What do we like? I don't want to throw up a full-on Frontrunner Rack, i just need two cross bars to hold a Yakima cargo box occasionally. I'm having a hard time finding good fitment from reputable brands (nothing at all from Yakima, for instance).

I see that there are some OEM looking knock off crossbars on eBay, but man, those don't look sturdy at all.

 

These will work. https://www.rhinorack.com/en-us/prod...of-rack_ja6418

Thule also makes a set, but it's a bit more expensive. Yakima does not have a solution for this vehicle

 

I just installed Thule for $650. Very nice looking but hard to find. Seems to be sold out at a lot of outfits.

 

I’ve been super happy with the Thule aeroblades. Low profile, sturdy and minimal wind noise.

 

I have the OEMs and love them. They are very easy to install and remove. I can put them on in under 10 minutes, and removal is just as fast.

 

I ordered an OEM knockoff from eBay a couple of years ago to use with my Yakima cargo box. While I admit that when I first got them I was skeptical (I think I only paid about $80 or so), they have worked wonderfully.

 

I think what they offer is the somewhat generic rubber strap Timberline Tower system. But as the length of the raised exposed underneath portion of our OEM rails is somewhat short, it'll have the same issue that I have with my Inno RH728 Dual Angle racks for snow stuff, they distance between the racks isn't quite where I'd like them. But I use them anyway.

Edit: oddly though, the distance between the genuine OEM cross bar mounting points is only around 70cm, which I've always found a little short too. (VPLRR0154)

 

I couldn't bring myself to spend $600 on Thule crossbars. Or even $450 on the Rhino Rack bars. Not when I could get a Front Runner Rack (that bolts directly into the factory mounting points for a improved load carry capacity) for like $1100. GO BIG or GO HOME, I always say.

So I tucked tail and took my *** home and bought the OEM knockoff bars (from Amazon, so I could return them) for $140. They arrive tonight. I'll report back on quality and sturdiness.

I also bought the OEM knockoff splash guards for like $35 (as opposed to $200 for the set of 4), and the Weathertech generic cut-to-fit rubber mats ($50) for the occasional wet weather use. I thought about getting the Weathertech lasercut fitted liners ($230)---but seemed like a shame to spend that kind of money to just hang the mats up in the garage for the 340 days a year I won't use them.

 

Exactly. What they need is a kit that lets you buy a pair of generic rubber strap Timberline Towers, and a pair of the Ridgeline flush rail towers for the back half. They don't have a fit kit though for the flush rails...

 

I have the genuine LR cross bars and genuine LR ski rack because they came with my CPO D5 when I bought it.
They are great quality and easy to install and remove.
Drawbacks are the distance from the front to rear crossbar is sort of set by a small hole in the inside edge of the rails on the D5.
I suppose you could just drill another hole where you want it but I haven't checked to see if the width between the rails changes from front to back and if that would make the crossbars not fit in the new location (i.e. if the crossbar is a specific, unadjustable length requiring it to go on the rail at a specific location).
Also, with Thule (and maybe Yakima) racks that I've had on other vehicles, the crossbars are longer than the width between the rails and stick out past the mounting feet. This gives you a great, and easy place to tie down cargo. With the shorter factory cross bars it's much harder to tie something down.