Ski box: locked out!

[Skiingisfun]

Hi, seeking advice - locked out of my Yakima roof box (Blacktop Pro)

• Both sides are locked and I've got gear inside. I can turn the knob (see photo) to the usual opening position on both sides but nothing happens.
• Likely something in the box is stuck in the locking mechanism.
• Took it to my local rack store and their efforts didn't work (special spray, light rubber mallet tapping).
  
  • Nor did putting weight on top of the box while turing the key - which lots of people on the web recommended.
  
  
• Yakima isn't offering a warranty
• Other solution I found on the web was to drill out some of the rivets. I just tried this but it didn't work. The rivet didn't budge. I probably need a different drill bit.

Questions

1. Is removing rivets the best next step?
   
   1. If so, which rivets should I remove?
   2. What will removing rivets achieve?
   
   
2. If that doesn't work, should last resort is a crowbar - any suggestions before I do that?

Thanks

[Cocximus]

Shake it up. Big parking lot and a clutch would help.

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[hawkgt]

this may sound stupid but worked for me once when gear jammed my locks. take a high speed hard turn in parking lot and try to move gear to one side. rinse and repeat.

[boltonoutlaw]

If shake n bake fails, remove box from rack and shake. Still no joy? Get dremel and cut fist-sized hole into bottom of box and reach for lock. Still still no joy? Cut large enough to retrieve contents. Hot glue and rivet thick gauge plastic over hole(s), and re-mount

[BCMtnHound]

Can you remove the box from the rack without opening the box? But ya, would remove rack with box if the above doesn’t work, flip on its top and then try to open.

And drilling rivet takes a larger bit than you think - at least 1/16 bigger than the rivet plug hole if that is the route you are taking.

[SoVT Joey]

Ya. Unlock your racks and pull your racks off and flip it upside down and unlock it.

[old goat]

PM James Pio (?) about how to turn box upside down without removing from vehicle.

[SoVT Joey]

And if none of these ideas work normally this hammer gets me in.

https://www.constructiontoolwarehous...oduct_listings

[PB]

Oh, I do so yearn for the good ol' days when a maul was the go to for such annoyances.

[El Chupacabra]

Oh, I do so yearn for the good ol' days when a maul was the go to for such annoyances.

Any tool is the right tool for the job, so long as it's big enough.

[XXX-er]

is the mech jammed or is the lock having issues I am unclear

take it to a lock smith ?

[Vitamin I]

I think each opening side (both passenger side and driver side) has its own long internal metal bar which slides leftward to allow 3 latches to open. I suspect that you merely need to somehow make ONE of those 2 bars slide leftward only another 1-2 more millimeters, which should make the lid open up ONCE just fine---and after you get it open, then that will put you into position for a 2nd project to fix it properly and make it open more reliably every time in the future.

I figured out 2 methods to get that bar to move more, and at least one of these methods should work for you. I am looking at my own Yakima Skybox, plus I found a detailed photo on web of the interior of a Yakima Blacktop Pro.

• Both sides are locked

That double-failure is suspicious. I suspect your issue is NOT being caused by gear items inside.

I can turn the knob (see photo) to the usual opening position on both sides but nothing happens.

Well, after wear-and-tear and aging, the "usual opening position" is typically NOT sufficient.

FIRST TRY THIS:

METHOD #1:
1) Close and lock the driver side of the box properly, and remove the key.
2) On the passenger side of box, use key to unlock the handle, let that handle pop outward a bit, remove key from lock.
3) Use right hand to turn that handle MAXIMALLY clockwise. Use STRONG hand force (not a tool), but turn it every last bit, to help get every last millimeter of sliding of that internal bar.
4) While simultaneously hand-torquing that handle maximally clockwise for every last degree of angle of rotation, then
simultaneously place left hand on the lip of the LID precisely at the left-most rivets on the LID (that position is precisely outside of where the left latch is inside the box)... And with that left hand, push HARD upwards on the lid there, and also wiggle forcefully while pushing upwards. EXPECT that one left-most latch to pop wide open.
5) Whether or not Step4 succeeded or failed to open one latch, repeat this same 2-handed technique on the middle latch (its rivets are on lid, above the handle).
6) Whether or not Step4 or Step5 succeeded or failed to open a latch, repeat this same 2-handed technique on the right-most latch (rivets on lid to the right side).
7) If all that achieves ZERO progress, not even ONE latch opening, then repeat Steps1-6 for the other side of the box (i.e. lock the passenger side, then try to open the driver side latches one at a time.)

Then let me know your results before I bother writing out
METHOD #2 (which is a not-so-destructive way to make a long internal metal bar slide leftward an extra 1-2 millimeters, which should make the lid open).

