I've also looked at both the Yakima and Thule racks rated at over 150lbs. (my wife isn't as keen on these because they aren't "Honda".)

Trust me, they are even better. Both the Thule and Yakima racks can easily be removed when you aren't going to be using them. Of course this is why you should also get locks for them.

As for as boxes go I would suggest that you get a "side loading" box as it will make access a lot easier.

 

I have installed the Thule it it's perfect. Set up and remove pretty easily. The way it's set up, it almost look like it's OEM.

I believe they are rated at 125 lbs. Personnaly, I don't think I would put higher load than that while using the car (just to be sure, I prefer following the official rating). However, in a static situation, having a roof top tent, I can attest that this rack can support a load much greater than that. When my wife, my dog and I are in there, including the weight of the tent, it's more than 450 pounds that's on the rack. And no signs of problems at all.

I highly recommand the Thule. I also had a Yakima rack on a previous car and it was a very good rack also. But I haven't tried the one they make for the E.

Have a nice day

 

I like Yakima?

I have personally never been fan of "factory" racks! Yakima or Thule...six of one half a dozen the other? Like lot of things it preference. I have always been partial to Yakima. I like the round bars and the design of some of the attachments and boxes better than Thule. Plus Yakima is an American company. Again my preference and 2 Cents? You will most likely be happy either way. pic of my racks with king cobra bike mount and surf board pads.

 

I installed a Yakima rack on mine yesterday. It took me about 1/2 an hour, and If *I* can do it, anyone can. I bought it at REI where all Yak racks and accessories 20% off this (long) weekend.

As far as the weight rating... the 75 lbs technically still applies as that is Honda's rating for the roof. Search around the forums a bit and you'll find lots of discussions on the topic.

 

I installed a Yakima rack on mine yesterday. It took me about 1/2 an hour, and If I can do it, anyone can. I bought it at REI where all Yak racks and accessories 20% off this (long) weekend.

As far as the weight rating... the 75 lbs technically still applies as that is Honda's rating for the roof. Search around the forums a bit and you'll find lots of discussions on the topic.

Actually the dynamic load limit for the Element is 165 lbs. You can find the load limit for most vehicles in their Owner's Manual. The 75lb load limit is specific to the OEM load bars. If you replace them is other racks (Yakima, Thule, etc.) then the load limit is whatever that rack's limit is. If you installed a Yakima rack on your E then the load limit is probably 150lbs now.
I know this post is like 11 years old, but I thought that it was important to point this out.

 

All of these bars mount to the roof in the same way - bolted to 4 pads welded to the roof.

The Honda rack has more streamlined bars. They may be more flexible than the others. Also Honda tends to be more conservative in rating their products.

The Thule and Yakima bars are quite similar. Both can be removed easily, leaving small plastic covered mounting points on the roof. They create more wind noise than the Honda rack, and may need a wind fairing to tame that.

With a light weight cargo box, any of these racks should work well. For bikes, the stiffer Thule or Yakima bars would be better. Cargo baskets may be easier to fit on this bars as well.

 

Can someone please verify what type of rack I need. I'm leaning towards Yakima, and I'm waiting to find a used one, so since I'm not buying directly from Yakima I'm afraid I'll buy the wrong one

58" crossbars
Landing Pad 9 (2 of them?)
Q tower (What the hell is a Q tower?) and it says M1, M2, M3, and M4 *confused*
The Yakima website also says in one section I have a naked roof and in another section the Element has tracks built in for a roof.

I found a great deal on one that came off of a Pilot but I don't think the control tower is correct, and the control tower alone is $159 on the website
I'm new at this, please help!

 

I think you want the "control tower" and not the "Q tower". The control towers hold the bars, and snap into the "landing pads" which bolt to the factory mount holes on the roof. Way better than using Q towers, which don't bolt on, and use a specific clip to hold onto the roof. With landing pads, you can pop the roof rack on and off in seconds. I assume all E's have the bolts for a factory rack, but don't actually know that (I bought my as a bare roof, and that is what I have).

Landing pads vary per car. The fit guide appears to be listing the landing pad 9 for the 2010 E.

 

So the control tower pretty much fits any car, it's the landing pad that has to be specific? That sounds much nicer landing pads are cheaper, thanks so much!

 

So the control tower pretty much fits any car, it's the landing pad that has to be specific?

Yes, and the control towers attach to the landing pads. Be sure and get the locks for the control towers.

