how do I remove a Locking Yakima roof rack at the Junk yard

Hammered

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I am wondering if its possible to get Yakima to make ya a key. Maybe I should get a Lock smith to get it off? ...Maybe its not even worth messing with.

Either way I'd hate to drill out the locks and not be able to get it off of there.
 
Look on the lock cylinder, there should be a 3 digit number, you could write Yakima to get a replacement set.
 
GSequoia said:
SawZall, cut the roof off!
That would buy him time to get a key from the Mfg.
 
just use a drill. i've got a yakima and those locks just slide in and out.
drill that bad boy out get some vice grips and pull the old lock out you can just jump onto their website and buy a new set of locks when you get home.
 
ok so you drill out 4 locks and you buy 2 new ones, thats all you need anyways, $22, if your interested in a yakima rack i'm sure you know how much they cost new. $22 is a small price to pay for a yakima with rain gutters and the crossbars. you could probably find some used locks on ebay or craigslist anyways. w/ yakima one size fits all for the locks.
of course you could just tear off the rain gutter from the junked jeep and take the rack home and figure it out there.
I'd still just drill it, alot easier
what part of pennsyltucky r u from? harrisburg, here
 
For gutter mount Yak racks it depends on whether you expect to need to lock them again. The lock operates by pushing out a plunger that engages with the outer portion of the rack foot, which is plastic. The plunger is just a screw that inserts into the lock cylinder. If you turn the knob hard enough, it will either tear its way out or break/bend the screw, and at 90 degrees from locked, the screw will be revealed. Just unscrew it, and the knob will turn, and the cylinder will just fall out. Of course you've now messed up the lockability of the foot. There are two locking slots, 180 degrees apart, so you could still use the locks if you turn the knob to the undamaged side.

As an alternative to tearing, if you can figure out which side the plunger is currently at, you can drill a hole through the plastic of the foot, and unscrew the plunger from the cylinder. This will not damage the locking ability of the foot, though of course a thief who noticed the hole could unscrew the cylinder again. However, considering how marginal the locking system is to start with, it might not be much of a loss. You could, perhaps, plug the hole later. A thief who is determined to steal your racks can do so with a medium sized pipe wrench or a pry bar more quickly than he could with a screwdriver through the holes anyway.
 
Amplifying the above, here is a picture of a Yakima foot with locking screw retracted. Assuming that the screw was engaged on the right side, you'd drill where shown. Obviously if the screw pointed 180 degrees from there, you'd drill on the other side of the foot.
yakfootvd9.jpg
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Hammered said:
Lancaster County... (Amish land)

Ah yes the good old country. My wife was hanging out the window taking pictures the 1st time I took her through there. She thought the amish were just from the movies. ha ha.

I still drill the locks, get find some used ones to buy, you only need 2 locks to secure it to the rain gutters. 4 is over kill.
 
ok so I got them off, I just bumped them forward and was able to pop them off. They were kinda monted to the door sills on a Dodge Neon. So I think these will be best suited on gutters. I'll see if I can get the lock info. I looked all over them and can not see any number. all that holds the locks in is a lock ring. I'll get a set of pliers... I'll need them to install my SYE anyhow.
 
r u planning on putting them on your XJ, or something else? the cross bars might be to short for you. I had the 44" on my old BMW and they were way to short for the XJ, i think you need 58" or something. Also I'm not sure if those towers will work either, of course i could just be stupid.
 
ha ha good idea. they are nice IMO they go and off easily, you can usually do it by yourself
 
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