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The 'Q' in Q Towers stands for the quadruple movement capability of the tower and the clip. So the four degrees of freedom allows them to fit your car like custom tailored underpants. Add-vehicle specific Q-clips (00601-00730) to ensure a custom fit to your doorframe (Do not confuse Q-Clips with similar-sounding personal hygiene products. Attempting to clean your ears with Q-Clips may result in serious Vincent Van Gogh-like injuries.)
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Technical Details
- Die-cast interior for solid, sturdy anchor- Ball-and-socket mechanism adjusts to all contours of your vehicle.
- Upgraded for easier and faster installation
- Weight: 7.45 lbs.
- Dimensions: 5-� from base to top of bar
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By a Midwest reviewer
I used a Thule rack system to carry bikes on my cars from 1994 til 2007. After 14 years the Thule cross bars had lots of cracks in the plastic so you could see the steel underneath. When I bought a new Camry hybrid in 2007 I decided it was time to get a new bike rack. Any roof rack (that isn't permanently/factory mounted) inevitably ends up scratching the finish on your car roof somewhat and I wanted to minimize this. I read lots of online reviews and went with Yakima this time, thinking it might fit my car better since newer rounded roof designs on cars means not everything is at a 90° angle. And the round Yakima bars do look a little sleeker. After just a few months using my new Yakima rack I really wish I bought another Thule rack! Instead I have as many scratches on my roof from the Yakima rack over the past summer as I got from my Thule rack in over a decade.
First the Q-Towers themselves. They do seem to fit my roof very well. My chief complaint is the Yakima Q-towers have these clear gel-like pads that protect the roof of the car, and unfortunately at least one always seems to want to come loose and fall off when I have the rack stored in my garage. I never had this problem with the black pads on my old Thule towers. I have not yet figured out exactly what part of the Yakima clips or Q-towers is scratching the roof of my car. When I do, hopefully I will be able to do something to cover the sharp edges. It's not a single spot on the clip, because several times I got these sets of parallel scratches almost like you'd picture from cat's claws (in this case, that would be a very big cat!).
Tip for any roof rack from a long-time owner - use a clean damp towel to clean the pads and clean the places on your roof the pads will contact EVERY time you put the rack on your car. Any grit that gets in between the rack and roof will wear your finish. I'm still looking for some kind of clear plastic decal I can stick on the roof of my car to protect it (I started looking when I first got the new rack and now it's already a little late...)
The Yakima clips specific to my car: There is thick adhesive black "tape" which you put over the feet of the clips. This is already coming off the clips only a few months after I put it on.
Now the round Yakima bars, which I consider the #1 downside of Yakima's roof rack design. The square Thule bars meant my Thule rack with 2 or 3 bike carriers made a single solid and stable unit that was easy to handle when I lifted it on or off the car. Not so with round bars. It's harder to focus on not scratching the car roof when I lift it into place because I also have to focus on keeping it from twisting and pivoting at each joint like some kind of giant geometric puzzle. This is true with either 2 or 3 bike carriers firmly attached (a Viper, a Copperhead and a King Cobra). I read round bars are even more of an issue if you get a canoe carrier, where the front and back canoe carriers are independent of each other and can pivot on you as you load a canoe or kayak. Also the Yakima end caps seem to be made of a much softer plastic than the Thule end caps. Very very minor issue, but my end caps already look beat up like crap after just one summer of use, just from setting the rack down and picking it up again off the concrete on my garage floor or my driveway a dozen times or so.
If you plan to take the rack on and off your car frequently, carefully consider the weight of each component you add. Some of the "better" and most expensive bike carriers are also the heaviest, so something like the Boa for a 3rd bike could make the rack a lot lighter and easier to handle.
