So I finally go around to installing the Lock N Load platform with the Skytower Feet. Naturally Yakima requires the purchase of additional hardware, their Landing Pad...because profit. The landing pads bolt into the interior of the OEM side rails (you just pop those little plastic torx caps off). The Skytower feet then lock into the Landing Pads super easily though, so it is definitely a well thought out product. It raises the height significantly from my stealth cross bar mount, which I was hoping would lessen wind noise, but more importantly I was hoping it would allow me to more easily be able to swap from the Platform to my Ski Box. It basically doubles the space between the bottom of the platform and the roof, so where as I used to have about 3.75" between the roof and the platform, now there is about 7". The top of the platform sits about 8'5" above the roof line (about 6" above the top of the OEM side rails now). This would make it much easier to clean out snow build up from underneath the platform.
However - the wind noise makes this unusable on a daily driver. Above 84mph there is a cavitation hum that sounds exactly like you have wandered onto the highway shoulder, and are driving on the rumble strips. This vibration sound does not go away if you accelerate, like some things that will settle down once you get above or below that magic resonance zone. The previous mounting solution, on my Rhino Rack Bars, did not have any noise like this, even up to 100mph.
So....it sounds like I will now be modding the Yakima U bolt's so that they can easily fit under the Rhino Rack bars when they are installed (the Yakima U bolts are so thick that you cant fit them in-between the roof and the bar, you have to install them with the bar not secured to the roof)....the quest continues.
