Yakima crossbar - any tips on rust prevention?

[El Chupacabra]

Anyone have any successful method of preventing Yakima crossbars from rusting out? The end caps don't seal very well, water gets in, rust starts to bubble up under the plastic coating, and the bars slowly rot.

I'm thinking about painting the inside of the crossbar ends with some rust-resistant paint, and sealing the end caps in place with RTV (automotive) silicone.

Anybody have any luck with other methods?

[LightRanger]

and sealing the end caps in place with RTV (automotive) silicone.

Even before clicking on the thread (just reading the forum preview) this ^^^ occurred to me as the obvious solution.

Can't think of any other methods...

[Timberridge]

I think they're designed that way so you have to replace them. Thule seems to hold up better in this respect. I had a friend who bought 1-1/8" SS round bar for about $50-60 more than Yakima was charging for theirs. You don't want to ship it though.

Its available online at places like metalsdepot, but again, you don't want to ship it.

[El Chupacabra]

Almost all the roof rack stuff I have is Yakima, so I'm kind of stuck with it -- I know there's a lot of things that adapt between Thule and Yakima, but some things don't (locks, "feet" for the racks), so I may as well keep using Yakima.

[Mr. Toad]

I actually think its better to leave those end caps off to prevent rust so the water won't get trapped. Old steel bike frames had vent holes for such purpose. Come to think of it, if you can find a can of JP Weigle Framesaver, it'll probably do the trick.

[El Chupacabra]

I've got Boeshield T9, which I used as a frame-saver spray inside two steel frame bikes I have. I could spray that down inside the crossbars before capping them.

I think those holes in steel bike frames aren't for allowing water to dry out, but instead are for venting gases during brazing/welding.

[Mr. Toad]

You're right, the primary purpose of those vent holes is to purge gas (and water after soaking the flux off). A lot of people taped or plugged those holes to prevent rusting and actually caused more rusting. Here's Dave Moulton's thoughts:

"My advice would be leave well alone and don’t plug the holes. Very little water will enter these holes and any that does will evaporate through the same holes. If you try to seal the holes moisture might then be trapped inside causing more of a problem.

There was an old trick of shoving a cork in the bottom of a steering tube to stop water spraying up there. This was also a bad idea because moisture couldn’t drain out, and got trapped above the cork.

Unless you live close to the ocean where there is salt in the atmosphere internal rust in steel frames is not a huge problem. If there is salt in the air then external rust creeping under the paint is more a problem than internal.

The steel that frames are made from has a high chrome content so, beyond a little surface rust, will not corrode like old cars made of soft mild steel used to.
Dave

[zombinate]

FWIW Yakima started doing a basic coating inside their bars 2-3 years ago, Thule has been doing this awhile. That said, if you are a "rack always" user, and especially if you live in road salt land, some additional proofing isn't a bad idea. Remember to hit the bolts and whatnot with some oil once in awhile too.

[ill-advised strategy]

I would pick a dry day and seal a bunch of This shit in there.

[XXX-er]

That shit is just gona corrode, I would be more worried about your hardware seizing so you can't get it off your vehical which happend to my racks which lived on my golf... take them off and put some anti-seize on the threads once a year

[ill-advised strategy]

http://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-produc...-wheel-grease/

5th wheel grease sits, exposed, on the back of semi 5th wheels and doesn't come off. Put some latex gloves on and coat your hardware with this.

[El Chupacabra]

Update and pic tutorial:

Tried sealing in place new Yakima caps with RTV automotive silicone. Caps broke quickly -- cheap crap.

So, looking around... Ace Hardware sells 1" vinyl chair leg tips that fit perfectly. They match up to the outside diameter of the crossbar too snug to fit in place by hand, but if you warm up the chair leg tip with a heat gun to soften it, the tip slides right onto the end of the Yakima crossbar. A much tighter seal than the Yakima plug caps, and I think these will do a lot better job of keeping out water.

Ace part # is 5015664 - about $2 for a pack of 4 tips, vs. $10 for the crappy Yakima caps.





The tip is too close of a fit to slide onto the crossbar, but softens and fits easily after heating it up with a heat gun. A hair dryer would probably also work.


Close-up of the finished project: