roof rack

1569 Views 2 Replies 3 Participants Last post by bef, Jan 3, 2002

dboyce

Discussion Starter · Jan 2, 2002

I have just read the postings about installing Yakima tracks on the MDX-seems like a decent option but still not as good as the setup on my old Audi A6 wagon.

Audis have racks that are installed longitudinally (sic?)--crossbars fit on Yakima adaptors called Doublecross. This method works great because there is substantially less wind noise when the are no horizontal bars over the sunrack. When you do not need to carry anything, take the cross bars off the truck--very easy to do with the doublecross mounts. So the question is--can longitudal racks be mounted on an MDX? The prior postings indicate that there are three studs on each side, so the racks could be secured without drilling new holes. Crossbars are infinitely adjustable with this type of set up. But where can I find a rack of this type that fill fit an MDX? A pair of black anodized racks would look great on my silver MDX...

DGB

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mgmdx

· #2 · Jan 3, 2002

dboyce,

...Audis have racks that are installed longitudinally (sic?)--crossbars fit on Yakima adaptors called Doublecross. This method works great because there is substantially less wind noise when the are no horizontal bars over the sunrack.

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In the case of track installation there is virtually no wind noise because the crossbars are not over the sunroof either, they are positioned further back.

...When you do not need to carry anything, take the cross bars off the truck--very easy to do with the doublecross mounts.

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It is even easier to remove the locking Railrider towers and crossbars. Simply unlock the locks, flip up the lever, and slide the railriders off the tracks.

So the question is--can longitudal racks be mounted on an MDX?

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I have investigated this option prior to installing Yakima tracks on my MDX. Although theoretically it is possible to install the type of rack you are referring to, currently nobody makes them to fit the MDX. The closest thing that I found is the "side rail" rack from Honda Odyssey. Even though it is the correct size to fit the MDX, unfortunately, the mounting points are in different locations then the mounting studs on the MDX, so the rack would not fit the MDX roof channels without heavy modification (welding in new mounting studs).

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bef

· #3 · Jan 3, 2002

Here's a related question to those who either installed their own roof rack and/or removed the roof molding.

On page 20-114 of the Helm's manual, it appears as if there are bolts near the front and rear of the molding channels to hold the molding in addition to the 4 holes to for the roof racks.

Are these bolts strong enough to actually attach something to so that you can have longitudinally mounted racks? There are some cautions about damaging the steel core of the roof molding and the clips so I don't know if this is something someone would want to mount/dismount often.

This question relates to my previous post in some other thread about trying to carry a long extension ladder on the roof without destroying anything. Something I considered was to build an extension to the rack that sat above the molding so that the weight was distributed along the whole length of the roof rather than just the closely spaced existing racks.

The only less useful rack design I've seen was on the cab of a small pickup truck.

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