Capacity of shell-mounted roof rack

[mountainpete]

I was curious as to which rack brands any of you would use and which if any to avoid. I have been trying to decide on a brand but prices vary all over the board. Any suggestions?

I have had a number of different brands of racks over the years and this is my third set of Yakima. I really like the flexability and strenght of their product. The basket I have is from a company called Bauer and it has worked quite well for me over the years. I really appreciate that it has a close bar spacing at the bottom of the basket. It makes carrying things like firewood easy.

Personally, I have never seen a Yakima tower fail. I have actually seen raingutters ripped off roofs yet the rack not fail. That's pretty strange...

Now if I were to do it all over again, I would do some things slightly different. I would still stay with a Yakima crossbar system but I would choose a longer bar than I have today. I cut my bars so that I could have the basket on and still be able to put one bike mount on each side of the basket. Unfortunately, I could use even more space each side for things like lumber - that way I don't have to take the basket off.

I would also choose a longer basket. Potentially one that extends the full length of the topper and even a bit on to the cab. One that can handle a third crossbar would be nice too. Garvin and Con-ferr would be my top choices.

Pete