yakima vs surco safari vs thule roof racks

[musashi-x]

so yah like them other guys im lookin for a good roof rack/basket thingie for my explorer. i got an 2002 xlt 4door 4x4 and am lookin for one and am debatin between the yakima megawarrior, the one by Thule, and the Surco Safari one, which apparently alot of yall got. any comments, opinions, or suggestions?

 

[Necromancer]

Been comparing for 6 months. The Surco generally have a bad rap because they are riveted aluminum- light weight but flimsy. The Loadwarrior and Megawarrior have decent reviews, and lots of options for mounts, but are expensive. The one piece custom welded ones on ebay are by far the strongest, but weigh a ton and shipping can kill you.

Figure how much weight you'll normally be carrying/abuse you'll put it through. Also watch height if you park in garages. If you put the cage on top of the two crossbars (like they suggest), you'll likely need aftermarket crossbars to hold the weight. I'm gonna do a little fabrication to put the cage flat on top of the rubber roof strips.

 

[LStoudenmire]

I have the Yakima LoadWarrior and purchased it for $190.00. It does have many options and I have used it quite a bit.

 

[bigxplorer95]

I have a Surco and to save money on the expensive mounting brackets, I just drilled it into my factory rack already on my explorer. I like it because with the brackets it looks really high off the top of the explorer. Just somthing to think about

 

[bmxking5]

I have a Surco and to save money on the expensive mounting brackets, I just drilled it into my factory rack already on my explorer. I like it because with the brackets it looks really high off the top of the explorer. Just somthing to think about

Can you email me a picture of that? I agree that it makes them look really high up there and that is something that I don't want to have.