, but the rails that the Nitro has are weak plastic and they are having problems with the strengh and capacity they can handle. I'm not sure about this though, because he kept referencing all dodge products, like the Jeep Compass.

 

[AirJunky]

Yea, I don't think he's looked at the Nitro..... I pulled one of the rails off one night & their not plastic. Cheap pot metal maybe, but not plastic.

 

[StreetDancer]

I was gonna say by my recollection there is a lot of plastic AROUND the rails.....but not the rails themselves.

 

[Quiet Lunatic]

good

Thats cool, so I will wait a few months and see what they come up with, hopefully something soon!:thk:

 

[Pshrynk]

I just put the Dodge rails on and they're well made and sturdy.

I can't see why any aftermarket stuff like Thule/Yakima/Sportrack wouldn't fit the channels. They are almost identical to the channels on my VW factory crossbars.

 

[DocNitro]

Still looking for Thule rack attachment

I didn't contact Thule yet but I called my local Outdoors Adventure place where I got the rack and my kayak from and asked them. They told me they would call Thule and find out but haven't heard from them in over a week. Guess I'll do a drive by and talk to someone in person. I'll post here if I get any positive news.

Just went to the Thule web site and this is what they said: "Thank you for submitting your e-mail address to Thule's Online Fit Update Service. We are currently working on a solution for your vehicle. At this time we do not have a definitive date for fitting this vehicle. When the fit becomes available, you will receive an e-mail message with the Thule part numbers you will need to complete your new vehicle fit."