Retrofit factory roof racks on 99 legacy?

Now that kid #2 is on the way I'm going to have to put the skis on the roof somehow - no more folding down half the rear seat.

My 99 legacy wagon doesn't have a factory rack, and I'm not wild about how the Thule and Yakima clamps fit into the window seals. Aftermarket bars on the factory rails seems to be the ideal set-up.

Rails were obviously an option in 99 (because my car doesn't have them) Were they installed at the factory or at the dealer? One idea is to find a set of rails at a junkyard (probably not a high demand item, unlike headlights, fenders and the like) and have them installed, either by the dealer or by myself.

Does anybody know

1) Do they just screw into the sheet metal, or is there a nut on the backside? 2) Is there an installation kit - would dealers still be able to get it? 3) How difficult? Am I crazy?

Any thoughts?

Remove the obvious in my address to email. Thanks,

Alex

Reply to
Alex Hyder
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Ah, been there, done that. I ended up finding a great deal at a junkyard (20 bucks for everything) but before I did, I was about to order from this place:

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They claim tosupply the exact same roof racks that many manufacturers use, and indeedthe rack I pulled off a Ford Explorer is identical to their "FourSeasons" model.

The one I pulled off the Explorer screwed into rivnuts, which are blind fasteners, similar to a pop-rivit with threads inside it. Since I am a perfectionsit sort, I decided to use the original fasters. Luckily, I hang around my local airport a lot and know a mechanic who had the tool to install rivnuts. Unluckily, the stock bolts had metric threads and his tool only worked on SAE, so I had to install them by hand, which is time consuming but not difficult. The racks that the webpage sells come with self sealing screws, and I assume you need no special tools for them.

I would guess that the roof rack was probably a dealer installed option to begin with, it's quite likely that they can still get the factory rack and install it, but I'm sure they'll charge a good bit for it.

Not hard at all, took me maybe 2 hours tops. Just remember, measure twice, drill once.

I like cake.

Dan

Reply to
Marshall Banana

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