Usefulness of locks for Yakima rack?

Looking at getting a used HD Overland rack and it doesn't have the locks - I'm guessing they were just lost. Wondering how useful these really are. They cover the one bolt that secures the base to the bed rail clamp. Not sure how they fasten to the bolt head but thinking they probably could be defeated fairly easily and not really that big a deal. Here's a pic of the lock from a bottom view - kind of a weird angle view...

 

When you can you should have a lock on anything in today's world. I've seen people return to the hiker parking lots in the white mountains to find racks and attachments stolen from there cars after a long day of hiking. Having a lock doesn't guarantee anything but helps make the drug addicts move along to the next target.

 

basically you want your stuff harder to steal than other peoples stuff.

So while there's some debate on the effectiveness on locks, it'll make it harder to steal than the truck next to you...

 

Agreed with everyone. Anything you can do to make it harder on thieves is useful in my book.

 

I have 6 Yakima lock cores from a 20-year-old round-bar system. If my mountain bike forks with the brake calipers would fit, I could still use the Steelhead bike racks ... but no ... <heavy sigh>

But the lock cores are still usable on the newest Yakima racks!

 

You can still use the steelheads with larger forks and calipers. Yakima makes a little adapter. There are a few different sizes.
https://yakima.com/products/15mm-fork-adapter

 

Thanks for that, but ...

Still a 9mm QR bike. I just checked again for what I thought I had checked 3 years ago. The frame members that fit the Steelhead are "flat" and uniform at the hookover. The hook-over on my Trek Marlin is not flat ... it tapers from the hookover as it rises to become structurally-strong-enough for the fork to handle "everything" ... caliper, shocks, bounce-stress, etc.

I am not sure ANY fork-lock would work. Even the Delta Skewer Hitch (RCI carries them as well as Delta itself) probably cannot handle the tapering fork-mount thickness. Many with truly-capable QR mountain bikes have racks that hook over the wheels instead of removing the tires.

EDIT: The Delta MAY work Steelhead had large bulges close to where the fork hooks-over. The Delta seems to have clearance to the side of hook-ver ... may be enough for the large fork-tubes.

Hmmm

 

I have the Overhaul HD. The lock covers a bolt that secures the uprights to the base. It’s more of a “shit it’s locked, i’ll move on” type of lock.

 

I had the HD Overhaul racks on my truck for two years. I used the core locks because some one can remove the uprights and cross bars by loosening the clamp bolt with a hex wrench. Easy way to steal your racks and just leave you with the base clamped to the truck bed. They could unbolt the HD bars from the uprights and sell or re-use with the Yakima towers.

I replaced my racks with ARE shell and mounted the HD bars to the shell. I need to sell the bases and uprights, but haven't got around to listing them on FB Marketplace or TW Classifieds.