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After Market Cross Bar

2K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  N_Jay 
#1 ·
Hello All,

First of all, I'm glad I found this site. I am a proud new owner of a Honda Pilot EXL. I traded in my Mercedes C-Class so I can enjoy my latest past time, camping with the family.

I am planning to get a cross bar. I would like to get peoples advice about after market cross bars. I have a soft carrier that I put on top of our van. Should I even consider non-honda cross bars that are being sold in the internet (around $89-$99)? Do you know of a reasonably priced cross bar? How do they differ from the original Honda cross bars?

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
The Thule or Yakima cross bars are the way to go.
They're flat, reasonably priced, easy-on, easy-off, lockable, and can carry more weight than the Honda OEM cross-bars.

No question, check these out at www.thule.com or www.yakima.com
 
#3 ·
vellinga said:
The Thule or Yakima cross bars are the way to go.
They're flat, reasonably priced, easy-on, easy-off, lockable, and can carry more weight than the Honda OEM cross-bars.
I think you'll find that the load capacity is limited by the rack, not the crossbars. The EX factory rack has a capacity of 165 pounds, and the Honda OEM crossbars will handle that as well.
 
#5 ·
hop23 said:


I think you'll find that the load capacity is limited by the rack, not the crossbars. The EX factory rack has a capacity of 165 pounds, and the Honda OEM crossbars will handle that as well.
I believe that the weight rating is that of the vehicle, the rails, the crossbars, and the safety margin Honda built into all of the above.

Like towing ratings the manufacturer has to test their system.
So Thule tests only the rack, but Honda has to test the vehicle.

I would guess the the bars nor the rails nor the roof limit the system to 165LB, but rather the stability of the Pilot (when loaded to capacity, on shocks near their end of life)
 
#6 ·
N_Jay said:


I would guess the the bars nor the rails nor the roof limit the system to 165LB, but rather the stability of the Pilot (when loaded to capacity, on shocks near their end of life)

I'd imagine that the Honda engineers would want to get at least some of the components close to the calculated optimal. It be a waste of money (and their degrees) for them to design a cross bar that could handle 300 lbs if your not supposed to put that much weight up there. That is assuming that the beefier cross bar cost more to make.
 
#7 ·
terrier said:



I'd imagine that the Honda engineers would want to get at least some of the components close to the calculated optimal. It be a waste of money (and their degrees) for them to design a cross bar that could handle 300 lbs if your not supposed to put that much weight up there. That is assuming that the beefier cross bar cost more to make.
Maybe so, but I am not sure you can make them much lighter and still handle the dynamic loads, let alone the tention of tieing something down.

I have had Thule systems, and I know they can handel loads well in excess of what is safe on top of a vehicle.

I have the Honda bars on both the CR-V and Pilot and I think they are plenty strong.

My biggest complaint is the curve, it make it much harder to load sheets of wood.
 
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