hello all,

i am leaning towards the purchase of an 05 6speed TSX. however, i would need to install a thule or yakima rack on the roof designed to hold two 40-45 pound downhill racing mountain bikes. does anyone know the weight limits for the roof of a TSX? also, can anyone recommend a good rack configuration?

thanks for the help. the site looks great and is very informative. later!

 

Welcome aboard!

This thread should help you with your roof rack questions: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9328

 

Hey, Dans link should help u, Just figured id tell ya my Experence w/ the Thulie... Its a nice rack, does the job, pain in the ass to get on and off but didnt really expect to get off easy....my only real complaint was when i did have the car up in VT, the roof rack moved closer together do to the cold temp....Ski's didnt fit the same way they had... But besides that it seems like a really good ski rack

 

I've had both and from experience i prefer the Thule. Depending on the accessories you use, i've noticed that they can turn on the round bar. Something to think about!

 

Supposedly the round bar is stronger simply due to physics. I think there's more cases of the Thule bar bending than the Yakima.

I'm hesitant to install the roof rack on my TSX, as the feet always seem to dull and scratch the paint over time. Does anyone know a good way to protect the paint?

 

Maybe you could get a sheet of that 3M paint protector film and do your roof with it.

 

That's the same reason I haven't put my Yakima rack on to the roof top yet. I did notice when it was on my Integra, the 4 (or 6) feet left their marks on the paint. I was not too happy. In my opinion, there is no way you can prevent that other than use a different car for carrying bikes. Or maybe the rear trunk style carrier?

 

Use the Yakima, and it's fine. No problem with 2 bikes. The Yakima specs say the cargo must be limited to 100lbs on our cars, so you should be fine.

I make a point of taking the rack off at all times except when it's being used. Over the years I've found that that practice, combined with making sure that both the feet and the area under them are perfectly clean before mounting will minimize an scratching and scuffing. A nice hard layer of wax also helps.

If you're going to have the rack on all the time, I suspect that the TSX (and really any nice sedan) is a bad choice. You need something with a built-on rack, or the option of a hitch-mount rack. Think Subaru or SUV...

I've had both Thule and Yakima over the years. I find the Yakima much easier to get on and off. Once you've configured it, it clamps on pretty easily. I marked the inside of the door frame with a sharpie so that it's always mounted in the right place.

Hard to go wrong with either product though.

 

For bikes I like to use the class 1 hidden hitch and tow bar off the back for bikes. Less a chance of scratching the roof or denting the sheet metal.

 

perhaps i am incorrectly understanding you but..... the tsx has the ability to add a hitch? i already have a thule hitch rack for my suv and would love to transfer it over. it works great and i would rather not dent the trunk or scratch the roof with the other rack types....

 

anyone know prices offhand for a bar system to put on the roof of a tsx? I called up yesterday to get costs for them but the store I spoke to just said it would probably cost approx 3-400 dollars? is that true? also, im talking about a Thule system...

Thanks

 

yeah think i payed about 3 for mine

 

http://www.sportsrack.com/index.html

You should be able to easily configure various alternatives to see the costs.

 

I looked into it a while ago, and Acura does not offer a hitch. However, you can go to a reputable hitch installer and they will make you a custom hitch. I saw one on a TSX not to long ago and it looked OK ( he didn't have the skirt kit).

 

If you were really crafty the Accord hitch could be modified to fit the frame, and if you cut the rear areo splash shield right only the hitch reciever would stick out and the rest would be hidden. I'm thinking of doing something like this to ours so I could pull a small trailer. But I definately want the reciever hitch hidden well.