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Question For People With Roof Racks:

H

Hawks

GUEST
Are non-gm bicycle carriers compatable with the chevy utility bars?
 
In a short answer, yes. In a longer answer Saris, Yakima, and Thule make mounts that attach to the main side rails. Make sure to do your research before you get one. What are you going to be using the rack for?
 
Are you talking about the rail type? If so , I dont know any companies that dont make universal brackets for trucks, Yakima,Thule, ect..

Are you having problems finding one?
 
I am taking a trip to Rhode Island in a few months. We are going to take 4 bikes with us. I am willing to buy 2 bicycle carriers for my bikes but dont want to by 2 more for my friends' bikes. I know they have bicycle carriers for the racks on their own cars, but I am hoping that they will be compatable with my gm bars. The retail on the gm bicycle carrier is $114 each...it already sucks that I have to buy 2, buying 4 is out of the question.
 
If you get a Yakima or Thule bike rack, then your friends should be able to take off their roof rack bike holders and stick it on yours.

I got the Yakima roof rack and currently have two Viper bike racks on there. Yakima also makes the fork holders and rear tire holder for cheap. This way, you won't have to spend much on extra Viper racks if that's the way you go.

See some pix on my website below.
 
The roof rack and the GM accessories are made by Thule - so most of the Thule over the counter products should work with no issue. :love:
 
I have the standard GM roof rack and Thule racks and there are several options with Thule. You can get bike racks that mount directly onto the stock cross members. I didn't like this options because the stock members are a little on the thin side for me and they do not slide around easily. Also, with this option, the bike rack will mount to the stock cross pieces with a plastic mount that is more universal and not specifically designed for any particular car. The second option with Thule is to get a foot kit that mounts right into the stock bars that are screwed into the roof. You then get Thule bars for your cross members. Pretty nice and a good fit. I also did not go with this because it mounts the Thule cross bars very high. It's hard enough to try to get a bike on the roof. The third Thule option is a kit called the Rapid Rail. These are one piece cross members with attachments to mount to the stock roof bars. They essentially have a clamp that when cranked, grabs the stock roof bars like a vice grip and locks. It has rubber padding not to mark up the stock bar. It is very low profile and does not interfere with a sunroof if you have one. Easily removable and you can mount any Thule item since you are using Thule cross bars. With this setup, I have 2 Big Mouth mountain bike racks and a Play Pen basket for cargo. I can easily change between them. I have received a number of compliments about the versiltility and actually the looks of the setup.
 
Kronk,
Sounds like you have a sweet setup. Has anyone considered a way to mount a rack for the hardcovers? This would make loading a bike a lot easier than putting onto the roof. Just a thought.

Legend
 
Thanks Legend. There was a thread about modifying the hardcovers for such a setup. The person wanted to modify the 1st & 3rd cover to include bike mounting hardware & ski mounting harware. They wanted to order a set of stock hardcovers to have on hand & use when the rack pieces were not needed. After discovering that the replacement panels were going to be $800 per panel, they decided not to continue. I don't blame them. You could theoretically do this if you still wanted since the weight rating of 250 lbs. is actually the same as the roof rack.

Hard Cover Mod Thread http://www.chevyavalanchefanclub.com/cafcna/index.php?board=16;action=display;threadid=6697;start=5

An alternative to save money is to get the harware to fork mount your bike to a stationary object. (this is what you would probably buy in a cargo cover mod) Thule sells a simple fork mount bracket for about $20 each. I'm sure there are others. Get yourself a 2x12 piece of lumber (about 51" long, please measure yourself I'm estimating). You could mount the fork holders on the short edge of the wood and I believe that such a board will fit in the grooves in the side of bed up close to the midgate. You could do the same in the rear of the bed and probably hold at least 3 bikes (one forward and 2 backwards or vice versa) without any cargo covers on. The total cost of the hardware should be about $80 for 3 bike racks. ;D
 
I have worked with Yakima rack products for years and IMHO I think they are the best. My mountain bikes, tandem mtn bike, Rocket Box, ladder carrier, and rack never hurt my cars or van. Yak came out with a bike rack holder called the Ankle Biter. It holds the bike by the crank arm instead of the frame. Perfect if you have or plan on getting a carbon fiber bike frame or if you have weird frame that is tough to connect to. You keep both tires on and they lock so you bike is secure. They will attach to the GM rack when you get the Yaks clips that attach to the GM rack.

Plus Yakima is made in America!!
 
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