Yakima rack vs Factory rack

[Delp]

I am in the process of beefing up my rack system on a '97 4 Runner. I'm wondering if I am gaining anything by putting on a Yakima Rack with bars and towers which hooks into the rails of the factory rack, or in buying some Yakima Mighty Mounts and using the cross bars already on the truck...any opinions? Thanks for your suggestions.

yrs,

Mike

[setdahook]

I chose to go with Yakima mighty mounts and kayak saddles that attach right to the 4 runner factory rack. Toyota says the load capacity is 150 lbs. I'm doing it for right around $100. The yakima load bars will support more weight and provide for wider accomodations, but twice as much $. Getting my system mounted today so I'll post how I like it.

[Tex97]

Not sure how this would help you any but I am planning on putting a Yak rack on my Camry in the next few months.
I have read reviews on mtbreview.com and epinions and have seen nothing but good things. Of course for a $300 price tag I would hope not

[setdahook]

The yakima mighty mounts are too poorly designed to mount onto my factory rack and hold kayak cradles so I used my old Thule load bars and purchased the 416 tracker (feet) for a little over $100.00, no cradles... yet. I strapped my kayak upside-down to the load bars with foam between. However, the load bars do howl while going down the road with nothing tied down to them. I prefer having the extra width of the load bars available for 2 boats rather than "stacking" on the factory bars.

[MarkInBaltimore]

I have a three bar Yakima set up on my truck. The front bar is attached to Q Towers that rest a couple of inches behind the A pillars while bars two and three are attached to locking Railriders which are mounted to the factory roof rails.

I chose this set up because I wanted the maximum roof carrying capacity (200 lbs ?) I could achieve. The Q Towers allow the rack to hold more weight since they are mounted near a strongly reinforced structure. The Railriders' capacity is limited by the position of the factory rails but the whole system does a great job of carrying my excess crap.

I steered clear of the Might Mounts since the factory cross braces seemed too flexy for the cargo I was carrying.