Yakima Load Warrior! In it for the long haul!
Hey!... Welcome to yet another #modmonday, where I give you my insight on a part installed on my Subarus. Up this week will be my long term review of the @yakimarocks Load warrior roof basket. It was installed over two and half years ago and still gets the job done today.
When I first purchased my Forester I had my eye on a roof basket, as well as doubling as extra storage area it also gave it a fun safari look that my build was shooting for After much debate and reading review after review I decided on the Yakima Load warrior basket.
Reasons I went with the Yakima basket were, a quality brand name that had great feedback. Different styles/lengths to fit your unique car and a well made product that even Subaru rebranded and sold at the dealerships themselves.
Installation is very straight forward and uses a limited amount of tools to make it easy. With clear and concise instructions it should make a job for anyone with an inkling a diy attitude and motivation.
With everything installed I went about testing it by using it for my spare tire carrier for the first year. It did wonderfully and I can't think of any complaints, everything just worked well. I went on to use it as a truck bed for oversized objects and it has always worked as it should.
After two years in the sun it is starting to show some wear, the basket has faded areas and a few places the coating has started to come off. It also has a weird rash of rush on the rear bar that I have no explanation for. But overall it still looks good.
One issue I ran into due to my Forester's large sunroof was having the wind deflector situated directly above it caused the highway speed wind to push down on the sunroof causing some bad wind noise. This was fixed by moving the rack further back on the roof and you can still hear a bit of wind rushing around and through it. But that is just part of life with a basket attached to the top of your vehicle.
Overall, I have been very pleased with it during my ownership. It has served my vehicle well of the purposes it was purchased for. There are many different brands out there and this is one of the better units.
