Hi all,

I'm new to Fitfreak and fairly new to Honda Fit ownership. I purchased my 2008 Fit back in November, and I love it! It has around 80K on it and is a 5-speed. I'm on Fitfreak nearly everyday researching ideas and mods. So far, my upgrades/mods are fairly light: 18% window tent, added a Yakima rack system (which I'll discuss), Monroe MA-811 air shocks (I tend to carry a lot!), Progress rear sway bar, and interior white LED dome and rear hatch lighting upgrade.

I wanted to share my Yakima rack system with the Fitfreak world. I've had many roof rack systems, and when researching bar widths, I really didn't come across much in terms of what I had. I have a VERY active lifestyle that includes bicycling, backpacking and canoe island camping (I live within 45 minutes of some HUGE lakes in the Upstate of South Carolina, and really enjoy canoeing/paddling out to islands and camping). I settled on the following Yakima system that not only functions great, but also looks sharp:

-- Q-towers
-- 66" wide roundbars
-- Gunwale brackets (for canoe)
-- Mulit-mounts (for paddles)
-- Boatloader (makes for 1-person boat loading)
-- Sportrack (a.k.a. rebadged Thule) 13 cubic foot storage box (I already had this on a previous vehicle; I use it to store my camping and paddling gear)
-- installed a Hidden Hitch
-- Yakima's Big Horn 4 hitch bicycle rack

I've attached a couple pics from a recent canoe camp trip. On that trip, I was on the interstate and cruised at over 70MPH and it was rock solid. Oh, and a bit of MPG success: More than 3/4 of my tank of gas included the canoe and storage box, and the Fit still returned 29MPG...not too shappy in my opinion. Everyone let me know your thoughts!

Some future mods: my tires have maybe 3-4 months left; I'm going to upgrade to 15" tires and aluminum wheels, keyless entry, and maybe either fog lamps or rallye-style driving lights.

Thanks to Fitfreak for all the inspiration and help!!

Unofficial Honda FIT Forums - scottbikesalot's Album: Honda Fit with 66" Yakima bars, canoe, storage box

 

Wow - that's a lot of stuff. It's good to see you have solid looking front and rear tie downs.

I've wondered about those boat loader extensions for the bar. With the load cantilevered out there, you end up with a lot of load on just one of the four feet during the loading process. You're not seeing any signs of the roof deflecting or denting under that one foot?

 

The boat loader extension for the bar is the WAY TO GO when loading a heavier boat by yourself. My Old Town canoe is upwards of 80lbs., and it has saved my back more than once!

To answer your question, no, I haven't seen any signs of roof deflecting or denting under that one foot. The Yakima Q-tower/clips set up is mega rock solid; it doesn't move around a bit when loading the boat.