I notice that the inner sides of the 07FEH roof rails are grooved as if they will accept some type of integral crossbar (like the Explorer). If so, it might be worth pursuing with Ford -- crossbars made for these rails would minimize height (but might be too close to the roof for some types of mounts). I've seen a lot of 07's but none with crossbars.

In contrast, the rails on the 06Freestyle are solid with no integral crossbars, hence the Yakima website suggests only the Lowrider model when you select Ford/2006/Freestyle/Factory Rack/Top. Select Ford/2006/Explorer4dr/Factory Rack/Top and you get all the various options suitable for roof rails with integral crossbars (which may be a hint of what the list for the 2007 FEH will be, if they make crossbars for it).(Edit: its obvious from close inspection - they are meant to accept crossbars)

So, back to Kim's original question. 05/06 FEH crossbars definitely will not work on the 07FEH because it comes with roof rails instead of roof tracks. But we don't know if an OEM crossbar comes for the 07 roof rails.

 

Thanks everyone for your input - I appreciate it!

I can't seem to post photos here directly to illustrate what the rails look like in comparison to my Explorer - suffice it to say, they're very different. The 1996 Explorer rails are just a strip of plastic along the roof and the cross bars are massive things that slide into grooves on the strips. The MMH rails stand up a bit and the grooves are raised as well. The crossbars are straight (oval-shaped) pieces that apparently lock into the grooves.

I have the 2007 accessories catalog, and they do have the rails available for the MMH. However, I may have found some as parts from a Mariner - says it will fit the 2005-2006? Is it likely those could be the same rails? (I will ask the seller, but they may not know.)

FWIW, I did go to the Yakima site, and I also found that they do not show the 2007 models. The Mercury website doesn't list the rails, either, but they do have some Yakima roof accessories, so I'm thinking the OEM rails may be close to, if not the same as the Yakima rails. Will try to call Yakima and/or Mercury tomorrow.

Sheesh! Can't imagine this would be so difficult!

Kim

 

Maybe this will help. The 2007 Escape Hybrid roof rack is obviously not the same as the 2007 Escape Non-Hybrid. The 2007 Escape Hybrid uses the 2006 Mercery Mariner roof rack and I assume the Mariner will be the same for 2007. The part number for the cross rails for both the 2007 Escape Hybrid and the 2006 Mariner Hybrid is 5E6Z7855106AAA. This number is different than the cross rail set for the non-hybrid as it should be. I've not bought a set yet as I just got my vehicle last week and I'm still looking for answers on a few things. I got this number from Fordparts.com which sells the set for $82.86 plus shipping. One of the local dealers sells the set for $120. Several other dealers told me they were not available or I had to buy the whole roof rack for $1100. Ford needs a great deal of help in the customer service area, just one of their many failings.


David Lee

 

Thanks for the added input, David Lee. One thing to be certain of, is whether the crossbar prices you were quoted are for a pair or each. You apparently need to order them individually.

Kim

 

Per the two or three Ford part people who were actually able to figure this out (and whom I got the part number from) claimed this number and price was for the pair. This was not the case when I bought a set for my Explorer so as I have not purchased the ones for the Hybrid yet I'm still not sure. All I know so far.

David Lee

 

Earlier Quote from K9joyride: "Thanks everyone for your input - I appreciate it!

I can't seem to post photos here directly to illustrate what the rails look like in comparison to my Explorer - suffice it to say, they're very different. The 1996 Explorer rails are just a strip of plastic along the roof and the cross bars are massive things that slide into grooves on the strips. The MMH rails stand up a bit and the grooves are raised as well. The crossbars are straight (oval-shaped) pieces that apparently lock into the grooves."


I think the industry (Yakima, for one) calls the items on your MMH "rails" and the items on your Explorer (and my 06 FEH) "tracks". From what I can tell just driving around, SUVs and minivans built in the last two years - Jeep, Lexus, Toyota, Honda(Odyessy), GM, Ford - all seem to have gone to the raised "rail" design.

 

Thanks!

 

I sent a note to Yakima and got this back:
We have not yet finished our evaluation of the 2007 Escape model as of this time. We evaluate each new model year to make absolutely sure no changes were made to the vehicle from the previous year. It appears that Ford is including a different factory rack on the 2007 model than what has been included with the Escape from 2001-2006, so there will be some additional time needed for testing. We are working as hard as we can to get new fits done, and apologize for any inconvenience caused. I have logged that you requested a fit for your car, which will help show our fit team there is demand for it. Once the vehicle has been evaluated, www.yakima.com will be updated with the information (follow the “Choose My Rack” link).


If you have any further questions, please give us a call at 1-888-925-4621 from 7am-5pm Pacific Time, Monday-Friday.



Regards,

Yakima Products, Inc.

Consumer Support

Yakima and Rhode Gear Products

www.yakima.com

Phone: 1-888-925-4621

Fax: 1-888-925-4622

Email: support@yakima.com

 

I also sent a note to Yakima and received a similar reply. I called Mercury and would you believe their Customer Service folks don't even have part numbers in their system?? I was hoping to have her look up the 2006 and the 2007 to see if they were the same but that was a bust.

Oh well.... I guess I'll just have to wait until they get their act together.

 

I can confirm that part number. We just got the crossbars for our 2007 Escape Hybrid and that is the part number on the boxes.

You need to turn the thumbscrews an extraordinary number of times to tighten them when you first put the crossbars on. Maybe I'm a wimp, but I had to use pliers to tighten them enough to keep them from sliding.

It took 3 months for us to get our crossbars. The dealer mistakenly ordered the 2005/2006 rack the first time. Then the 2007 crossbars were supposedly backordered for a while.

Lloyd