[woods1966]

Putting on an OEM roof rack that I picked up on the cheap from my brother in law whilst pining away my precious pennies for a Baja or Gobi.

I'm getting ready for the install and am wondering...can I just go 'slatless'?

I'm no engineer, but I'm hard pressed to think that the slats provide any kind of structural integrity to the rack.

I'll be using Thule 450's, cross bars and kayak saddles anyway, so all I really need are the 'tubes' from the rack, not the 'slats' (this reads as vaguely obscene).

I'm thinking it would save some wind noise by leaving them off.

Thoughts?

 

[fj6high]

I actually have wondered why I even still have mine mounted above....Maybe it's because thats the way I purchased it! :lol:

I have no need for the slats and all they really do is get in the way of washing and waxing the top of the roof. They may even cause a degree of wind resistance...causing a reduction in fuel mileage :mecry:

I have planned to remove mine...mostly because I never plan to haul anything on my roof...It would be impossible to put anything up there anyway due to the fact....You need a 6' ladder to even see above the top :lol:

 

[Cogen Man]

You don't really need the slats. So take them off if you wish. There's no structural need for them that I can think of. Only function is to help lock in objects front and back. Or getting longer objects up away from the roof.

 

[WESBC]

People are always looking for extra crossbars

 

[Lock_n_Load]

You won't have a problem selling them if you wish, I just picked up three additional from MadMark, distributing the weight of whatever I'm carrying across 6 bars instead of 3.

Let me start by saying I'm no structural engineer, but if you look at the rack from above it's a C shape - open at one end. The front end may - may - sag inward if you have quite a bit of weight on top of the remaining rack itself without slats.

If you're not carrying anything heavy, or anything at all - I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[SpeedRye]

I hope not, mine only came with one slat... I don't know what the original owner did with the other three.