[paulyjsob]

Best box solution I've found is the Inno 660 wedge. Low profile too so I can drive into my garage.

Anyone else have success with roof cargo boxes on 3rd gen. factory rails? From above looks like the Thule Motion XT (L) will work with some padding, would be nice to find out the XL works as well. Looking for largest capacity without hitting fin or tailgate, any recommendations would be appreciated.


Thanks,
VAGAtor

 

[Texas325]

Just installed the cargo box today. I test fitted at REI before purchasing. The Yakima Skybox Box 16 fits with no interference to both tailgate or antenna. I’m using the Yakima Crossbar Streamline systems everything fits with no issue. The box is sitting next to the bike rack as well. I did have to have the windshield fairing (40in, Yakima said there’s no MDX fitment) to reduce the whistling noise but still have wind noise.

 

[stranoblaze]

Installed a Thule Motion XT (L) on my 2015 MDX

First, thanks to all in submitting your input and advice which I reviewed before embarking on a solution to install a cargo carrier on our 2015 MDX with Acura factory rails and crossbars. We liked the functionality and styling of the Thule Motion XT, which is a relatively new product but unfortunately, I did not find any postings on this thread from anyone who had experience with this Thule carrier. Using the Thule fit guide, the Motion XT was one of three Thule products recommended, although based on the roof measurements on the Thule website, the distance from the middle of the front crossbar to the rear hatch was 47.5" or more, but my measurements were closer to 46", so based on that info, the Motion XT (size L) would be too long and interfere with the rear hatch when opened. Fortunately, I decided to go the REI where the staff person and I took some measurements and determined that it possibly would work, albeit very close, so we took the floor model and successfully attached it to our (fixed position) Acura factory crossbars. When opening the rear hatch, the door comes within about 1/4" of touching the carrier, so I think we have a winner! The only issue however, is that when the carrier knobs were completely tightened down onto the crossbars, the bottom of the carrier just barely makes contact with the fin antenna. My temporary solution was to buy a piece of black adhesive felt which I attached to the bottom of the carrier immediately above the fin antenna, but I am now looking for a thicker, more permanent solution such as a rubber or foam covering for the crossbar which would raise the height of the carrier so it would not only prevent contact with the antenna, but also offset the very minor slant due the slanted design of the MDX roofline. I will take and post some pictures shortly, but I am very happy both with the fit and styling of the Thule Motion XT carrier ($649) and the fact that I did not need to purchase the expensive Thule 7602 AeroBlade Edge crossbars and Thule Fit Kit KIT3132, which would have added another approx $500+ to the total cost. I would be interested in hearing from anyone else who has successfully installed either Thule or Yakima carriers, including the Motion XT. Btw, on the freeway drive home from REI, the wind noise was fairly minor and not noticeable with the brief exception of some strong headwinds when it was a bit more noticeable. Lastly, I went with the L (77" length) vs XL (84" length) which is possible but would reach just about to the top of the windshield and barely noticeable from inside the vehicle and would likely pick up additional wind resistance and noise due to the slight upward slope. So if you really need the extra 7" of length, I believe the XL version can work for you on the MDX. I hope this post is useful to other Third Generation MDXers who are looking for a rooftop carrier that will work with their Acura factory rails and crossbars.

i’m finding i’m running into a similar situation.

i have a 2018 with factory flush rails and the thule aeroblade cross bars. i’ve been deciding on motion v force and xl or L. i finalized my decision to go with the motion XT XL based on thules fit guide. however, i came across another fit guide PDF that said to measure the front clearance. mine measured 43-45”. pdf clearance was ~51”. based on that, this model and size won’t fit. i plan to still purchase it at REI and do a test fit. if it doesn’t fit i’ll go with another size/model. sucks that thules website contradicts itself.

 

[SolracNY]

Best box solution I've found is the Inno 660 wedge. Low profile too so I can drive into my garage.

How far can you open the hatch with your setup? Is it blocked at all? Could you confirm that it fully opens? Thanks for your previous post and I appreciate your help.

