We're looking to invest in a roll-out awning for camping and river trips. Options are the Yakima Slim Shady 2.0 m, Thule Overcast 6.5 ft, or Ironman 2.0 m / 2.5 m. The Yakima appears to have the most friendly mounting system (goes on nearly any cross-bar); however I was wanting to use my REI dividend and 20% off coupon on it, but REI stopped carrying it in the past month. So now the Yakima is basically the same price as the others ($300-330 ish). The Ironman is a bit bigger and has a LED light strip (would be nice for camping). I can still get the Thule at REI, but the mounts look like it would sit around 6" inward from the edge of the vehicle.
So my question is has anyone ever drilled holes through the factory cross-bars to mount an awning? The Ironman has a L-bracket that would position the awning where I want it, but require two holes to go vertically through each cross-bars for attachment. I'm not sure if this would either 1) crush the cross-bars when tightened (I'd of course use large flat washers and possibly some sleeves to avoid that) or 2) compromise the strength of the cross-bars under other conditions. In addition to the awning, I'll be regularly using the OEM crossbars to haul a ~90-lb canoe, up to two bikes, and a rooftop carrier, though no more than 2 of those at a time (e.g., never exceeding ~150 lbs on the rack). I'm not interested in an aftermarket rack or cross-bars at this time (not into roof-top tents, not mounting recovery gear on the roof), unless someone has a good low-cost, DIY crossbar solution.
So my question is has anyone ever drilled holes through the factory cross-bars to mount an awning? The Ironman has a L-bracket that would position the awning where I want it, but require two holes to go vertically through each cross-bars for attachment. I'm not sure if this would either 1) crush the cross-bars when tightened (I'd of course use large flat washers and possibly some sleeves to avoid that) or 2) compromise the strength of the cross-bars under other conditions. In addition to the awning, I'll be regularly using the OEM crossbars to haul a ~90-lb canoe, up to two bikes, and a rooftop carrier, though no more than 2 of those at a time (e.g., never exceeding ~150 lbs on the rack). I'm not interested in an aftermarket rack or cross-bars at this time (not into roof-top tents, not mounting recovery gear on the roof), unless someone has a good low-cost, DIY crossbar solution.
