Look Ma, no clamps

14695 Views 58 Replies 22 Participants Last post by zafer, May 12, 2020

ardvarkus

Discussion Starter · Mar 5, 2002

Thought I'd post a few pics on how to mount the Thule (or Acura) ski rack to the factory rack.

Here is the end result- nice, clean, no clamps around the bars, all fittings are inside the ski rack so they are locked up when the ski rack is closed and locked

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zafer

· #12 · Dec 27, 2002

New Thule 725 kit has no spacers/standoffs

I bought the Thule 725 kit last night. There were no spacers/standoffs in the box anymore. Checked out thule.com, they changed the kit as of 5/20/2002, and spacers are no longer included :3:

I went ahead and mounted it as seen below. I guess it'll work for now for two pairs of skis laid down individually with all the bindings upward.

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zafer

· #17 · Dec 28, 2002

ardvarkus said:
Call Thule customer service- they'll probably ship you a few NC.

The only drawback is that this configuration WILL scratch the anodizing off the rack on the top- too much flexion.

* OK, called Thule, they are sending me 4xspacers and 4x7.5cm bolts to use with them; nc

! Thanx alot for the advice!!

* Next, I cut two strips of cork board and inserted them in between the MDX and Thule racks, no more direct contact. This should hold till the spacers and bolts arrive. Actually I hope it holds longer `cause I can load and lock in the garage, plenty of clearance to drive in and out.

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zafer

· #22 · Dec 29, 2002

hockeyplayer said:
Uh Zafer...the X looks great...I wonder if the neighbors are starting to wonder why you are snapping so many pictures of your vehicle?

Thanx!

The neighbors just bought an Explorer a week before our MDX, and they're snapping pictures of it too. i.e. our MDX

, not their Explorer.

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zafer

· #25 · Jan 5, 2003

ardvarkus said:
Call Thule customer service- they'll probably ship you a few NC.

The spacers and 7.5cm bolts arrived from Thule yesterday. Out with the cork board, in goes the spacers, and now we need ear plugs, stereo can't suppress whistling noise :3: when going 25mph+. With the cork board in between, there was no added noise, even with skies loaded. So off came the ski racks till the weekend. I hope with the skies loaded, the airflow will change to avoid any whistling, can't take 6hrs of that

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zafer

· #26 · Mar 9, 2003

whistle noise

I'm back to using cork-board so the ski rack is flush to the MDX's rack. With the spacers, there is a very annoying constant whistle noise, almost at all speeds.

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zafer

· #28 · Mar 9, 2003

Re: Re: whistle noise

ardvarkus said:
I can't imagine skis 'quieting things down'... When I add the skis it is noisier- also, since it only takes 3-4 minutes, I always remove the ski rack when I don't have skiis to haul-
Ard

The whistle noise is with or without the skis, just the rack with the spacers causes it.

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zafer

· #31 · Mar 14, 2003

mhiggins said:
Were the longer bolts the same as the originals? By that I mean were they the square heads?

Yes, their heads were the same as the originals, but neither had square heads. Round head with a square protrusion before the threaded part. Rectangular washers with square holes fit there, then into the rack grove. Want photos?

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zafer

· #33 · Mar 14, 2003

Re: Do they look like this?

mhiggins said:
Here is what I have:

Exactly.

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zafer

· #35 · Mar 14, 2003

mhiggins said:
Any issues with these washers? I wish they were a bit thicker and square rather than rectangular.

I haven't had a problem with them, seem to work fine. I think their shape and size are fine. If they were square, they would have to be square off the shorter side to fit in the grove, thus smaller. The screw heads are larger than the grove, so the washers are not the only thing keeping the racks down. What issue/worry do you have?

(ps. what XP PowerToy did you use to make those neat slide shows on your web page? seems like its something really simple, like what I'm looking for)

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zafer

· #57 · Dec 8, 2004

HAW December special

http://www.hondacuraworld.com/Merch...n=PROD&Product_Code=special7&Category_Code=SP

I just noticed Acura has changed their ski rack from http://www.oaklandacura.com/images/mdx/MDX_SkiAttach.jpg
to http://acura.com/bap/bap_option_popup.asp?SERIES=17&MODEL=YD1865JNW&OPCODE=MDX0005062&OPTIONTYPE=EXT

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zafer

· #59 · May 12, 2020

Well if we can’t go skiing, might as well haul some lumber, and finally replace some deck panels 🤪.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Sport utility vehicle Transport

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Look Ma, no clamps

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