Roof racks

[ericsmith32]

Anyone have any experience with roof racks on festiva's? I was looking through the huge lists they have available and they have a hook or a permanent setup. I want something strong since i'll probably haul everything from lumber, ladders, bikes, and maybe a kayak. Any suggestions? Thanks Eric

[Silv3rBull3t]

I have no idea but I am curious as to why you would be using your Festiva as a work truck... It is an econobox... :wink: -Kyle

[SimonTuffGuy]

Hardly a work truck by what he listed there.

Bikes and a kayak are for personal use.

I'm not so sure that the Festiva is the best choice to haul lumber around in however. It's fairly short (I could see having wood sticking out 2 feet from the front and back of the car at the same time :lol:

Get a permenant setup. If you ever want to remove it, it can be taken out and the holes welded shut.

Simon

[Rich Norman]

Re: Roof racks

Anyone have any experience with roof racks on festiva's? I was looking through the huge lists they have available and they have a hook or a permanent setup. I want something strong since i'll probably haul everything from lumber, ladders, bikes, and maybe a kayak. Any suggestions? Thanks Eric

I bought a Thule rack in 2001 ?. Have a writeup about it somewhere. Anyways, I liked it.

Very strong, I know I went past design limits, carrying stacks of 4 x 8 plywood and 16 foot pallet rack sections on the white car ( was the shop mule for a while ).

[mattswabb]

I have a thule rack (not for sale). They are very handy to have on the festiva. It was used on my 1st two festivas and I would carry everything on it even a 20 ft ladder.

Go to the thule site and see what fits the festiva and then watch ebay for it. They will fit different vehicles just by changing the clamps. I have clamps for the festiva and for a taurus. Might be able to find a rack for another car and then order the festiva clamps.

The 91-96 escort roof lines look exaclty like the festiva just wider so maybe look for an escort rack.

matt

[Rich Norman]

The 91-96 escort roof lines look exaclty like the festiva just wider so maybe look for an escort rack.
matt

I tried my Thule rack off my Festiva and used on my 93 LX-E for a short while, observations:

All the mounting pads would slip because Escort has enough of a difference in angle where the pads make contact with the roof to make a less than perfect fit. Could only tighten so much. You could " rig " it , but what's the use.

Noted the Escort roof was wider, within slide adjustability of the Festiva application, but it left less room to wrap rope / straps around the ends of the crossbars ( problematic for some types of cargo ).

So Escort rack on Festiva, watch for:

Slipping.

Ends of crossbars sticking out more ( may not be a critcal issue for some ).

[EVOGUN]

Re: Roof racks

Very strong, I know I went past design limits, carrying stacks of 4 x 8 plywood and 16 foot pallet rack sections on the white car ( was the shop mule for a while ).

:lol: 4x8 sheets was it windy those days? "NEWS FLASH" Flying car seen today through town center!

Thanks :wink:

[mattswabb]

Here is what you need from the thule site:

400xt Aero Foot Pack
LB50 Load Bars
84 Fit Kit

The foot pack and the load bars can be found on ebay and just buy the fit kit from thule and you got a rack. I'll be mounting mine on my new festiva and will take some pics when its on.

matt

[Rich Norman]

Is the Thule roof rack system for Festivas a good buy ?
-------------

My Thule comments. Remember this review is from 2002 ( be surprised if they changed anything though ).

[mattswabb]

I just put mine on my new festiva. I'll get a pic tomorrow. It looks like the post above, white with a thule rack.

I used to use it on my other festivas with 2 bikes on it and driving as fast as I possible could. It never moved a bit. I've carried ladders, lumber, mattresses on it with no problems. It would surprise me it you could lift the car by it thats how good they are.

matt

[ericsmith32]

Wow more responses that I thought i'd get. The thule rack system actually looks like it would be stronger than a permanent mounted rack. They go quite expensive on ebay though, I think. Well the truck is going to the farm so the car is going to be the work truck for the summer, can't beat 40+mpg compared to 17mpg. To me the festiva is so primitive it makes a good work vehicle, not alot of excess to break. Managed to go rock crawling the other day going down the wrong gravel road, no damage as i'm aware of. I'm going to do more searching on the thules, know the next project...... a rack on the back attached to brackets behind/under the bumper big enough to handle a mower/tiller/trimmer, I guess one could be on the front as well as long as it doesn't cover blinkers/headlights. Thanks for all input.