 

[SolracNY]

Thanks to many of the prior posters on this thread, especially sparrky's breakdown of his investigations. To anyone looking for a good ski/board solution with the factory rails and bars - the latest Inno boxes at hard to beat. They have an adjustment system that allows them to slide forward far enough to avoid the antenna and tailgate. No modifications needed.

I already had the factory rails and cross bars on my 2014 and was looking to haul skis and boards, so my options were:

• Thule or Yakima boxes: Didn't fit without blocking hatch or hitting antenna and tended to stick up in the front
• Yakima FatCat 6: Because of the terrible bar locations, skis can't load with the tips at the rear (hit gate) & boards basically don't fit because of the bindings
• Inno Wedge 660: Great fit and hugs the roof nicely. Wind noise is not too bad for a box. WEDGE 660 : Innoracks I did add a little padding to the back bar, making the front hug just a bit better.

Thanks again to all those who came before!

How far can you open the hatch with your setup? Is it blocked at all? Could you confirm that it fully opens? I think you implied that as Thule /Yakima did block but I want to be on the safe side. Thanks for your previous post and I appreciate your help.

 

[DanKNyc]

i’m finding i’m running into a similar situation.

i have a 2018 with factory flush rails and the thule aeroblade cross bars. i’ve been deciding on motion v force and xl or L. i finalized my decision to go with the motion XT XL based on thules fit guide. however, i came across another fit guide PDF that said to measure the front clearance. mine measured 43-45”. pdf clearance was ~51”. based on that, this model and size won’t fit. i plan to still purchase it at REI and do a test fit. if it doesn’t fit i’ll go with another size/model. sucks that thules website contradicts itself.

Hey Stanoblaze,

did you sort out which box worked? I am between the XL and L as well... I know the L fits from videos online... but I would prefer the XL...

Did you get the XL to work?

 

[sgkent]

I'm getting roof rails just for the looks. Only $420 here on eBay http://bit.ly/12biyMm

$420 spent on roof rails just for looks, instead of paying down say a Visa or MC (19%) over the next 30 years until you retire is $120,042.00. They must be really nice looking and draw lots of attention for that kind of money.

 

[greggebhardt]

A friend of mine put the OEM roof racks on his SUV and it made so much noise at highway speeds, he removed it.

There is plenty of room in my MDX to store what I need. As far as putting them on just for the looks . . . . I can not imagine.

 

[elvisfan]

$420 spent on roof rails just for looks, instead of paying down say a Visa or MC (19%) over the next 30 years until you retire is $120,042.00. They must be really nice looking and draw lots of attention for that kind of money.

That comment was made 6.5 years ago. I don’t understand your logic. Also,how many people on here have spent thousands of dollars on wheels and tires because they look better?

 

[stranoblaze]

Hey Stanoblaze,

did you sort out which box worked? I am between the XL and L as well... I know the L fits from videos online... but I would prefer the XL...

Did you get the XL to work?

i was not able to get the Force XT XL to fit with my setup. i went to REI and they took the XL floor model to my vehicle and did a test fit without clamping anything down. the bottom channels where the crossbars would fit did not provide enough room based on the width of the channels. in addition, even if it did fit, the length was too long and barely ended up hitting the rear hatch lip when fully opened. i went with the Force XT Large and in the end was still happy with how much it carried. i feel the XL would have been too large anyways for my needs. hope that helps.

 

[DanKNyc]

Thanks @stranoblaze I bought the factory crossbars and tried to install the Motion XT XL and it fit on the crossbars but the back hatch hits.

tried Yakima 16 on the mdx factory crossbars. No dice either. Still hits the tailgate hard.
The factory rails are so far back they make most boxes impossible to fit.

getting the factory bars taken off. Huge waste of time. Should have just sprung for the Thule at 2x the cost of the Acura crossbars.

 

[teeitup]

Thule 668ES Frontier. I needed a box that could hold my 193cm skis.

 

[teeitup]

My lift gate hits my roof box but it still opens far enough to allow full access to back.

