Opinion wanted: Yakima Outdoorsman 300

[sig]

Anyone have any experience with these truck bed racks? Aly and I have a new to us truck with no roof racks and no camper shell on it.

http://amzn.com/B005Z3V3R6

They seem like a decent solution but I've only met one person who has them (he likes them, no complaints) and only seen them in person once.

This would be for a Nissan Frontier with a 5' bed.

Thanks in advance.

[Cowper]

I had one friend who had them, and some part broke. I don't recall the details, or if he had overloaded the rack. I think he was in contact with Yakima, and suspect a minor redesign has occurred by now as this was quite a few years ago.

My suggestion is find out their load rating, stay within it. You may have to call Yakima; that stuff is not always on the web sites. Check Thule's rating for a similar system.

I've been a Yakima man most of my life, but I have to admit a friend who had the Thules liked them, largely because the height could be adjusted very quickly. Low for minimum resistance when no boats on top, higher when needed.

I would look hard at both systems, but might go with the Thules based on my two different friends' experiences.

OR - get ahold of Heath and get yourself a custom, your-truck-will-break-before-the-rack-does system, that can be an exoskeleton to add a camper shell underneath at a later date...

[Steve S]

One of the guys I worked with at Orbea has this setup on his Nissan Frontier. He's had no problems with it in the 2 years they've been on his truck. He now works at Arkansas Cycling on Bowman. If there is a silver Frontier in front of the store, go in and ask for Adam (you may already know him from Bike Polo). He's been selling off some of his bikes. He might be willing to sell the racks.

[sig]

Small world, Steve. Adam is the person I know with that setup and I've already inquired if they were for sale.

We put them on and off his truck the other day so I could see what's involved. They seemed nice, I was just fishing for a second opinion.

[Al Donaldson]

Sig:

If you are using just one of these along with a roof rack, check the height compared to that of the roof rack. I purchased one from Yakima years ago (supposedly the correct model for my Chevy S10 pickup,) and it was about 6" higher than the height that would match the front roof rack. Cut and weld -- no problem -- but it was inconvenient.

Good luck.

al