 

rack and cargo box

Here is yet another option to consider..

 

i have a Gobi Roof Rack

I have a Gobi roof rack on my Honda Element.

 

Gobi Roof rack

I have a Gobi roof rack on my Honda Element.

Will a gobi rack fit on a 2010? Whats the price on these racks? website doesnt give me much information.

also,

i'm hearing that there are issues with the yakima cargo rack fitting the OEM roof rack. Something about the clamps "dont center". Any one have any experience with this phenomena that can clue me in.

thanx

Greygoose

 

The Yakima website says I need a 58" bar for an Element roof rack, but a friend with a Thule rack said his is only about 50 inches. A lot of the Yakima roof racks on craigslist have 48 inch bars, would those fit an Element?

I REALLY don't want the bars to stick out on the sides, I don't need the extra carrying space

 

I have 48" Yakima bars and they work and look great.

 

48" bars work, with about an inch of bar projecting beyond the mounts.

 

Thanks!! I'm glad I asked beforehand. I would have been really disappointed in the look of it.

 

*sighs* search for a used yakima or thule rack has been pretty fruitless. Load bars, fairing and locks easy to find, but you usually have to buy their whole set up, which NEVER consists of control towers, usually raingutter setup or railgrabbers and q clips. I thought it would be easier then this. I wanted to find control towers used since they are the most expensive part.

Mostly searching craigslist and now ebay, anyone else have any good ideas? I'm going to end up finding a used kayak I want and have no roof rack to put it on!

 

..., which NEVER consists of control towers, usually raingutter setup or railgrabbers and q clips....!

The raingutter design has been around since the 1980s (at least). q clips came next when car manufactures stopped putting raingutters on their cars. Control towers are the most recent approach, starting around 2000, and the number of custom adapters is limited.

I had an old raingutter set. Shortly after buying the Element 2003, I made custom roof rack mounts using hardware store angle aluminum. I bolted part of the Yakima mounts to those brackets, giving me a semi-Yakima rack There are some pictures of that on the galleries listing in my sig. However more recently I bought control towers and adapters, which are much easier to install and remove.

 

No q-clip adapters. 2 reasons I can think of:
- Honda provided bolt on pads, compatible with the pads on the CRV
- the plastic garnish on the roof edge. The Qtowers would have to rest on this plastic, and clips (partially) grip it.

The presence of those pads means that it is easier to make a home rack than on most cars (almost as a easy as with a generic raingutter).

 

*sighs* search for a used yakima or thule rack has been pretty fruitless. Load bars, fairing and locks easy to find, but you usually have to buy their whole set up, which NEVER consists of control towers, usually raingutter setup or railgrabbers and q clips. I thought it would be easier then this. I wanted to find control towers used since they are the most expensive part.

Mostly searching craigslist and now ebay, anyone else have any good ideas? I'm going to end up finding a used kayak I want and have no roof rack to put it on!

MennoToaster
I have a set I bought for my 2003 EX that I never installed. I bought them from REI. If your interested IM me. I'll pull them out and see what I have. I'm pretty sure I bought the towers ands bars but no locks.

 

I have a 2010 E. Looking to get a roof rack and car topper to carry luggage type stuff on trips.

Looking at the Honda website the aftermarket rack they sell/install at the dealership says its rated for 75lbs (I'm assuming across both bars) - which after the topper doesn't leave much for cargo.

I've also looked at both the Yakima and Thule racks rated at over 150lbs. (my wife isn't as keen on these because they aren't "Honda".)

Any recommendations regarding roof racks would be great.

Also, how much load can feasably be carried in a topper on an E?

Thanks

I put the Thule on not long after buying the E in 2003. It has held up well. Somewhat less faded than the rest of the trim on the car.

I have a 2010 E. Looking to get a roof rack and car topper to carry luggage type stuff on trips.

Looking at the Honda website the aftermarket rack they sell/install at the dealership says its rated for 75lbs (I'm assuming across both bars) - which after the topper doesn't leave much for cargo.

I've also looked at both the Yakima and Thule racks rated at over 150lbs. (my wife isn't as keen on these because they aren't "Honda".)

Any recommendations regarding roof racks would be great.

Also, how much load can feasably be carried in a topper on an E?

Thanks

I bought the Thule in 2003 shortly after buying the first year E. It has held up pretty well.

 

Interesting [emoji3166]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk