Drip Rail Strength & Mopar Roof Rack Tampering/Theft

[kshark7]

I have the Mopar roof rack bars that attach to the drip rail on my 2018 JLU. I also purchased the Yakima locks which can be inserted in the roof rack attachment brackets as extra reinforcement (apparently they work).

Someone tried to steal my roof rack bars and must have gotten interrrupted as they left before completing the job. I noticed the bars were slightly out of place and the roof was scratched while they were trying to jimmy them off.

I have since removed the bars as I am concerned the jerks will come back again and ultimately end up damaging my drip rails in the process of finally getting the bars off.

Any thoughts on this, am I too cautious? Are the drip rails pretty tough?

*This is someone elses picture on the forum, I got the idea for the locks from them

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[Reinen]

No, the drip rails are not very tough. They are the reason for any rail mounted rack's weight limit. Your drip rail damage is a valid concern. Frankly, your thief isn't very good one. Easiest way to run off with the rack is to give the drip rails a good whack with a hammer. They'll break right off.

 

[4xFUN]

Leave them on but use double sided mounting tape to affix black low-profile razor wire to the underside of the cross bars...F' thieves.

 

[WranglerMan]

I can’t stand thieves…but on a side note are the rails noisy as in do they whistle going down the road

 

[kshark7]

Leave them on but use double sided mounting tape to affix black low-profile razor wire to the underside of the cross bars...F' thieves.

Yes, F-N .......thieves! I took them off for now and not happy about it lol.

 

[kshark7]

I can’t stand thieves…but on a side note are the rails noisy as in do they whistle going down the road

Mine did not make any noise. I bought wide black Gorilla tape which pretty much fit perfectly and did one long strip underneath the bars (I read this trick in the forum & it worked as it apparently covers up some grooves or something that contributes to whistling sound)

 

[kshark7]

No, the drip rails are not very tough. They are the reason for any rail mounted rack's weight limit. Your drip rail damage is a valid concern. Frankly, your thief isn't very good one. Easiest way to run off with the rack is to give the drip rails a good whack with a hammer. They'll break right off.

I have decided to not further tempt my thief. I also had a pretty expensive Yakima Sup carrier mounted to the roof rack so if he came back he would end up with a pretty good haul. Maybe I will sell it all and look into another system for transporting that beast of a paddle board !

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