Strengthening OEM cross bars?

[luck123]

Okay, I know there have been a few threads on cross bars, but this one has a bit of a twist.

I'm at a cross-roads. I have a tandem kayak that I haul every weekend, or every other weekend, for 4 mnts of the year. I also have a roof carrier that I haul once or twice a year for 2 wks at a time. The OEM cross bars are not very strong, so I don't want my carrier porpoising at highways speeds and also prefer not to have the foam blocks for my kayak resting on the roof when strapped down.

However, I much prefer the look of the OEM than after-mkt cross bars.

So, to the point of the thread....I'm thinking of ways I might be able to strengthen my OEM cross bars, and have come up with these options:

1. Have a local metal shop shape of piece of aluminum that they would put inside the cross bar, weld at ends, and repaint (cost...$200 - $250 when all said and done).

- Pretty steep for limited use of the roof rack. At least with aftermarket, I could recoup some investment after I sell the HL.

2. Buy a couple of big cans of fiber glass body filler with fiber glass strands, and literally fill the cross bars with it.

- Much cheaper, do it yourself option that I could live with, if it actually achieves my objective of strengthening the bars.

- Anyone with lots of knowledge using fiberglass have any thoughts on how much it would or would not strengthen the cross bars?

Also, I know the fiber glass cures with a chemical process....is there an issue with using it INSIDE the crossbars? Will it cure properly?

OR, any other ideas to strengthen/stiffen OEM cross bars?

Thanks.

[Yazon]

Honestly - I don't like either of those options.

1 - May work, but the quality of the product will be only as good as the people doing it. It may turn out to be just as flexible as OEM and to add to that they may look poorly after this procedure.

2 - Fiberglass will take very long time to cure in the center as it is meant to be spread in thin layer, not for filling containers. It is going to be a very messy job too. And at the end two scenarios are possible - it will be strong but have no flex at all (which may actually do damage to mounting points) or it may start to crack the fiberglass inside from the load, flexing and temperature changes.

My advice - don't mess around with OEM. Either get replacement that is stronger and was tested for your load or live with the way OEM are made.

[PhotonDreams]

I have an '08 and remember other people posting about luggage carriers, the front of which, bob up and down at highway speeds. I've wondered what I'd do to beat that problem if I ever had to buy a luggage carrier. Most people seem to have bought a different stronger set of cross rails to solve the problem. But you're right they don't look as slick as the airfoil original cross bars.

I've used fiberglass in a lot of situations and if you decide to go that route I'd recommend going to a junk yard and getting a few similar cross bars and trying a few test techniques on them before risking trashing your original bars. Slipping some metal bars inside seems like it might work because you could test to see if they solve the problem without actually welding them in.

If you do decide to work with the fiberglass I can tell you this. Wear gloves to avoid getting it on your skin. Lacquer thinner does clean it off. It's the fibers you mix in that give it the strength not just the resin. You can buy small cans of various kinds at most auto stores. It's really sensitive to the temperature of the air your working in. The rule seems to be the warmer the resin is the fewer drops of catalyst you need to trigger the hardening process. If it's in sunlight the heat really accelerates the hardening process. If you have a large mass of fiberglass and it hardens too fast and then cools off too fast then it can actually crack from the different contraction rates on the surface and the interior. It also, if it's a large mass, can get so hot you can't touch it.

All in all, I'll be curious to see what the other members come up with as the best solution to the problem you've posted since I might face the same problem in the future. Good luck!

[djp from ohio]

Buy a Thule crossbar. That's what I did as the original was flexing with a Yakima box on top.

[luck123]

Thanks for the replies.

djp: I presume you mean the entire Thule set (ie cross bars, and feet), or did you mean only the cross bars? If only the cross bars, are you suggesting that they will fit in the existing OEM receivers/joints, and if so, can you provide details? thx.

[djp from ohio]

There are four feet which comes in a kit. They strap on to the existing rails and the bars go through the rail. Thule or Yakima boxes will work with them. The bars come in different lengths, i think I got 50 " but you might want longer which will extend a bit beyond the rails. There will be some wind noise involved as I recall.