Will 99 roof rack crossbars fit 97 roof rails?

I recently purchased a couple kayaks and Yakima Aero Hull Raiser mounts. The Yakima mounts fit great on our Ford Escape, but when mounted on my 97 XJ factory rack crossbars, the crossbars wobble back and forth like crazy. I wanted to see if someone here can confirm that the 99 and up factory roof rack crossbars will mount into my 97 roof rails and that they are stronger/or shaped different. Does anyone have a close up photo too?

My understanding is that the 97+ were all the same.

Jim www.yuccaman.com

Yucca-Man said:

My understanding is that the 97+ were all the same.

Jim www.yuccaman.com

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The ends where you push a button to move the crossbars towards the front or back of the vehicle are definitely different. I am wondering if the actual crossbar is shaped differently... more aerodynamic like a squashed football shape, and if there is less back and forth flex in this style. Finally, I wanted to confirm that they will fit in the 97 roof rack rails/tracks.

the front-back rails have the same cross section. the differences in 96- and 97+ sliding mounts are the "handles", and the only difference in the bars are that 96- are shaped like an oval with a rubber stip across the top, and the 97+ are a flatter, wider, 2-arc shape.

simply put, any crossbar (expect the flat ones, which i believe were only used pre '90) will fit any roof rail.

h2opete987 said:

the front-back rails have the same cross section. the differences in 96- and 97+ sliding mounts are the "handles", and the only difference in the bars are that 96- are shaped like an oval with a rubber stip across the top, and the 97+ are a flatter, wider, 2-arc shape.

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Ok, well I think you're on the right track, but my 97 has the oval with rubber on top crossbars. I believe it's the 99 and up with the other handles and different shaped crossbar.

Hopefully someone with a 1999, 2000, or 2001 can tell me how sturdy these are. Mine just have too much play in them. When you add the Yakima Hullraiser Aero kayak mounts to them they rock/rotate back and forth towards the front and back of the vehicle like crazy.

I'm trying to decide if I should spend the extra money on the Yakima rain gutter mounts or buy the newer crossbars. I've been scanning craigs list and ebay and time is running out on a few auctions I'm looking at.