Recommended Roof Rack For A 2007 Yukon XL 2500 For A Rooftop Tent And Awning

Question:

I have a 2007 Yukon XL 2500. I need a roof rack that will support a roof top tent weighing 180 pounds + a 270 degree awning. Do you have a roof rack the will support ~ 240 dynamic weight using existing roof rails? Tony

asked by: Tony

Expert Reply:

Hi Tony,

Roof rack manufacturers typically only test up to 165lbs for their crossbars unless it's a heavy-duty style crossbar. The bars themselves have a capacity but the roof of the Yukon is also going to have a capacity that you'll need to stay under as well so you'll want to first verify the capacity of the roof in your Yukon's owner's manual.

Since you're wanting to do a rooftop tent you'll need to either have flush-mounted rails with fixed mounting points or raised rails that run from front to back for the roof rack to mount to. If you have a naked roof you unfortunately wouldn't be able to use that style roof rack to support a rooftop tent. With the weight being around 240lbs dynamic you'll need to go with HD crossbars to have enough capacity. Depending on the style of rails you have on the roof you'll need one of the following kits:

Flush-Mounted Rails:
Yakima SkyLine Roof Rack for Fixed Mounting Points # Y35NB

Raised Rails:
Yakima TimberLine Roof Rack for Raised Rails # Y23NB

Since these are HD bars you might have an issue with getting the rooftop tent or awning feet to fit around the 3" wide x 1-1/2" tall crossbars. If you do then these rails also offer a second mounting method with the built in t-slots. You might not have a problem but it wouldn't hurt to take a look at both accessories first to ensure you don't have to pick up any other kind of adapters to mount them.

expert reply by: Kevin C

To Y.

8/12/2024

The factory roof rails are the raised rails.

Tony

8/12/2024

Based on conversation, I should be okay with the Hd cross bars with the timberline rack for raised rails?

Kevin C.

8/13/2024

@Tony Yes, the TimberLine towers are a fit for the HD crossbars. I also got your email about switching from a 2007 to a 2009 Yukon XL 2500 Denali with flush-mounted rails. For that you would need Yakima SkyLine Roof Rack # Y35BB instead. This comes with SkyLine towers which would mounting to fixed points built into your flush rails.