ski rack for Expedition

[valli]

I've decided that we need to get some sort of ski rack for our Ford Expedition so that we can fit more people in the car. There is a built in roof rack, so I suppose what we need are just the ski attachments. Any recommendations?

 

[smpayne]

I think both Thule & Yakima sell adabter clips that fit directly onto the factory racks. That will eliminate the need for the towers and the bars. We did this for my old Yakima ski rack - I actually leave the clips on the factory racks all winter and just switch the ski rack between the Expedition & my smaller car, leaving the towers and bars on my smaller car. If you are transporting a lot of snow boards you might want to get the ones with "lifter" capabilities.

 

[Jilly]

The question is do you have factory cross arms. Boxes or racks can be mounted directly on the bars. If not you're going to need bars, towers clips etc. Go to the Thule or Yakima sites, they have search engines for their products vs car/truck name! Then look locally. Don't forget that your local ski shop isn't the only place. Check the bike shops too. The two names above as the best in the business. Look into the difference in price for a box instead of the rack too. You can get more into it, wet stuff in particular, it'll keep skis and board clean and I think more secure. We lift ours off after the weekend so its not on the truck during the week. Only takes a few minutes to mount it back on. (I did have a Jimmy, side rails, but no cross bar. Got the thule bars and clips (that lock the bars to the rails) and leave the bars on all winter. New truck, has the cross bars, so just the box goes on now!)