I have looked exhaustively for something like the mighty mount for the 05-07 Xterra and found nothing. The yakima fit guide shows only the universal mighty mount which won't work for what I want. What I really need is horizontal or vertical mighty mounts.

They show the 28H and 29V for the 00-04, are the crossbars really that differently shaped on the newer generation of xterras?

As useless as the factory rack is for tying down random loads (nowhere to attch a bungee and not much mounting freedom), and that a basketcase can't fit between the bars without sticking up above the rack, I am tempted to do the following. Anyone tried something like this?

Remove factory crossbars. Get a pair of standard Thule rectangular bars and drill them to mount with a U-bolt from underneath. Mount with 2.25 inch 5/16 stainless u-bolts around the bottom of the factory rails up through the Thule bars with the nuts on top. Can the factory rack take that kind of mounting at four points? I'll be putting a rocket box and stepladder on it.

I have a set of mounts that work. I believe they are the 28H model.

I got them from Courtesy Nissan. I might even be selling them since I have a yakima now and I only used 2 of them for about 4 months.

The mighty mounts that came with the old basketcase do work on our crossbars. I had one on mine for a while. Before that it had been on a first gen X as well. They worked fine on my 05 crossbars.

You may want to double check the size of the factory rack bars (the ones running front to back), as I think they are bigger than 2.25". I was messing around with an idea for an antenna mount and had to get 3" if I remember right.

As for strength, sounds like your Thule bars will be on top of factory bars, so it should work. If you're worried about the u-bolts cutting through the factory bar maybe there is a way to sleeve it. That may help spread the load on top as well, and keep them from sliding if you ever have to brake hard.

Horizontal MightyMounts for 2005-2007 Xterra

Vertical MightyMounts for 2005-2007 Xterra

Well then it looks like the same mighty mounts from the 00-04 models work on the 05-07 then, assuming the ones shown and mentioned are indeed the 28 and 29 models. Further clarification of that particular would be appreciated. Thanks.

At CourtesyParts, the mightmounts for the 2000-2004 Xterra have a different part# than the mightymounts for the 2005-2007 Xterra. They also list the horizontal MM's for the 2000-2004 as Out of Stock, whereas the horizontal MM's for the 2005-2007 are available.
Based on this, I would think it's likely that they are not quite the same ones.
They're cheap enough that you might as well order the ones listed for the 2005-2007 models.

Except that I'm not buying them from courtesy, I am getting used parts and such so what I really need to know is the yakima model number. I'm about to buy some 28H MMs so I will find out soon if they work or not. I wish yakima would just list the part in their fit guide but a local dealer said they're trying to get away from the customized mounts and more toward universals so I thought maybe that's why they stopped listing MM parts for the more recent models. I don't understand why courtesy has them listed and yakima doesn't.

I had the same challenge last year when I bought my '06. What I did, and what looks pretty sweet, is using the Yakima BasketCase and bolting it directly to the top of the horizontal cross bars. It all remains low profile, clears all overhead obstacles, and still gets the "excess-cargo" stowed w/o problem.

I drilled the holes with the cross bars in place after setting up the rack how I wanted. I used 2 1/2" x 1/4" hex bolts, washers, and lock washers from Home Depot. I set a small piece of wood under the cross bars as I drilled... just in case I got too zealous. Initially I was concerned that I might colapse the cross bar when I tightened the bolts, but the bars seem more structurally sound that I thought. Although I also added Loc-tite to the bolt threads, every few months I still hand-check to ensure nothing lossened up.

Sounds like if that was successful then my u-bolt approach should work. I could just bolt directly through the rails too I guess, instead of using ubolts but I'd rather not drill into them. Thanks for the idea, sounds like a good approach.

Yep they work. Had my lift mounted with them for a while.

That's retarded, why don't they list them as fitting the 05-07 then? They must be trying to push their more expensive universal mounts.

Or they haven't tested them.