I have had the same Yakima rack on one truck since about 1999, and Yakima/Con-Ferr on another truck since 2006. I use only stainless steel fasteners, and any parts I fabricate or cobble together from the parts bin are aluminum, galvanized, or brass/bronze. All stainless threaded parts get a coat of antiseize on the threads, all drilled holes are painted and then sealed with silicone, even if they don't need to be waterproof. I pulled the Con-Ferr basket about three years ago and shot it with flat black rattle can paint and it's holding up fine. I have overloaded the Yakima bars on one truck to the point of badly bending them, so the next set of bars will be their HD stuff. I never knew until I called them, but the long bars (80" +/-) have twice the wall thickness of the regular bars and take a special end cap. You just need to cut them to the length you need. If the weathered/cracked plastic coating on the Yak bars bothers you, you can slide a length of black heat shrink over it for a temporary repair. UV protected heat shrink seems to last OK outdoors. I have looked around and have not seen anything I like better than Yakima, especially since I already have a bunch of Yak components and lock cylinders. Been using Yak stuff since about 1977.
