Roof cross bars?

[Pigwich]

Hello GM!

I'm wondering what the story is with OEM roof cross bars for my Bolt - I paid extra for the roof rails so I could use my Sky Box from time to time, expecting that GM would release cross-bars. I don't want to pay a ton extra again for ugly-as-sin aftermarket crossbars! When can we expect to see cross-bars? Are there any other GM vehicles that have cross-bars that would fit the Bolt? There's a trailer hitch - What's so hard about cross bars?

Thanks!!

 

[ArthurL]

Yakama just posted a rack system for the Bolt. Tower system in two part, pad and tower. Cross bars 50 inch length looks like it will fit the Bolt fine and the system should accommodate most crossbar types. I'll be using my crossbar from the Civic that will be scraped. As for GM I seriously doubt they will have their own branded racks. They will leave that to third parties like Yakima and Thule.

 

[bro19991]

I just installed the Yakima system. See my quick take and some photos here.
http://www.chevybolt.org/forum/11-exterior-interior/9642-yakima-roof-rack-setup.html#post115666

 

[ArthurL]

Much thanks for the pictures. I had read the instructions manual and seemed like an easy install but nice seeing and hearing of an install. Are the cross bars the 50 inch Jetstreams? That's what I already have and plan to use with the pads and skyline towers? Lost the keys to my old towers and waiting for the master key ring to get them off so I can turn the Civic into Scrapit Program and place my order.

 

[bro19991]

They're the 50 inch "core bars".....Priced in between the round and aero bars.
Wind noise is not too bad after some driving around with the bars on.

 

[boltage]

Much thanks for the pictures. I had read the instructions manual and seemed like an easy install but nice seeing and hearing of an install. Are the cross bars the 50 inch Jetstreams? That's what I already have and plan to use with the pads and skyline towers? Lost the keys to my old towers and waiting for the master key ring to get them off so I can turn the Civic into Scrapit Program and place my order.

Yes, the Yakima SkyLine / Landing Pad 19 setup will work with 50" JetStream or CoreBar, or 48" RoundBar crossbars.

Once assembled, this setup can be removed and reinstalled very quickly (the Landing Pads remain on the car). Be sure to use locks, since thieves can otherwise steal the towers and crossbars very quickly.

 

[ArthurL]

Good to know the towers can pop off easily. Bolt is fairly tall and my Malone supports are too tall for garage. For sure locks...just don't lose the key this time...lol

 

[boltage]

One note about Yakima setups is that with the new-style* towers, you are supposed to snap an adapter insert into the tower to match the crossbar (these adapter inserts come with the JetStream or CoreBar crossbars and are sold separately for RoundBar crossbars -- each type of crossbar uses a different adapter insert). If you are disassembling an old Yakima setup that has different new-style* towers to reuse the crossbars with different towers, be sure to take the adapter insert out of the old towers to snap into the new towers.

You can take the lock cylinders out of your old Yakima towers and use them in the new ones (assuming you have the special control key that removes and installs them that is included with the lock cylinders). You can order keys from https://www.yakima.com/product-type/keys-cores (but you need to know the key number to order a matching key).

*New-style towers are BaseLine, SkyLine, TimberLine, or RidgeLine. Old-style towers are Q-Tower, RailGrab, Control Tower, or 1A, which are used with RoundBars only.

 

[boltage]

Here is another thread of aftermarket roof rack information:
http://www.mychevybolt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&p=19174

 

[ArthurL]

Boltage. Thanks for the note on adapters. I took the old Yakima towers off still need to disassemble completely. Will do that in a couple of days. Two days without rain and the yard has priority. Lock cylinders came with the system when it arrived so have to look at removing them and the adapter. Videos I've seen are showing a channel under the Jetstream bar with a rubber filler strip that you trim as the bars are inserted into adapter. My jetstreams ars don't have the channel cut out but are solid on the bottom so have to figure out that one but plenty of time for that.

bro1999. Thanks as well and I'm realllly curious as to how the rack and basket effect your range. There was a fellow on another site concerned about range diff between round bars and jetstream. Your setup would give him a stroke I think.

Thanks again. Great info all the way around.

 

[boltage]

All Yakima instruction sheets are on the web. Here are the instructions for assembling the SkyLine towers with any of the Yakima crossbars:

https://yakima-instructions.s3.amazonaws.com/1035621B_SkyLine_INST.pdf

Here are the instructions for assembling the BaseLine towers, in case you need to reverse them to disassemble the setup you have:

https://yakima-instructions.s3.amazonaws.com/1035619B_BaseLine_INST.pdf

The crossbar-specific adapters are referred to in step 3 of the SkyLine instructions and step 4 of the BaseLine instructions.

 

[ArthurL]

Yep. Had the baseline instructions. I was having issues with the "audible snap" part. Trying to get it to unnsnap I applied manual and mechanical pressure and it wouldn't unsnap. I was a bit concerned about doing damage. Back to it tomorrow when I'm home to make sure my reverse engineering was proper. Seemed fairly simple. Thanks for the help.

 

[boltage]

Yep. Had the baseline instructions. I was having issues with the "audible snap" part. Trying to get it to unnsnap I applied manual and mechanical pressure and it wouldn't unsnap. I was a bit concerned about doing damage. Back to it tomorrow when I'm home to make sure my reverse engineering was proper. Seemed fairly simple. Thanks for the help.

Perhaps ask Yakima? Seems like they expect people to reuse parts from previous setups (if you shop on the web site, there is an option for "I already have this" for each component that they suggest to fit your car), so they should be able to tell you how to unsnap the adapters to move them to different towers.