Keep in mind that if you leave the roof rack on your car all the time, the round bars may not be an issue for you. Because I care about saving gas, carbon emissions etc, I put the roof rack on my car every time I'm going to haul my bike then take it back off again when I'm done. My Camry hybrid averages 35-39 mpg. When I've left the rack on for an entire tank of gas and on long out-of-state trips, an empty bike rack takes about 4 mpg off my average (figure 10-15%) while a fully loaded rack with one-to-three bikes driving on the interstate at 70-75mph can take off a good 6-8 mpg (figure 20-25% of whatever mpg you get). Before I bought my new rack I looked long and hard online at other posts on how it affects gas mileage and these % seem pretty consistent with other people's cars. The increased drag is on a percentage basis, so the better your mileage the more mpg you lose with a roof rack.
In general, the Yakima roof rack products seem to be good quality and well-built. I would be very happy with the Viper, Copperhead and King Cobra bike carriers if I put them on a Thule square bars and Thule towers. I had the Copperhead on my old Thule rack for years. To be fair, I think the new towers and carriers today are heavier than the old ones (whether you buy Thule or Yakima), plus my new Camry hybrid is a wider car than the Saturn SL2 or Toyota Corolla I had before. Both these things may contribute to added difficulties in gently lifting the rack on and off the top of the car. However I do not think either the weight of the rack or the width of the car would be an issue by themselves if not for the fact that the Yakima rack always inevitably pivots and twists in my hands as I'm lifting it into place. Keep in mind that I work out every morning since 6th grade (for instance over 40 pushups every day) and on occasion handle a shovel for 6-8 hours in the yard hardly taking a break, so if you're not physically fit you'll have a greater chance than I do of scratching your car lifting the whole roof rack on and off as a single unit. There's a lot to be said for trunk racks if you don't have a lot of upper body strength and want to take the rack on and off your car a lot.
Hope this helps you learn from my experience.
By Thomas A. Cameron (Bedford, NH)
These towers have a good, solid feel to them. Once you go through the initial setup, they are a snap to take on and off the vehicle. The entire system is simple and light enough that one person can assemble and place them on a car in minutes.
Be sure to place a good piece of fabric or some other protective lining between the base feet and your car, and be sure to wash the area as well before installation. If you choose not to, you will have permanent scratches. These Q Towers clamp very tightly to the vehicle, and any grit caught below them will grind down even the best paint.
By mw
I bought these towers and rack components for a VW Passat sedan. One bit of advice, install the metal clips to the towers BEFORE you put the rack on the car. They take some elbow grease to get into the towers, and you inevitably end up shifting the rack position in the process and have to re-measure and position twice if you follow the Yakima directions as written.
Also, if you are planning on keeping the rack on your car full time, get the fairing. Trust me, the noise level without it is quite high.
By Anonymous
Yakima really blew it when designing the security of their new towers and accessories. The lock engages a thin tab on the glass-filled polymer cover. Once the cover is lifted, the cam releases the tension on the Q Clips and the entire rack can be lifted off of the roof. With the cover locked, there are several pry points that can be attacked with a flat-bladed screwdriver or pry bar. The fit of the cover is very loose and it can be lifted about an eighth of an inch. I can also pry the cover with my bare hands enough to fit an even larger lever behind it.
I owned a set of SST towers back in the mid-90s. The tensioning screw was pinned to the back of an all-metal lock body, and the lock engages the metal clip and also locks the tensioning lever. While the new Q Tower design allows greater adaptability to different roof lines and ease of attachment/removal without having to readjust the tension, once the plastic cover is compromised, say goodbye to your rack and everything on it. I used to leave my SST rack on my car when not hauling gear. That won't be the case with this rack.
The Thule 400xt tower seems similar in design to the old Yakima SST tower however, the lock body on the Thule seems to have a plastic cover as well. I don't know whether there is a solid metal cover underneath it. Also, it only fits their rectangular crossbars.
By Nicholas M. Folts (Boston, MA USA)
This Yakima roof rack system works great and I highly recommend it. I bought one for my Mazda 3 and have use it, along with a Yakima roof rack for 2 cross country ski trips (I live a Florida, skiing is far away). The rack hasn't shifted an inch and was relatively easy to install. Yakima has a product guide on their site to make sure you order the right pieces for your model car.
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