Odyssey Roof Rack Issue

triathlonj

So I sent an e-mail to Yakima to see if one of their bike racks (the Raptor Aero) would work on the Odyssey factory cross-bars and roof rack. This is their response:
"Unfortunately, we do not recommend any of our products on the 2009 Honda Odyssey. This has to do with the crossbar strength. Our fit technicians have tested our products extensively on your particular vehicle and found that the factory crossbars were not supportive enough to carry any products. We had several issues with compatibility and strength.

We do recommend using the following base rack system in combination with your existing factory side-rails:
Vehicle: HONDA Odyssey
Year Range: 2005-2009 Fit Type: Top
Factory Rack: With Factory Rack Weight Limit: 100
Tower/Attachment: RailGrab Required Accessory:
Crossbar Length: 48" CrossBars Recommended Fairing: 38" Fairing

This system will enable you to carry most of all of our products.

Thank you,
Yakima Support"

Now for starters, Honda's cross bars are rated to 150 (evenly distributed) pounds (not 100 as stated in Yakima's response), so I'm not sure if Yakima Support is just trying to pedal their own cross-bar solution, or what the real story is.

Are Honda's cross-bars really that bad, to where Yakima would be right in saying that none of their products will work on the van's stock system???

I've put my own weight on the bars, and they didn't seem to give at all.

Any thoughts?

co_cop

I had a Yakima space cadet on top of my Odyssey Cross Bars, Cadet is 50 LBS plus all my junk. I myself had no real issues. Seems to me that they want to sell you off their own crossbars. Their response sounds automated to me...

Also, I would also take your question to:

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/

Tons of info on the Ody there

Good Luck

Pat

co_cop

I also noticed that Thule makes all Honda branded attachments and such. I would look at them too.

Pat