I just bought a snowboard first time in 14 years. Now I want to get a roof rack and I am thinking about going with Yakima.

Yakima's website told me taht Raingutter tower would work for 2 door JK.

I was wondering if any people here have this set up and I was wondering what they thought about the setup.

If you have this setup, it would be great to see some pictures and will you let me know how you like the setup? Pros and Cons, etc?


Thanks

 

The raingutter setup will work, but there's not much raingutter to work with. I drilled my roof two years ago and installed tracks for my Yakima racks. It holds a lot of weight, and does very well for carry lots of gear for long trips. Just something to consider.

 

While most people look down on using the raingutter mounts, I think they work fine. Many fear that the gutters are gonna breaks off with any weight. I carry my two fishing kayaks ( about 150 lbs) on top of my 4 door without any problems headed down the hwy @ 70 mph. When securing the mounts, I try to keep them a few inches away from the ends of the gutters. If the gutters do form a crack, it will most probably start at the end since it is a stress concentration area. Since all you are wanting to carry is a snowboard, you should have no problems at all. Even with your 2 door, you should be able to space out the mounts enough for a snowboard.

 

I've seen people drill hardtops to install racks. They really look nice and all, but I am not handy enough or I don't trust myself to drill holes on hardtop. haha. It seems to be a lot more stable with drilled mount and it will hold a lot more weight, though.

Thank you for your comment. I really appreciate it.

 

Your comment is very assuring. My concern was that the two door freedom top would not have enough length to have two raingutter towers.

I was thinking about getting a hitch rack, but it almsot seems like it's actually cheaper to go with roof rack.

How was the installatio? Was it pretty easy enough for a non handy man?

I am thinking about stopping at a local Yakima dealer to see how much it's goign to cost.

 

I use the hidden hitch bike rack with the snowboard/ski add on. Just stick it the 2" reciever..works great.

 

I have a Thule setup on my Unlimited and it does very well. I bought the towers off EBay last year for a really low price and got the crossbars locally for the market price. I have had them on through freezing weather without problems at all. One thing I did was take off the Thule bolts that secure it and replace them with stainless hardware to make them more secure, since my towers are the older ones without the locking bolts. Let me know if you want pictures.

The total cost of this setup altogether was less than $100.

 

I was going to go with the hitch rack, but you have to have bick hitch rack and then you have to buy the ski/snowboard add on, right? I think each costs about $200, so the total cost ends up about $400. If you go with the roof rack, I thik it's going to be about $350. This is the reason why I am leaning toward the roof rack, not the hitch rack. I really like the hitch rack as it seems to be easier to load and unload, though.

 

Installation is very simple. The provided instructions are pretty good. You could try installing both cross bars in the freedom panels. If you don't like how your board sits, you could always install a pair Yakima Side Loaders to space out your crossbars a little more for better stability. I believe I have seen some write-ups those things. With that being said, it really does seem like a hitch rack would be much easier than messing with a rack for your situation.

 

You stated that your not handy enough, but I promise you its not a hard task!!!
I went to the local junk yard and pulled some tracks off a Isuzu Trooper, and cross bars off a Jeep Cherokee and made sure it all fit together! With some tinkering, i got the parts i needed. Then I headed to the Hard wear store to pick up some nuts, bolts, washers, and rubber gaskets! Roof Rack= 26$ Hardware- 13$.