Removing end caps on Yakima racks
 

Does anyone have tips on removing end caps from a Yakima rack cross bar?
Mine are stuck on pretty good and after many tries it seems like they will
tear up before they come off.

Appreciate it,
Jim

Jim Samson wrote:

Does anyone have tips on removing end caps from a Yakima rack cross bar?
Mine are stuck on pretty good and after many tries it seems like they will
tear up before they come off.

If you don't want to use them after removal, just drill a 1/4 inch hole in the
middle, then insert a screwdriver in the hole and pry them out that way.

Otherwise you have to try and get a flatblade screwdriver blade into the gap
between the cap and the bar (small to nonexistent?) and pry them out that way.

John Kuthe...

Does anyone have tips on removing end caps from a Yakima rack cross bar?
Mine are stuck on pretty good and after many tries it seems like they
will
tear up before they come off.

If you don't want to use them after removal, just drill a 1/4 inch hole in
the
middle, then insert a screwdriver in the hole and pry them out that way.

Otherwise you have to try and get a flatblade screwdriver blade into the
gap
between the cap and the bar (small to nonexistent?) and pry them out that
way.


Gawd... there are not many things I hate worse than removing those endcaps.
I do something similar to the suggestion above. I take a utility knife and
slice off the top of the cap, then use the knife to cut through the plastic
that lays up against the metal within the crossbar. Then I use a flatbladed
screwdriver to pry it out. Total PITA. I very seldom take off all four
endcaps; just two on the same side so I can slide the bar around if I need
to...

Jim Samson wrote:

Does anyone have tips on removing end caps from a Yakima rack cross bar?
Mine are stuck on pretty good and after many tries it seems like they will
tear up before they come off.

Assuming they do, just replace them with 1.25" crutch tips. These will
go off and on easily.

--
Steve Cramer
Athens, GA

I finally got them off. I held the bar vertically with the bottom end of the bar on a table. I stuck two flat head screwdrivers under the edge of the bottom cap, the screw drivers were on opposite sides of this cap. I had a partner hold the screwdrivers down with both his hands, and I pulled up on the bar. Came off pretty easily with that technique.

When I used just one screwdriver it poked a hole through the cap.