anyone seen the factory tie off points on your cross bars?!

[MaxxXJ]

ok... so i was a little overly amazed at what i found today while i was removing my aftermarket roof rack... i took it off because well it rattled everytime i shut the door and it wasnt very secure on the trail with the spare up top (it wanted to slide) anyway. i was kind of hitting on the cross bars to see if those rattled too which they did and i noticed little metal things that slid side to side... anyway this is what i discovered.

anyway has anyone else see these? anyone know the proper name for these?

collapsed

opened and locked in place

 

[bjoehandley]

Not sure of the official name, but Dad used those all the time on his ReNix trucks when we gad to strap stuff to the roof.

 

[GSequoia]

Those are on all 1989 - 1990 roof racks, those are the best years for OEM XJ roof racks. Prior to 1989 they had a crappy design, after 1990 they had a different crappy design. Those tie downs work well for light duty work.

 

[MaxxXJ]

So in a sense I found a rare item? Saweet!

 

[GSequoia]

Oh I wouldn't call it rare by any means.

 

[ehall]

will those work with the later style rails?

 

[GSequoia]

will those work with the later style rails?

No but you should be able to bolt the whole rack (rails and cross bars) to any XJ.

 

[crimsondragon]

What are they made of? Looks like plastic.

 

[GSequoia]

What are they made of? Looks like plastic.

Steel.

 

[xcm]

not rare, nor usefull.

 

[bigalpha]

nor usefull.

Those tie downs work well for light duty work.

:moon:

 

[MT Mike]

not rare, nor usefull.

Funny, that's exactly how I'd describe EVERY single one of your posts. :sure:

 

[WB9YZU]

I remember those!
I thought they were a pretty good idea, but I never used them.

I've had 3 97' and up Jeeps since then. Most people don't realize it, but the stock rack is just about = to a Yakima rack in that you can use aftermarket clamp on pieces. With my 98' I bought 2 cradles and have one kayak in that, the other is on foam blocks.

-Ron

 

[bjoehandley]

not rare, nor usefull.

I wouldn't say that, Dad used them enough on his '90 that I still kinda kick myself for not taking them off the truck for my '98 before he scrapped it.

 

[MaxxXJ]

I was thinking about using them to keep my roof rack centered, I'd use a turnbuckle at each corner to keep it from sliding

 

[WB9YZU]

That's been an issue?

 

[MaxxXJ]

Not the cross bars them selfs but my roof rack came with crappy u bolt like mounts and they don't grip the cross bars very well. They gripped the cross bars on my 00 xj but not my 89. But during this find, I removed the cargo rack and tied down my spare inside the hatch instead of on top in my cargo basket.

Because I was off camber, the rack slid to my side and tilted me to close to the rock... This was an avoidable damage spot if I would of had my spare mounted in the hatch...

 

[GSequoia]

I was thinking about using them to keep my roof rack centered, I'd use a turnbuckle at each corner to keep it from sliding

As I said they're good for light duty usage, I would not rely on them for that purpose.

 

[westvirginia24976]

Not the cross bars them selfs but my roof rack came with crappy u bolt like mounts and they don't grip the cross bars very well. They gripped the cross bars on my 00 xj but not my 89. But during this find, I removed the cargo rack and tied down my spare inside the hatch instead of on top in my cargo basket.

Because I was off camber, the rack slid to my side and tilted me to close to the rock... This was an avoidable damage spot if I would of had my spare mounted in the hatch...

That also wouldn't have happened had you not tilted the picture so far.