Hello all!! Very excited to be a new (used) Xterra owner!!!!!! :-) Just bought a 2003 this weekend.

The question I have is pretty (really) basic. It is about how to utilize the roof rack.

For now I want to mount a couple bikes up there... what do I need? What types of racks are compatible?
Eventually also interested in using a ski rack too.

Thanks for any guidance!!

Dan O

BTW... I just saw a post for two copperhead bike trays for sale on a classifieds website. If I were to buy these, how would they fit onto the rack? Sorry if this is a basic question...

I'm partial to the $20 bike rack myself.

Overhead bike racks are a royal pain in the a$$.

I like mine:



Also, I can use my ski or a safari rack on the top at the same time if I want (ski rack was only removed here because I had been hauling some shit up there recently).

It just depends on your circumstances.

I like to grab my bike and GO!

EDIT: Almost forgot the links!

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/sub_cat.cfm?subcategory_id=4411

I have this one:



Since it says "XPORT", people think it's OEM Xterra gear.

Interesting setup -http://www.superjens.com/4x4/truck/mods/roof/

OK... I guess the main thing I am trying to figure out is if you can attach most bike racks to the standard xterra rack directly using mighty mounts, or do you need to have a yakima (or other) rack system on top of your xterra rack?

Thanks for any additional clarification...

(for example, I'm looking at this ad: "Yakima roof rack for nissan xterra. includes 2 48in crossbars and 4 rail mounts specific to nissan xterra factory rack. i have 2 copperhead bike trays with locks also for sale."

In this case... shouldn't I be able to just buy the copperhead bike trays and mount them directly to the xterra rack, or do I need the Yakima roof rack too??" Make any sense??

There are a bunch of quality racks out there for bikes, skis, kayaks, etc. The two major players are Yakima and Thule; each make adapters to put stuff on the factory crossbars. I always preferred Yakima because I found their round bars were easier to mount and position everything on, but they are both high quality and work well. Check their Web sites for specific applications or go to your local bike shop. Most of the bigger ones have giant displays showing how everything hooks up. REI has a full display also. I know at my old shop we had two car roofs that had been sawed off and full-on racks mounted on them on display.

I went with an extended Yakima Load warrior basket. The tubes on it are designed so that I can add one of their bike trays or other accessories right on it. This way I have the best of both worlds. The LW basket is pretty heavy duty and mounts to the factory crossbars with no other mounts required.

Nice. :-) My xterra doesn't have a hitch on it... so I don't think I can put one of those on w/out adding a hitch. Anyone ever used one of the cheapy bell (or other brand) bike racks that essentially just strap onto the back of a car or SUV? (I'm not talking anything like the stuff JeffW is doing... just for trecking some bikes up to the hills or whatever.

Sorry, didn't respond to the las part of your message. I think the Yakima "Mighty Mounts" are required to mount certain items to the factory crossbars. Again, heading over to an REI to check out how everything goes together will really answer your questions. They have extensive catalogs too so you can dream up whatever assembly you want.

This stuff pops up used alot becasue many times when people switch cars, they have to buy new adapters and load bars for the new vehicle.

Thanks Bobby... I'm going to check out REI. Also going to talk to this guy w/the copperhead bike racks... hopefully he'll sell them to me cheap. :-)

Buy the hitch for $100 bucks and the Hitch rack for $80! Then you'll be good to go. I think there are a few members around looking to get rid of tow packages.

Good Luck!

Couple other thoughts real quick...

Hitch mounted racks are good because the bikes are very easily accessed. Downside...bikes get really dirty and if you get hit or back into something, well...

There is a hitch bike mount that is a solid tray (like the ones that go on the roof) but it's directly mounted on a bar in the hitch. Very solid. Good for bikes that don't have traditional tubesets (lots of dual-suspension bikes are like this) that are difficult to mount on the rack shown above that hold the bike by the top tube. Take your bike's design into account when shopping. Also, if you mount the bike by the top tube, tie off the front wheel so it doesn't flop around or better, remove it iff it's near the exhause mount. It can blow or worse, you hit a dip and the wheel is low enough...

For rood racks, DON'T mount the bikes on the roof when INSIDE the garage. I used to see alot of damaged bikes and cars not only from people pulling into the garage, but pulling out of the garage because they wanted to load up where it was warm.

I've had a hitch mount rack, a roof rack and have used the internal rack as well. The hitch mount is my favorite because it mounts in less than a minute and the bikes rack up quickly too. The roof rack was ok, but had to remove it any time I wanted to use the roof for something else which was a pain. I also had to make sure to remember to remove the bikes before driving into the garage.

Yeah.. that's never good. :-)

Speaking of internal racks. I called the dealership here and he said the 03 is not compatable w/internal racks???

Dan O:
Rocky Mounts makes a bike tray that will work on the factory X rack.

http://www.rockymounts.com/noose.asp?nav=&page=noose

you have to spend an extra $5 on the "oversize bolt kit", but no other cross bars are required. Fits the factory crossbars. You can get the tray and the bolt kit for under $90 online if you search.

Y'all rock! :-) What a cool group. Thanks for your help.

Dan O

My rack system is similar to superjens that you posted a link to.

I took a Yakima crossbar (with mounted skewers) and mounted it to my roof rack with Ubolts as well. I drilled two holes for each Ubolt and came up around the roof back and through the crossbar. Then I used mighty mounts to hold the bike tray to the existing XTerra crossbars.

