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Features a Masters' degree in versatility, a PhD in fit, yet is so easy to install, a baby could do it!
The Yakima New Q Towers fit more vehicles than any other rack tower system. Made to utilize Yakima's round bars, the Q Towers are custom fitted to cars with or without raingutters. You will need a set of Q Clips, sold separately, to mount these tough towers to your ride. SKS lock cores are available to keep your rack on your car.
This description was also provided by: Dogfunk, Backcountry.com, RealCyclist.com
| Country of origin: | Mexico |
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View other products from Yakima classified in Travel > Car Racks. View all products from Yakima.
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Sometimes, we can't be sure that the product is the same across the stores that offer its, so you may find the same product listed more then once on GearBuyer.com, we these list highly similar products below.
 | Yakima Q Towers - Set of 2 | $89.00 |
 | Yakima Control Tower-Set | $82.99 - $159.00 |
 | Yakima Q-Tower | $85.00 - $159.99 |
 | Yakima Q Towers 4 Roof Rack | $159.00 |
These are products that have been indicated being comparable to this product:
| Yakima Q Towers - Set of 2 Travel > Car Racks | $89.00 |
 | Yakima SKS Lock Cores - Package of 4 Travel > Car Rack Accessories | $55.00 |
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Good towers, bad pads. | |
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I've had these for about two years now and they work great. I move across country usually twice a year (Texas to Montana)and take my 17 foot sea kayak and mountain bike with me each time. That equals up to about 10,000 miles of traveling with this rack system. I've driven at times up to 90 miles per hour, driven through torrential downpours, windstorms and on dirt roads so bad Ive actually seen people crack their oil pan on it and these Q Towers have always held on tight and secure. If you buy the lock cores you can lock your rack to your car which is a relief. Since I travel so much, the clips have made a few scratches in the paint where they grip onto the car but that's probably cause the stickers started coming off allowing the metal clips to rub against the paint. Replacing the stickers solved that issue. If I had any gripe with these it has to do with the rubber feet on the towers. One, they stick pretty solidly to the finish of my car and getting them off can take a while. Two, they have left a faint outline on the finish of my car that i just cant remove. Three, I tried to clean them up a bit to get all that road grime that had built up on them off thinking that that was what marked my car and they basically turned to jelly and became unusable. I had to buy a new set. Note to others, DO NOT USE SIMPLE GREEN TO CLEAN THE Q TOWERS PADS THEY WILL TURN TO MUSH. Other than that these have been great. | |
| JP at Backcountry.com | |
Rock Solid!! | |
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| I've been suffering from Rack Envy nearly 10 years now. I've tried everything but nothing seemed to help. Finally REI offered me the cure...the Yakima 20% off Sale! So we took the plunge this weekend. The tensioning system on these towers is quite precise and the"feet" from the Q-Clips grab on and hold tight. My new black Honda Civic looks 37% cooler with these bad boys riding on top. We drove in 3 states this weekend--high winds, cross winds, cold and warm temps. Through it all the rack stayed rock solid. 4 road bikes on 4 Forklift carriers (mounted in alternating directions) rode well. In the high winds (35-40mph) gas mileage suffered 20%, but the rest of the time, it's only a slight dip. With the fairing, wind noise is very slight. Don't forget to consider overhead clearance, but we did not find a situation we had to avoid, even most drive-thrus now have higher clearance these days. | |
| Ultegratim at REI on 10/11/2009 | |
Great Rack System, But Be Careful | |
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| I had the Yakima Roof Rack System on several cars for many years, and it's been great. I've only needed to buy different clips when I got a new car. I had two Steelhead bike racks, a fairing, and two wheel forks. Everything locked to the car with the Yakima lock cores. I left everything on my car (except the bike) because it looked sporty. Also, because it's a pain to take off and then re-install for every trip because of the measurements for placement. Some thief took the whole setup from the top of my car by prying it off with a screw driver or something similar. The locks will not prevent a determined thief from taking this rather large investment. My car was in the body shop for a week getting fixed. What a pain! | |
| love the outdoors at REI on 07/13/2009 | |
Gets Job Done | |
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I dont know what this person is talking about the Q towers falling off. They come with grips that keep it on your car, plus when attached with the CORRECT q clips for your specified car, and are tightened down and locked, I have never had a problem. I have a low profile, Chevy cobalt with these on them and as long as you install correctly, make sure there isnt slack in the bars when you install them, you should have no problem. I've put about 10k miles on my coupe with these on and never had a single problem. Furthermore, the ease of taking these off to make a quick couple hour trip without skis or board, but wanting the extra gas mileage is so easy its ridiculous. | |
| Brian Muller at Backcountry.com on 11/30/2008 | |
Solid rack | |
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I have had the Q Towers on my '97 Audi A6 Wagon and love them. They were fairly easy to install and I bought locks for them as well. I have an older Rocket Box and bike rack on there and the Towers has held up well. I sometimes drive very fast and no worries with this system. No damage to the car and a secure fit has me giving the Q Towers a thumbs up! | |
| Stephen Koch at Backcountry.com on 10/17/2008 | |
Q Towers | |
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This site was the least expensive source of Yakama Q Towers that I could find. The other rack parts I got from another source. I used them to portage my 15-foot fiberglass sea kayak (75 lb) from the West Coast to the East Coast, and back, on top of a Toyota Corolla. They stood up to a strenuous two month trans-continental trip with no trouble. | |
| Bernard at Backcountry.com on 05/16/2006 | |
Q tower review | |