If you press and hold down the lift gate button for a couple seconds when opening it disengages the power lift gate and allows you to manually open and you can carefully raise it and only lift up until it contacts the box. I don’t mind doing this as I usually only keep my box on for ski trips. Wouldn’t want this if I always kept the box on the roof.

 

[tahiti5701]

I have the factory crossbars and use the Sportrack SR7040 L 15-cubic feet. Sportrack is part of the Thule Group. It's been a great cargo box for us and it fits perfectly on the MDX. No interference with opening the hatch.

 

[stranoblaze]

Thanks @stranoblaze I bought the factory crossbars and tried to install the Motion XT XL and it fit on the crossbars but the back hatch hits.

tried Yakima 16 on the mdx factory crossbars. No dice either. Still hits the tailgate hard.
The factory rails are so far back they make most boxes impossible to fit.

getting the factory bars taken off. Huge waste of time. Should have just sprung for the Thule at 2x the cost of the Acura crossbars.

sorry to hear that....i was also considering the Motion but the back of the the box angles down while the back of the Force angles up. not sure if this would make a difference though if you’re shooting for a size XL. what year is your mdx? do you have the mdx flush rails? if you do, keep in mind that there is only 1 configuration you can install the cross bars. some rails may have various points to install crossbars to change the bar width. i have a 2018 mdx with factory flush rails.

 

[DanKNyc]

sorry to hear that....i was also considering the Motion but the back of the the box angles down while the back of the Force angles up. not sure if this would make a difference though if you’re shooting for a size XL. what year is your mdx? do you have the mdx flush rails? if you do, keep in mind that there is only 1 configuration you can install the cross bars. some rails may have various points to install crossbars to change the bar width. i have a 2018 mdx with factory flush rails.

I have a 2017 mdx advance with the factory flush rails

just went back to REI and they’re saying the factory rails bolt in the same spot as the Thule ones so the clearance from back of bar to the hatch is same.
They’re saying the force XT L won’t fit but the Motion L will fit.
I am so confused.

 

[stranoblaze]

I have a 2017 mdx advance with the factory flush rails

just went back to REI and they’re saying the factory rails bolt in the same spot as the Thule ones so the clearance from back of bar to the hatch is same.
They’re saying the force XT L won’t fit but the Motion L will fit.
I am so confused.

that’s not true because you saw that the Force XT L fit on mine. do they have a floor model they can do a test fit with? the rei i went to, the employee and i carried the Motion L floor model to my car and threw it up on top without clamping and it didn’t fit. the hatch hit the back.

 

[DanKNyc]

that’s not true because you saw that the Force XT L fit on mine. do they have a floor model they can do a test fit with? the rei i went to, the employee and i carried the Motion L floor model to my car and threw it up on top without clamping and it didn’t fit. the hatch hit the back.

Yeah I saw your pics..... I am going to show them the pics and see what they say. There's one guy there that was insisting the L wouldn't work.

I'll try again....

Do you like the thule crossbars? the bolts are in the same place for factory crossbars and the thule bars so buying the MDX ones would probably be the same unless the Thule is shaped differently which gives the box more clearance. I see you have the Thule bars.

Thule is 569.99+tax and the Acura crossbars (because I have flat rails already) are <$300 installed.

 

[stranoblaze]

Yeah I saw your pics..... I am going to show them the pics and see what they say. There's one guy there that was insisting the L wouldn't work.

I'll try again....

Do you like the thule crossbars? the bolts are in the same place for factory crossbars and the thule bars so buying the MDX ones would probably be the same unless the Thule is shaped differently which gives the box more clearance. I see you have the Thule bars.

Thule is 569.99+tax and the Acura crossbars (because I have flat rails already) are <$300 installed.

yeah i like my Thule Aeroblade crossbars. i think they’re thicker than the factory bars. also, i like how they’re flatter....the factory bars look like there’s a curve to them

 

[DanKNyc]

yeah i like my Thule Aeroblade crossbars. i think they’re thicker than the factory bars. also, i like how they’re flatter....the factory bars look like there’s a curve to them

Do you find them noisy at all? If it really doesn’t make enough for you to notice a difference.

If Thule comes off easily I would have opted for those already.