I'd love to have some roof racks for that occasional trip to the home supply depot to pick up a few 2x4's. Has anyone had any luck finding some that fit on an '83-'88 Thunderbird ? It would be nice to have something to throw a couple of snowboards on as well. I was considering trying to make my own brackets I could screw into the inside of the top of the door jamb. Any thoughts ?
WTF?!?!?!?!
The tbird is not a truck....... No no no....this is not right.
I agree.Not on a Bird.BUT,it's your car.I'm sure some from another vehicle could be adapted easily.You'd have to make sure there's a structure under the roof skin to connect them to otherwise you may end up with a bent in roof.
didnt your bird have some kind of a rack on it when you found it vinnie?
Nope.....but it was beat nearly to death and the previous owner should be in prison for extreme neglect.
lol I thought you said it was some kind of a hunters edition or something
Only because it sat tall like an off road vehicle.LOL.
oh lol now I understand
yakima has clamp-on towers that im sure you could make work perfectly on a tbird.
not cheap, but removable and nondestructive type mounting
Yeah you don't want to drill holes into your roof. Not good. I agree with Gumby, to do this right you are gonna have to spend some money and get some name brand stuff made to clamp on without causing irreversible damage.
Sorry, didn't mean to offend. Here in California, every 5th car has a roof rack on it for surfboards, skis, snowboards, etc. I sold my truck that was getting 12 to 16 MPG and am happily getting an average of 22 plus MPG in my Thunderbird. I'm not going to buy a second vehicle just to carry a few 2x4's home every now and then. If I put the snowboards in the trunk, it leaves less room for luggage. Gas has gone up 20 cents a gallon here in the last week and a half - one must be practical.
No - had NO plans of drilling holes in the roof...I was talking about the inside of the door jamb, if you read back. I just don't want the roof racks to go flying if there is nothing but tension holding the brackets on.
Thanks for the info, Gumby ! I will check out Yakima.
You didn't offend.When something really different like that comes up,it's a little shocking.LOL.You're fine,and more than welcome here.We're all here to help each other out.....even though we may be ridiculed and abused harshly first.LOL.
Yeah its your car and I think its cool that you can go surfing. Closest thing I can do here right now would be to go snowboarding. lol. If you do get surfboards mounted on the roof get some pics...I'd like to see that! Might make for a good pic.
However I still wouldn't recommend drilling holes in the door jam (i knew what you meant but the area you are talking about drilling is pretty much part of the roof). Good luck in your search man.
This reminded me on the time back in 87 when we bought a new storm door for out first house, Had it tied to the roof of my 86 Bird, driving 10 mph with the flashers going on the shoulder for 5 miles to get it home, lol!!!:rollin:
I, unfortunately, have to use my Cougar as a truck since I don't have a "real" truck. I've made many Home Depot runs with the Cougar! Hauled a LOT of stuff...pretty much overloaded, but I don't have to drive very far (less than 2 miles) and took it very easy. What's been in my trunk and/or interior (not all at the same time, and carefully placed as needed):
patio block, pavers, locking wall stones, mulch, topsoil, metal shelves from Costco, lumber, pine wainscoting, (probably something I'm missing)
check your local thrift stores, i see roof racks in there all the time.
the strap-on types usually.
On one of my trips to Columbus for the all Ford swap meet there was a vender there, I think he's some kind of ford dealer because he had alot of discontinued or obselete stuff. And there was actually a new in box roof rack for our cars. I was going to buy it just because I didn't know they had such a thing for our cars, and it would be a cool conversation piece. But I passed on it and I've been back since and have never seen another.
i wouldent do that to a t-bird ????
Okay, while cruising the www tonight I found a listing for one. Apperantly from the seller it was called a 4 seasons roof rack. It states in the Ad it will fit an '88, so should fit other years I would assume. Although, could be '89 and up. Here is the listing:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270511083579&crlp=1_263602_263622&ff4=263602_263622&viewitem=&guid=bbc53e301260a02683014aa1ffc1bc34&rvr_id=&ua=WXI6&itemid=270511083579
Hope that helps.
Hmmm…what about this: http://www.magneticroofracks.com/rackmaster.php
lol. Account suspended for nonpayment.
