indygreg

Ok . . . I have a car with a yakima roof rack on my car. My wife has a Honda Mini-van with roof rails. Based on once owning a Volvo with roof rails, I have the yakima rail adaptors.

I have a trailer hitch on the van and will get a rear carrier in the future. However, it is not in the budget this month and I have two weekend trips that I want to take my bike.

My question is this . . . will my bike be too high on this? I am going to google and try to find out how high most highway overpass bridges are.

Anyone else have a roofrack on a minivan?

indygreg

looks like 14-16 foot heights are standard. I would be well under that.

caloso

I have that exact set up: Yakima rack on a Honda Odyssey. You won't have any problems on road underpasses. Think of how high the buses and trucks are. However, you won't be able to enter any parking structures.

The big drawback to the roof rack on the minivan is that it's a really high hoist to get it up there. I'm not that tall (5'10") and in order to get the forks into the mounts, I'll either have to park next to a curb or open the sliding door and stand on the doorsill. It's pretty awkward.

indygreg

Thanks.

I know this will not be ideal - a pain to get on and off. But I have everything and it gets me what I want. Thanks for the parking garage tip. I will not need it these trips, but good to know.

avmanansala

Overpass heights tend to be about 15', most tractor trailers and rigs are a maximum of 14 feet in height (not counting oversized loads). HOWEVER, there are exceptions to the rule, some overpass heights can be significantly lower due to many factors (year built, type of road, etc.) so even the rule of thumb won't always work.

cpb406

I occasionally use a roof rack on my Toyota Sienna mini-van. I also have a hitch rack but sometimes need more capacity. Anyway, when I do use the roof rack I carry along a small stool to reach the roof comfortably. Otherwise, no problems along as you remember it is there!

beaus pete

I have thule roofrack on my plymouth mini-van no problems just watch out for drive thrus forgot one time thak god there was plenty of room and no parking garages for sure...just wondering if you have the van why not put in the back...

indygreg

Good question . . . the deal is often when I travel the van is just too full. 2 kids (one under 2, so I have a pack-n-play and assorted crap). And when we travel to Ohio to see my wife's brother we always have to take my wife's parents.

srp

I have a Yakima rack on a full size Chevrolet van. The bikes are only about 10-11ft. off the ground. I've clipped a couple small branches and am real careful around trees. We also managed to snag a low flying cable TV wire once. Ripped it out of the pole. It was hanging at around 9 ft.

We have a Yakima magnetic warning sign that goes on the hood. As the car slows, the sign pops up as a reminder.

The rack used to be on the minivan with no problem. Full size needs a 3 step ladder though.