Best Roof Baskets and lights?

[Empty V]

So I've seen a few of you have roof baskets with KC's. I did a search and couldn't find anything in our forum. What roof baskets and lights do you all have and how do you like them? How much should one cost? How much for mounting accessories? If I'm going for a full sized spare 31"-32" will I need to mount it on the basket?

Thanks for the help!

Billy

[Pwnin O'Brien]

I have the Yakima Load Warrior which is an awesome basket. It looks great and it looks perfect on top of my Pathy. It has nice lines and it's pretty contoured and it gets the job done! I would recommend getting the extension for it tho. I don't have any lights on it yet but when I do put lights on it, I'll use the same ones on my light bar, the new PIAA 520 ATP lamps. It's their new all terrain pattern and I love it. Yakima also sells the spare tire carrier for the Load Warrior which I also plan on purchasing in the very near future. The spare tire carrier fits a spare up to 35" and it would look badass with at 31" spare on top of your QX4.

The entire setup will run quite a bit, but will look amazing. To mount the lights I don't think I would use Yakimas light mounts for the Load Warrior, they're kinda big and ugly and they don't mount in front of the basket, they mount on top of the basket. Don't pay attention to the prices in the links below, you can usually get them for about 20% less by searching around.

Here are a few links....

Yakima Load Warrior: http://www.yakima.com/racks/ca....aspx

Load Warrior Extension: http://www.yakima.com/racks/ca....aspx

Load Warrior Tire Carrier: http://www.yakima.com/racks/ca....aspx

PIAA 520 ATP : http://www.piaa.com/Lamps/Lamp-pages/520atp.html

[screwinitupagain]

I can fit a 37" tire in mine, all held down by racket straps. It aint fancy but its cheap & practical. Function, my friends, function.

[Empty V]

Thanks for all the info guys. I ended up finding a guy about 10min from me who just closed down his shop and is selling out of his house. I'm heading over there tomorrow to pick up a 45"x 60"Surco Safari Rack with the spare tire carrier, 2 light mounts and all hardware needed for $430 out the door. Does that sound like a good deal?

Here's what the Surco looks like:



Billy
Modified by Empty V at 5:05 PM 8/17/2009

[Fisherdude]

The Surco is badass. I have one and it's strong and very light, and most importantly, looks great. As far as the lights go, get either KC Daylighters or the ARB/IPF lights. Don't buy cheap lights because they will do the hokey poky on you.

[Empty V]

The Surco is badass. I have one and it's strong and very light, and most importantly, looks great. As far as the lights go, get either KC Daylighters or the ARB/IPF lights. Don't buy cheap lights because they will do the hokey poky on you.

Do you remember how much you paid for yours? It seems like a good deal with the spare tire mount, light mounts and hardware.

Billy

[Fisherdude]

400 ish for a Surco rack...I have the spare tire rack on the back that I use, because I would much rather have the tire back there than on my roof...I load my rack up only when I go to Uwharrie or Corova.

[JHC828]

I desperately wanted the yakima basket but just couldn't bring myself to pay that much for something I don't "need". So, I opted for an inexpensive ebay option. Hopefully, I won't regret it later...http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...AX:ITI plan on mounting lights on it eventually.