Kia Sportage Roof rails/rack advice?

[CamoDeafie]

So i picked up a Yakima Basketcase roof basket from a Goodwill for 8 bucks... no mounting hardware came with it though; but it would be a perfect fit for my Kia Sportage if it had a roof rack installed on it.. alas, it doesnt... so car guys.. what are my better options? I see on ebay that theres a painted silver factory rails and crossbar for same generation Kia (95-02) Sportage for 25 bucks up in Wa; but it doesnt appear to come with the mounting back plates for inside the roof;
And then theres the rather boring option of buying an "universal" crossbar that mounts via straps to J hooks in the door frames... i aint sure that this is worth the 40 bucks.
What do you guys recommend? Theres no rain gutter or indents in the roof of my car for anything like the gutter mounts..

If I had a welding rig I'd just weld on 4 brackets and mount the roof basket to them and then have an excuse to paint the Kia Sportage in a version of NATO 3-color woodland with Panzer Ambush scheme

If I don't use it as a roof rack; it is the perfect size to rig as a rear cargo shelf platform above the two rubbermaid totes for camping, with legs made from something... angle iron or uni struts or something like that

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[notazombie]

Photo of roof?

 

[CamoDeafie]

Photo of roof?

As plain as can be.

 

[308]

Check with Rackattack or Rerack

 

[jbett98]

Does your KIA have a trailer hitch?

 

[CamoDeafie]

Does your KIA have a trailer hitch?

Yes, 1 1/4" I think. Its not a 2" hitch. Its below the license plate in the 2nd picture of the basket.

 

[jbett98]

I would buy or build one of those trailer hitch platforms to haul my extra gear before I would drill holes in the roof of my car.

 

[308]

I don't believe holes in the roof are required. Yakima makes mounts. I've used similar to the following on an old honda accord and they worked fine.

Yakima Q83 Clip - Yakima Q Clips

 

[jbett98]

The OP stated that he was looking for factory mounts and they are bolted through the roof by the factory. That's why I mentioned I would be hesitant to go that route. Headliners are are a real pain to deal with, but the Yakima way to mount solves that issue.

 

[CamoDeafie]

If anything; I'm trying to stay within a very limited budget here. As mentioned, theres a factory one on Ebay for $25 missing base plates/bolts, but also a chrome factory-new oem rack with all hardware needed for $50, and then there are the clip ons for below 50 but reviews seem to be that they are 50% crap and 50% poor quality the Yakima /Thule universal stuff is way too much money for my budget at the moment, even used. I might just stop at Cherry City Metals and see what I can repurpose; there is a stupid simple idea of using either round tube or square tube legs bolted to the basket and using my ancient sturdy J hooks from the old Sears X-cargo box with new webbing sewn up.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Good Lord; Rerack in PDX area just informed me that the cheapest used base rack units they have are gonna be $199 (didn't say if universal, or OEM or Yakima/Thule) looks like I'm gonna have to scrounge through the junkyards and scrap metal places for something I can use as support for the Yakima basket case roof basket.

 

[308]

LOL....It's like finding a Glock mag out in the woods and complaining the part it slips into is going to really expensive.

 

[CamoDeafie]

LOL....It's like finding a Glock mag out in the woods and complaining the part it slips into is going to really expensive.

Not quite the same. If I said I found a real good deal on an engine but dont have a car then the analogy would work .

 

[notazombie]

Sorry, man. I can't see any cheap, clean, and simple solution.
But you can pick any 2 of the above.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Anybody got 4 hockey pucks they aren't using? my thoughts; thick rubber pieces with countersunk holes drilled for bolts and fender washers on top for holding them to the bottom of the basket in 4 places then J hooks and webbing straps to door frames for a simple setup without scratching the paint..
1) gets the basket to clear the roof curve;
2) spreads the load somewhat
3) non slip and not going to look sloppy
4) pretty simple, maybe not the cleanest install like custom towers/drill thru install but cleaner than jury-rigging plumbing pieces or shelving unit pieces.
5) best of all; universal

 

[jbett98]

How about some 3" suction cups with bolts.

Erickson 01704 3" Roof Suction Cup (pack of 2)
$9.99

 

[CamoDeafie]

Now that... is a great idea where to get them hm.

 

[notazombie]

I actually spent quite a bit of time looking for a solution but somehow didn't run across those. Great idea!

 

[CamoDeafie]

I see that they're on amazon.. a few variants.. Herco 3" with female brass fastener inside for 1/4-2 bolts, and a 4 pk of 1.5" cups with smaller bolts... 3/8 i think.. perhaps 8 of the small one will distribute load more evenly with J hook straps?

 

[CamoDeafie]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00F...=NZF8SH81RPTNHDMXNZW3&dpPl=1&dpID=71xtbOILdIL
Just ordered these. They had a used in very good condition set for half the price with Prime, so thats what i ordered. i figured even if theres some minor damage, they'll be OK with the J hook straps and they're already gray lol. Reviews on these are largely 4 to 5 stars versus the black Erickson and herco 3" cups.