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So far, the Yakima system I put together from 3 different suppliers has worked just fine. I bought most components from this site as was pleased with the price. The system is fairly easy to setup and feels sturdy enough to not worry about putting my new Cannondale on. I certainly would purchase this whole setup again. | |
| Davidc707 at Backcountry.com on 09/26/2006 | |
Q Towers | |
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| Install was not too hard, I think it would be if you don't do manual labor. I specifically use it to carry my 10' longboard (and other surfboards, stacked)on the highway. Works like a charm. Would be perfect if Yakima offered aerodynamic bars instead of having to add a fairing. | |
| raymo91 at REI on 11/02/2008 | |
Q towers | |
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These towers help put your mind at ease while hauling your gear around on your roof. I never get the feeling that my stuff isn't secure while driving at high speeds or taking corners. Yakima really sets a high standard with the Q towers. | |
| JOHN GILCHRIST at Backcountry.com on 12/11/2006 | |
Lowrider for Audi Wagon | |
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I wrote a review on the Q Towers thinking they were the Lowriders, which is the correct tower for my 97 Audi Wagon. Sorry for the confusion. I love the Lowriders...they work well, are secure and don't scratch the car. | |
| Stephen Koch at Backcountry.com on 10/17/2008 | |
Mixed feelings | |
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| The good: - The towers look pretty good - Once set up, taking them on and off the car is a breeze - Good for odd-shaped roofs: even if the towers are slanted forward/backward, your accessories sit properly on round bars - Cross bars can be had a size longer, if you need to carry oversize loads The bad: - Paint started peeling from the Q-clips after one season - Corrosion eats bare metal parts inside the towers pretty quickly. Yakima should have used galvanized steel or some protective coating. Totally unacceptable for $200+ product being marketed for outdoor use! - Cross bars rust inside very badly - Silicone pads, although nice and soft, still leave markings on the paint. Wax the car and stick on some clear decals to protect the finish before using this rack - Fit may be controversial: on my Subaru Legacy there was not enough clearance between the roof and the rack, so a fully loaded cargo box (old Thule model) was touching the roof. When we tried a newer box, the rapid attachment claws could not even fit under the cross bars. The ugly: - HOWLING!!! Wind noise was truly unbearable at highway speeds - it may be better in another car with different aerodynamics though. In my friends' Ford Focus we can talk without yelling at least. In my Subaru it was BAD. Howling cross bars came in resonance with some parts inside the towers (probably, the lock cores), so there was an nice rattling accompanement as well. My verdict: Still usable. If you do get a Yakima setup, disassemble and rustproof the towers and cross bars before using them. They will last much longer. Getting a fairing is highly recommended. Finally, make sure you can return the roof rack, if you don't like it. I sold mine and got a Thule :) | |
| Siberian at REI on 06/27/2009 | |
Q towers fly off small cars! | |
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I installed Yakima Q-towers on my 2008 Honda Civic. The directions and installation process were well-written and easy to use, and I painstakingly applied every measurement exactly as directed. When I finished, I could grab the rack bars and shake the car back and forth without budging the racks. I was horrified six weeks later when the entire system flew off my car at 70 MPH, destroying my wife's and my surfboard. I mailed the entire setup back to Yakima at my own expense, and have received nothing but grief from them. Since then, I have stumbled across ELEVEN other people who have experienced catastrophic failures of their Q-tower system- almost all of them have been installed on small, low-profile vehicles. Engineers and rack reps have explained that Yakima uses a few clip designs to fit many different models of car (Thule, by contrast, designs a specific clip for every individual vehicle.) The Q-tower base system also has an intermittent flaw of loosening due to road vibrations, even when installed tightly. These problems in combination make Yakima Q-towers very slippery, and thus undependable. Thule racks are a bit pricier, and definitely uglier, but not as ugly, or as expensive, as your prized possessions crushed under an 18-wheeler, or worse yet injuring other motorists. | |
| Chrisharjes2314142 at Backcountry.com on 11/10/2008 | |
Pain | |
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| Bought it in 2002 for 2003 Honda Accord because of apparent easy on/off feature. Bad idea. Impossible to adjust, it never sat right. Brackets always moving and scratching the car paint to the metal with the load of just one bike. Car roof sides that get bent eventually if you tighten it well. Fed up with this, I bought new brackets for my old Thule, installed it in 5 minutes and it is rock solid. | |
| ridedivesurfski at REI on 09/12/2007 | |
Not a good fit | |
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I had these on my old 98 Ford Ranger. They really didn't fit that great and I would say I wasn't that confident in my stuff staying on my roof with this system. | |
| andisandi at Backcountry.com on 12/18/2006 | |
a little dissapointed | |
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I have been using my system for about three years and have always been a little critical of the build quality. install, removal and security are good as i expected and i have taken these on 3000mi+ road trips with no incidents. but sometime into year two i started to see some rust forming on the clips and elsewhere on the towers as well as some significant bubbling and peeling of the paint. additionally when my system is in storage (summer months) or in my trunk when im trying to cut down on fuel consumption- ive had to essentially put the plastic housing back together that encloses the metal internals as it doesnt like to stay together. i might be a little too critical but when your pay a couple hundred bucks on bits of metal and plastic i would hope that they were built to be the highest quality to ensure longevity for the price. and yes these systems will put a dent in your mpg, with a lift ticket 6 i drop upwards of 25-30% in a V6 sedan but what else can you do? | |
| bp2705 at Backcountry.com on 01/30/2009 | |
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