TrailRax TRMR + Yakima + Bronco = Perfect Match

[Tilzbow]

I installed a TrailRax TRMR this week.

One of my goals was to be able to carry two kayaks on top of the Bronco using my existing Yakima kayak carrier which includes a set of Yakima Jetstream crossbars and two sets of Yakima Hully Roller kayak carriers that I’ve had for years. I prefer to haul kayaks laying flat rather than on their side since they’re lower profile and don’t catch side winds as bad while being hauled on the roof. You could probably carry one or two on top of the TRMR rack using the TrailRax crossbars and Yakima J kayak racks but since I already had the Hully Rollers and Jetstream crossbars and prefer to haul the boat laying on their bottom I wanted to reuse the gear I had available. Lastly the TRMR rack isn‘t wide enough to haul my two kayaks side by side while laying on their bottoms.

After unboxing and inspecting the TrailRax TRMR it was obvious I was going to be able to make this work with zero modifications to the TRMR rack but I’d need different Yakima towers. I got the TRMR installed and then went about adding the Yakima system. I’d purchased Yakima Timberline towers and used those on my Bronco’s OEM rack to mount the Jetstream crossbars but these towers weren’t going to work with the TRMR rack. After looking at the TRMR rails I thought I‘d be able reuse some Yakima Landing Pads that I’d kept after selling my 2005 GM pickup 7 years ago. I found them in the garage and quickly determined they’d fit the TRMR rails with zero modifications to the TRMR rails. Using these would allow me to purchase and use Yakima Skyline towers to mount my crossbars and kayak carriers to the TRMR rack. I’ll sell the barely used Timberline towers and recoup some of my money.

I also wanted to want to beef up the TRMR rails some so I modified some framing brackets to mount the Yakima landing pads to the TRMR rails to add strength to the rails. This step might not be necessary but I wanted to strengthen the TRMR rails since I was using their stock rail mounting slots to mount the landing pads and those appear to be a weak point of the TRMR rails and probably weren’t designed for what I was doing. All that said, it took some work to modify and paint the brackets but I think it was worth the time and I’m confident they’ll add quite a bit of strength.

Here are some pictures of the finished product.

Yakima Landing Pad mounted to the back of TRMR rail. You can see my custom bracket through the slot in the TRMR rail. I used 1/4“ x 3/4” round head bolts to secure these brackets to the TRMR rails.

The next four pictures show the Yakima Skyline towers mounted to the front and rear of the TRMR rails and the backside of my modified framing brackets showing how the brackets bolt onto and strengthen the TRMR rails and how the Yakima landing pads mount to the brackets and rails. You might noticed I was actually able to connect my modified brackets to the Pak Rax support ar. which then firmly connects the rear Yakima landing pads directly to the lower half of the Bronco.

Front outside:

Front Inside

Rear Outside

Rear Inside

The next few pictures show the Yakima system mounted to the TrailRax TRMR rack system.

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[Ericei_64]

Just talked me into getting a Trailrax. Thanks for the post.

 

[Ericei_64]

What size/type framing bracket did you use? What type of modification did you have to do to the bracket?

 

[Tilzbow]

What size/type framing bracket did you use? What type of modification did you have to do to the bracket?

I used the brackets in this link.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Simpson...anized-Medium-L-Angle-ML26Z/202071149#overlay

I had to trim material from each side so they’d fit flush with the insides of the Trail Rax rails. Then I had to drill two 19/64” holes for the 6mm Yakima landing pad bolts and three 19/64” holes for 1/4” button heads to mount to the side of the Trail Rax rail. I upsized the holes a bit to avoid having bolts that didn’t fit because I missed the mark slightly. I used hand tools including a cordless drill, jig saw and file. The toughest hole was the oval shaped hole to match the Pak Rax mounting hole. When I was done I primered them and then applied two coats of black textured spray paint.

Since I had to trim and drill so much material, if I were to do it over again I simply buy some 2” x 2” x 1/8” thick or maybe even 1 1/2” x 1 1/2” x 1/8” thick angle iron and start with that. I’d then make them 8” - 10” long to provide even more strength. Here’s a link for the angle iron I’d start with. In fact I might’ve just talked myself into a do-over!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbil...teel-Angle-with-1-8-in-Thick-800947/204225752

 

[Ericei_64]

Much appreciated! I have landing pads and round bars from my truck that I’ll be able to move over.

 

[Tilzbow]

Much appreciated! I have landing pads and round bars from my truck that I’ll be able to move over.

I had the same but bought a new Yakima system for the Bronco’s OEM rack. So now I’ve got two….. Oh well, I’ll be able to sell most of the stuff on eBay.

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