To see if this custom-fit item will work for you please tell us what vehicle you'll use it with.
These crossbars combine the strength of steel with an aerodynamic shape to create a heavy-duty yet quiet roof rack for your vehicle. Full-length bars work with most clamp-on accessories. Installs to raised rails on your vehicle's roof.
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Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hi, everyone, it's Evangeline here at etrailer. And today, we have a Yakima roof rack with the 60 inch long JetStream bars and the towers. We're gonna take a look at how it fits on the 2018 Ford Escape. If you're looking for a roof rack system, because you wanna carry around accessories like kayaks or baskets or even roof-mounted bike racks, this is gonna be a very strong and sturdy system. Comparing it with some others though, you do have one more adjustment point compared to other racks, it might take a little bit longer, but not that much. I'm gonna explain later in this video how it installs.
But first, let's talk about how it fits the Escape. This is the 60 inch long Yakima JetStream Crossbar. It's actually gonna be a longer bar than what other brands recommend for your vehicle. And the reason they have this one, is because it gives you a bit more overhang. I like that feature, but for some, it might stick out a little too far past their car.
Measuring from the tower to right before the end cap, I have it at 5 1/2 inches of overhang. That's gonna be great if you wanna carry around accessories that require overhang like load-assist kayak carriers, or if you wanna make it easier for you to reach up and put things onto your roof. The one downside for too much overhang though is it increases the possibility of running into the bars depending on where you have it lined up. Also, another thing is some people might not like how it looks. This is gonna be a very low-profile roof rack, which means it doesn't sit too high up above your roof.
So we'll take two measurements for that. The first is gonna be distance underneath the crossbar, I have it at about three inches here towards the center. And then the next measurement is how much height will this add to your roof rack, and I have it about almost four inches. So that's gonna be something worth considering if you have items that clamp around, you want a good amount of space, which this one has. And if you have things sitting on top of your roof, will they hit your roof And if they do, that's when you can look at accessories that give you some extra height.
Next measurement is crossbar spread. That's measured from the center of one crossbar to the other. Specific accessories require a specific crossbar spread, usually roof baskets and roof-mounted bike racks. I currently have it sent to about, center to center, 22 inches, but you can move this as far out as about 40 inches. That's because you have this raised rail, so you can slide this forward or backward as much as you need to. The JetStream bar is an aero bar, which means it's a bit more aerodynamic. Notice how it's wider up front and tapers in the back, that's to reduce your wind drag and wind noise. Inside the bar though, you also have some functionality in the form of a T-track. So if you take off the end cap of your crossbar, you can get your accessory pushed down on this rubber weather strip and slide the accessory through. That's gonna add some ways to plant things down in case you don't want to clamp them around the bar, and that opens up the entire crossbar for accessories, and you don't have to work around the towers. Looking at the TimberLine towers, this is what's securing the system to your raised rails. So we have a rubber strap with a metal strap on the inside, and that's cinching down on those rails, creating that strong and sturdy fit. Now, notice this hole over here. If you have the sold separately Yakima Same Key System lock cores, you can pop those in there, and then you can lock everything down with a key. So put your adapter onto your TimberLine tower, then get your plate, and this is gonna fit on top. Now, in order to tighten down, there is a bolt, and you do have to push in on the strap in order to get access to that bolt. So use your included tool to tighten down to that metal piece. So that plate and the tower fits into your crossbar. So just slide that on through, and if you already know the distance you need to put your tower, we can get that lined up there. If you don't, that's fine, you can figure that out later. I have it at around the 47 1/2 inch mark. Now, we're going to tighten down that metal plate fully. This is gonna have a torque tool, so continue tightening until you hear it click. (torque tool clicking) Recommends to click at least three times. (torque tool clicking) We are now ready to put this onto our roof. Now, the Ford Escape raised rails has the little markers inside them already where some people like to attach the crossbars. I like to use that as a reference for where I put my crossbars. So we're just gonna gently set our towers onto those rails. I have both sides set to 48 inches, so I know they're even. If you don't set them right ahead of time, you can slide them back and forth now to make sure you have an equal amount of overhang. To secure the tower, we're gonna lift this strap around the raised rail and into the tab. Notice how we have a lot of bolts sticking out that needs to get tightened down all the way. So I actually do that by hand before you put and use the tool. So get most of that tightened down on both sides. A good habit to have is to not fully tighten down one side and leave the other one loose. So I have 90% tightened down on the other side as I go over here to finish it off. (torque tool clicking) Just like how we did with the other steps, we're gonna tighten down until the torque click goes off. (torque tool clicking) Like that. Once all three bolts are tightened down, and you can count there's one in the middle for that metal plate, there's one up top to secure the metal plate to the crossbar in terms of pitch, and then there's the one in the front that tightens down the strap. Once they're all secure and they've been torqued down, you can then put that door. So that door fits into your tower. (tower clicking) Clicks into place as well. You have the option of replacing this with a metal lock core. It's secure without that lock core, but it's useful if you have other Yakima accessories and you want them all keyed alike. Finally, there's the end cap for your crossbar. And once that's in place, you're good to go. That right there was a look at the Yakima 60 inch long JetStream crossbars and the TimberLine towers here on our 2018 Ford Escape.
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