Yakima has been selling the landing pad/control tower kit for years. I'm not aware of any issues regarding its durability, but I can see where some people would believe, psychologically, that metal will be more durable. In real life, many of the metal parts on all of my Thule roof racks have eventually rusted out (note that I live near the beach). Score 1 for plastic.
Your comment about "more secure fit" is a little ironic given the question that started this thread.
Anyway, I'm not trying to be snotty -- I've spent many thousands of dollars on Thule products and still own a Thule surf board carrier and two long-tray bike carriers. In fact, I just purchased a $500 set of Thule snow chains (K-Summits) for my LR4 a couple of weeks ago (and have considered starting a thread about them) And I'm sure I'll spend a lot more of my dollars on Thule products in the future.
In the meantime, I'm sticking with the Yakima roof system
I don't think you're being snotty...
It's your opinion...
To clarify - the technology behind the fit system that the Control Tower from Yakima and the one that one that we use has been around for the years.
Last year we made a conscious decision to move a majority of our "track based" fits (fits that are designed to work in conjunction with a factory track, like the one on the LR4) from our Tracker II foot (which came out in the early 1990's) to our newer Podium foot.
It was a major improvement.
Regarding using metal: We use a coated steel in our fit kits, and in 16 years I've never seen any of them rust - and there's well over 500 kits in the fit system that use metal..
In the past, some of the mounting hardware in our accessories has rusted, but - as of 3 years ago - we have taken the necessary actions to correct that in those products.
Knowing our racks can be "out in the world" longer than some of the vehicles they are on - we need to make sure they can safely and securely stand the rigors of time. The testing we do is beyond any of the testing any of our competitors do. We're ********.... Hahaha
Lastly, the fit: it's a isolated incident. Installed properly, the larger plate in the kit cannot be removed from the track unless you slide it towards one of the cut outs in the track. We put the "B" plate in to correct a supplying issue on Land Rover's end which happened in the last year of the LR3's life cycle and was corrected by the time the LR4's were developed. I found this "B" plate issue this past summer when installing a rack on the LR4 and have corrected it.
In total: three people have been affected by it. I was one of the 3...
It can't be that bad of a fit if Land Rover sells it.... Hahaha...
Like I said before - people need choices. Just like Apple and Blackberry - Thule and Yakima are out there giving people that choice. Both make a quality product and both are concerned about your experience with it....
Personally - I don't want you to care about the base rack. I want you to go out there and have fun doing whatever the reason being buying the rack was... Let me care about the rack... It's my job... That's why I get on these forums... If an issue arises, I want to fix it - because if we're sitting here yapping about this stuff - then you're not out on an adventure enjoying yourself..
Now on to those K-Summits: super impressive, right? Major improvement over the typical Medeval snow chain of the past. Enjoy them!!!
Nick
