97 Imp vs. Yakima - Imp WINS! w' Pics!

[four-fleet-feet]

For all those who read this thread, I finally figured how to put an ancient GT upright Yak bike mount onto the 97 Impreza rack crossbars. This will also be how to put on a Lockjaw, for those who have one. If you have a Raptor, pretend you don't when you call Yakima, because it doesn't need the spacer kit, BUT YOU WILL.

 

See the wide bar photo to see the problem - no other Subaru rail is that wide; in the two front photos, see the steel carriage bolt head? Centered under that, usually, is a 1" diameter Yakima round bar. This Imp rail is SOOOO much wider than that! Obviously, Subaru heard enough complaints about it that they quickly put other crossbars and lifted rails on future models. The rails on this car go down to the roof metal, making RailRiders and other track mounts only a dream for this particular car. Why not use Q Towers and Q46 clips, I've been asked? The very first line in the Q Tower instructions is: Take off your factory roof rack. Alas, my earlier thread stated the difficulty in moving the crossbars, let alone taking the %#%&)!! things off altogether! Save a cutting torch, fuhgeddaboutit...

 

Also, the crossbar is quite bowed; that alone makes more spacer/washers necessary or your attachments will cant drunkenly.

 

First, you call Yakima and ask for two sets of Mighty Mount adapter kits for the 14H as needed for u-shaped upright mount plates. You'll need one set for each bike mount, but if you're running one bike, you'll use the second set to level out a Basketcase on the outboard side. It's a bag with two black spacer washers and two hex-head screws.

 

When they come (and don't expect them to come quickly), put aside the 2.5" screws in the bag. They won't work. Go to Ace Hardware or other small hardware store and get yourself either 3" or 3.5" carriage bolts, or four of each, as I did. You'll use 3 per bike mount. You'll need two of the 3" ones for a Basketcase on the outside brackets, where the spacers will go. You'll use the 3" screws on the inner bike mount and the rear wheel tray mount, and the 3.5" on the outside hoop mount.

 

I suggest just getting four of each, so you're ready in the future to carry two bikes if you choose. Also, if you choose to put a 3.5" on the rear wheel tray mount, it's actually longer than the available roof clearance when you put the black plastic wing nut on. You'll have to raise the rack tray to get it started, so put it on first. Face the MightyMount into the center of the roof rack and add this long screw, and there's no way that rack mount is coming off your car by accident.

 

While you're there at Ace, get 2 of the white plastic spacers with the same inner diameter/outside width as the black ones Yakima sent you. They won't be as high - they'll still work to level your stuff out. Bolts and spacers will total about $6.

 

Test the bike in the track on the ground; once you have a tentative place for the hoop baseplate, mark the track with chalk.

 

Put the mount on facing the rear of the car (there's no way around this part) and put the spacers on the front plate screws, using your new bolts. Use the wing nuts if you have them from your original snap-arounds; if not, get some hex-head screws in the 3" or 3.5" length and put them into the nuts on the MightyMounts (but they cost more). Don't tighten everything down until you think it's right. Then pop the bike on the roof and check for spacing. What you'll be worried about is the front wheel buckle; it's a dance to get it enough room to close while keeping the down tube jaws high enough to give your bike a stable ride. (Two photos of that follow.) Take the bike off when it's where you want it.

 

Take one white spacer from the hardware store and put it on top of the black one on the outside of the bracket, and tighten the wing nut down again. If you don't add this extra spacer, your bike will tilt to the outside and cause people to bug you at every place you stop. The ones at Ace are just over half the height of the Yak ones and do the job. The Crooked photo shows what happens if you don't add it.

 

Your Basketcase, if you add it, will need black spacers on the outside MightyMounts or it will lie drunkenly to the outside as well, making several passersby ask you if you were sober when you put it up there. :-\ (For the record, yes, I was sober...)

 

Now go snitch some nail polish and make the chalk marks permanent on the tire track; you'll take this mount off, and if you don't mark it now you'll have to go through all this malarkey again, the next time you want to take your bike somewhere.

 

Dragon_Fox: Hey, I named my bike Fox. Deal with it!

TheProblem1: Just how close is that front wheel buckle to the infamous immovable crossbar, anyway?

Close_Problem1: 'nuff said.

WideBar1: the rear wheel bar, to show the width of the thing. That thing's so wide you could land a plane on it if you wired up some landing lights for it...

ABitCrooked: well, the bike is straight in this shot, but notice how the CAR'S leaning? The car was level for the pix. Really. Without the spacers from Ace, that's what you'll end up with.

 

Oh, yes. One last thing. Yakima will tell you there's no way to put a bike and the basket on this car. Well, I did it! You can too. The basket's about 2" from the hoop plate in the center of the car, and a half inch inboard from the rail track. (The black thing in the basket is an RV stepstool, just for getting the bike into place.)

 

Now we can have bikes and luggage at the same time. Not the same as a RocketBox, but it'll have to do.

[Carmen]

very nice job