Have you used ski racks w/ a full rack?

Hi folks! I've been thinking about getting a full rack for the rig, but the one thing that has been holding me back was the ability to use ski racks from Thule or Yakima on it. I'm keen on getting the Gobi full rack, but don't want to lose out on the ability to have a solid system for throwing the skis on top come winter time.

For those of you will a full rack, and maybe more specifically the Gobi -- how do you throw skis on it during the winter?

Thanks!

 

For what it’s worth I don’t use ski racks, getting the dirt, grime, and road salt etc all over them wasn’t worth it. I use a nice waterproof ski bag and throw them inside.

 

You can get crossbars for the Gobi rack. They are thin, round bars.

Since yakima comes with a round crossbar also, that would probably be a good system to look at first for ski racks. Whether their ski rack will mount up the Gobi crossbars is probably a question you'll need to ask a Yakima vendor since they know all the little adapters available for their racks.

I think it will work, but best to double check before you spend the money.

 

Interesting! We've got a ski bag that I could use, but having more than a few in the car can start to take away from the usable space, but I'll keep that in mind!

Thanks for the guidance -- sounds like I should just check in with Yakima then!

 

We fit 4 plus all our gear inside regularly. Food the rear armrest down and you can fit 2 ski bags with 2 sets of skis in each which keeps the interior dry. There’s plenty of space in back for boots, helmets and packs. Plus my ski bag has tethers that clip into the rear cargo hold downs so they can’t become projectiles in a crash. I’ll never go back to external storage. The big moment for me was driving 3 hours in a snow storm, getting to the resort, and then one of the lock cylinders was frozen solid. I went to the base, got a cheap cup of coffee, soaked the key to get it hot and poured some on the lock itself hoping melt it a bit, I ended up breaking the key off in it and just drove home.

 

If you decide to go with roof racks, you might want to contact Gobi first to see if they can give you the diameter of the crossbars. That way you have some numbers to compare to Yakima's specs for their mounts.

 

It's a bit of an investment, but a cargo box can be bolted to a roof platform pretty easily, and they protect expensive skis much better than racks or bags.