----------Roof Racks----------
The most severe option is for a permanent installation. Both Thule and Yakima, among others, offer kits that involve drilling a hole in the sheet metal roof, inserting an anchor, and attaching the base to the anchor. You can then attach a foot to the base. A crossbar to the foot. A cargo box/bike rack/ski rack to the crossbar.
The permanent Thule base for metal roofs is TK14 (http://"http://thule.com/en/US/Products/BaseRacks/LoadAccessories/21462.aspx"). Which attaches to a 430R (http://"http://thule.com/en/US/Products/BaseRacks/Feet/17878.aspx") or 430 Tracker II (http://"http://thule.com/en/US/Products/BaseRacks/Feet/1020.aspx") foot. The 430R mates to Thule's "aero" crossbar while the 430 Tracker II mates to a square bar. Yakima has a similar setup, with different part numbers.
TK14 Instructions (http://"http://www.rackattack.com/product-pages/product-pdf/thule-tk14-tracker-kit-14-instructions.pdf")
430R Instructions (http://"http://www.rackattack.com/product-pages/product-pdf/thule-430r-rapid-tracker-foot-pack-instructions.pdf")
430 Tracker II Instructions (http://"http://www.rackattack.com/product-pages/product-pdf/thule-430-tracker-ii-foot-pack-instructions.pdf")
A more palatable option is a temporary installation. Only Thule has ever made fit kits for our vehicles (to my knowledge). So Yakima can sit on it and rotate.
For temporary installs, you have a fit bracket that interfaces with the car's frame to act as a clamp. The foot sits on a rubber pad that comes with a "fit kit". The fit kit is the core of making it work. Without the fit kit, you can't get the rest of the system to stay on the roof.
'83-'86 cars use Thule's 15 fit kit (http://"http://www.rackattack.com/product-pages/product-pdf/thule-fit-kit-16-instructions.pdf"). The front fit bracket uses the door frame for attachment. The rear bracket uses the quarter glass area. Rack spread (fore-aft distance between crossbars) is ~27".
(http://griffshp.com/belchja/forums/fk15.jpg)
To the best of my knowledge, you cannot buy 15 fit kits new. Ebay, etc is the way to procure them.
'87-'88 cars use Thule's 66 fit kit (http://"http://pauloang.com/thule_fit_kits/pdf/thule-fit-kit-66-instructions.pdf"). Both front and rear brackets use the door frame for attachment. The revision of the quarter glass area no longer allows for a bracket there. Rack spread is ~21".
(http://griffshp.com/belchja/forums/fk66.jpg)
You can still buy 66 fit kits new.
One downside of the small rack spread is that you need another adapter in order to use Thule and Yakima cargo boxes. The Thule 477 Short Roof Adapter (http://"http://thule.com/en/US/Products/BaseRacks/Feet/1024.aspx") does the trick. It allows you to extend the rack spread to 28". You can also adjust the spread for some boxes (Sears, etc) that require a specific distance between mounting points. Yakima and Thule racks have adjustable mounting points and work with different rack spreads ranging from 24"-36" depending on the specific box.
To build up a rack system for a '83-'86 car you'll need the following.
1 - 15 Fit Kit
4 feet - 480 Traverse (http://"http://thule.com/en/US/Products/BaseRacks/Feet/481650.aspx") OR 480R Traverse (http://"http://thule.com/en/US/Products/BaseRacks/Feet/481651.aspx")
2 Crossbars - XX Load Bar (http://"http://thule.com/en/US/Products/BaseRacks/LoadBars/3565.aspx") OR RBXX Load Bar (http://"http://thule.com/en/US/Products/BaseRacks/LoadBars/17912.aspx") (where XX is the length of crossbar you want)
You can't mix and match square crossbars with aero crossbars. A 480R aero foot goes with a RBXX crossbar. A 480 foot goes with a XX crossbar.
A '87-'88 car needs all the above + a 477 Short Roof Adapter.
If I needed a rack I would much rather put a light duty receiver hitch on the back and buy one of those baskets. They also make fixtures that slide into a receiver hitch to hold bikes, skies, whatever...
One of the downsides with the hitch mounted racks is it pushes the weight distribution back and will make the rear sag. If I've got the car loaded down with passengers and stuff in the trunk, I'd rather have a cargo box on top then hanging off the rear. Although the rear seats are so small I rarely transport anybody in them.