It works great.

We're cool?

Thanks!

for you! (It'll appear next time you post)

If you check out www.rmxc.net , a couple of locals have just replaced their factory rear bumpers. They may have some hitches laying around that you can buy for cheap. If not, you can get em HERE for 120 bucks!

See you at RMXC.......

For the record, I've used overhead, interior, strapped and hitch racks over the years. As a convenience-oriented person who wants to maximize my interior space and roof rack usability, the hitch rack is, unequivocally, the ONLY solution for me. The only roof bike rack I've used was on a Honda. It was pretty easy b/c of the height of the vehicle. I'm 6'1" and try to stay fit. However, I simply cannot imagine willfully sentencing myself to a life of lifting bikes over my head while balancing on a step rail to get them mounted (especially not my 70# beach cruiser!!). Do yourself a favor. pretend that you have a roof rack. Then practice pretending to mount your bike. See how you like it. THEN make your decision.

Good luck with whatever product you select.

I use the Yakima Fullswing 4 hitch rack for a couple reasons:

1.) I don't want have to load bikes on the roof. I'm not a weak person by any means. I have the X-tower and yakima cross bars and I can load five loaded kayaks up there by myself and I do so on a regular basis. But I simply don't like to do that with bikes. Boats I can toss up there without scratching and denting the roof. If a bike slips, oh well.

2.) I need the roof space for kayaks.

3.) My wife refuses to load and get bikes from the roof. She can put kayaks up there too.

4.) I got the Fullswing for 50% of retail. Otherwise I would find a cheaper hitch rack. I installed the Curt Industry hitch myself a few years ago for about $100.

I do have to watch for where I'm backing up against with the hitch rack, kind have to pretend you're driving a Tahoe or something. But with hitch mount, at least you don't have to watch for what you're driving under. Parking garages, home garages, drive throughs and not good for bikes on the roof and the roof rack. My cousin just recently tried to drive into his garage with a kayak on his rack. Result: need to replace the factory rail, yakima towers and bars, kayak stackers and a few other things. Kayak was ok even though the steel yakima bars got bend, amazing. The cost: just over $700.

Ofcourse if you back your hitch rack and bikes into a shiny new Rolls Royce, well, it'll be costly. Stay away from country clubs if you got a hitch rack

Jim

Y'all have been very helpful. Conclusion... Thanks to the info you gave me and a post I found in the cycling section, I plan to go with an interior rack for now by getting a truck cargo bar (SEE HERE for an example. and drilling holes & screwing some fork holders ( SEE HERE for an example, although I found some cheaper than these ) into it (a cheap $40 TOTAL solution ($15 - $20 for the cargo bar & about $25 for the fork holders).

I also may get some wheel holders and attach those to the bar as well (but since I'm a cheap skate, I probably won't spend the extra $$ to do that.

The drawback is obviously loss of interior space, including having to put down the back seats...

Ultimately, I think the hitch mount is going to be the winning choice for me for any longer trips.

Thanks!

(I'll post pics when I get it done)

I use all three options. (top, back, inside)

I tend to go up top the most. Definitely easier to load a hitch mount, but I find putting a bike up top is only marginally more difficult. (helps to be tall)

I really like the internal as well. I can get three bikes in with only putting down one for the rear seats. Great if you're at all worried about security. (I use it when I'm going to be parking the truck for extended periods of time) The major drawback here is I have to drop the seat to make it fit and there's also a dirt/mud issue sometimes.

My biggest complaint on the hitch mount is that it blocks the tailgate. Even with the various "quick release" methods it gets pretty old if you need to go in and out of the back a lot. I also can't leave it on and still get the garage door down. Just some things to consider.

Long story short, I don't think any method is an all around winner. It totally depends on what kind of trips you take, how often, your physical size, etc. You're doing the right thing by asking around before buying.

I use a Sportworks hitch rack...works great...I can't use the ones where you take the front wheel off because one of my bikes is s Cannondale with a Lefty fork and the other has a 20mm thru-axle on the frontm, and both have Disk Brakes.

This summer 4 of us are going on a road trip to W.VA. and we're gonna have 2 DH bikes on the hitch and 2 DH bikes on the roof standing upright. I'm buying a Yakima Load Warrior (it is needed with 4 people, a weeks worth of clothing, food and all our DH gear) and mounting a friends upright Yakima bike racks up there. We're gonna be tall but it's the only way I can think of to do it. We can't use the racks like some of you have because DH bikes have strange frame shapes. And putting 4 on the Sportworks will be to much weight for the rack (each bike weighs about 45-50 lbs).

Tom

How hard is it to install a hitch onto the X? I think I'm goign to make an internal rack w/some fork mounts, but just found a good deal on a hitch mount rack and just posted a WANTED ad for a receiver hitch so I can have that option for when I don't want to fill up the inside of the truck w/bikes and put down the seats.

Very easy. I picked up a Draw-Tite Class III hitch (2" receiver) for $150 plus tax at the local truck, trailer and hitch center. Put it on in my garage in about 30 minutes. The holes are already in the frame rail. Just have to line it up and bolt it down.

Other optional brands are U-Haul (about $130), Valley Industries (Not sure on price, but in the $150 range) or a genuine Nissan hitch (about $270).

All of them bolt on with the same ease. Drop the spare tire before you start and it'll go a lot smoother.