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[SumJongGuy]

Has happened to me with my Thule 21 a couple times.. Brute force was sufficient to get in eventually.. I'm still too lazy to use the tie down straps designed to prevent this problem..

[Skiingisfun]

is the mech jammed or is the lock having issues I am unclear

take it to a lock smith ?

Thanks - mech jammed I think.

[Harry]

These maggots can help you:

https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...ad.php?t=58523

[Vitamin I]

Yo Skiingisfun,
Any success?
How much damage did you inflict to open it?

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[jmedslc]

I’ve had this problem with an older Yakima box where all three engagement points where not fully engaged. Resolution was to ensure no blockage at all 3 points and squeeze box down above each to achieve a satisfying click. Once all 3 were depressed, the open/close mechanism worked fine.

[AK47bp]

Has happened to me with my Thule 21 a couple times.. Brute force was sufficient to get in eventually.. I'm still too lazy to use the tie down straps designed to prevent this problem..

I just use a bungee cord. Fuck those straps.


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[Danno]

A week later, I need closure.

[::: :::]

A week later, I need closure.

isn't that how this all started?

[hawkgt]

to be fair.......... the box has closing, even locking down fucking pat. this box will do that. no question

[Danno]

isn't that how this all started?

Thank you.

[Skiingisfun]

Hi! Thanks for the suggestions. Vitamin 1, tried your solution #1 and it didn’t work I’m afraid.
My next thought was to take the whole box including the rack off, turn it upside down, and shake. That didn’t work. Needed to wait for a week to try this because I didn’t have the Yakima tool to get the rack off. It arrived yesterday. What was your solution #2?
Thanks!

[Skiingisfun]

Hi, thanks for following up. I do need your second solution. More background on my previous post that I just wrote. Thanks!

Yo Skiingisfun,
Any success?
How much damage did you inflict to open it?

.

[Vitamin I]

METHOD #2:

1) Plan and prep by familiarizing yourself with these photos:

The objective is to move that internal bar another 1-2 millimeters beyond where your turning handle is insufficiently moving it.
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You will be operating on only the Driver-Side Front latch.
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You will be drilling out 2 rivets (with a drill outside the box).
You will be moving the bar by pulling it with a flathead screwdriver inserted into that notch in the bar.
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See how the screwdriver will fit into that notch, but the screwdriver handle will be OUTSIDE the box. (This photo is just to convey the general idea.)
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2) Before you commit to drilling in Step #3 below, first try one last time to think of a different way to reach that notch inside the box WITHOUT drilling or breaking anything. I can't think of any way to do that. Well, maybe you could try to pry open the VERY FRONT TIP of the whole box, using jacks or expanders to hold a gap open at the very front, and then reach your arm through that gap from the very front, and see if that's even possible to fit your arm into the box without injury to your arm. ...Otherwise, I say give up, and just drill it in Step #3 below.

3) EXECUTE YOUR PLAN: Drill out 2 rivets in the lid, at the Driver-Side Front latch. Try to minimize any damage to the latch---if all parts survive (except the rivets), then maybe you will be able to re-rivet it later, good as new. Not sure...

After the 2 rivets are drilled out, then the lid is no longer attached to the ball-and-socket latch, so a detached portion of the lid can be forced UPWARDS to open a gap to the inside of the box.
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4) Go to the PASSENGER SIDE of the box, and use key to LOCK that handle.
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5) Return to the DRIVER SIDE of the box, and use key to UNLOCK the driver-side handle of the box, and turn the handle maximally clockwise. This step is necessary to make the notch move into an accessible position.
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6) Use screwdriver to pry the lid up, right at the drilled latch, and wedge some items into the gap to hold it open.

With the gap opened wide, you can see the metal bar, and you can see the notch in the metal bar.
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7) Insert flathead screwdriver into that notch, and use the screwdriver like a lever, to move the bar leftwards a few millimeters (leftward = towards the front of the box in this case = downwards in this photo).

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8) If the movement of the bar did not cause a spring-loaded "ejection" of the other 2 latches, then that is an indication that your box is old and worn, in which case you must use one hand to lift upwards on the other 2 latches while simultaneously using your other hand to lever the screwdriver to keep pulling the bar into it's left-most position.
EXPECT THIS 2-HANDED METHOD TO OPEN ALL 3 LATCHES WIDE OPEN.
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9) Make sure you find the loose part of the drilled out latch (the "ball" might have ejected out of the ball-and-socket joint)...and keep it for later when you attempt to re-build it by installing new rivets or bolts or whatever.

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