Richbum

Helloo guys. I'm 21 years old and i'm an avid snowboarder. I'm trying to find a roofrack for the RL because I want to use it as my daily snowboard lugger (during snow season, i go about once or twice a week) but i'm having trouble finding an option. I checked thule for a rack and they dont seem to have one for this car.

Did anyone successfully install a roofrack?

jhal

I'm both and avid snowboarder and mountain biker, and have a Yakima roof rack setup on my car. For the front clips, I used Q35 clips and for the rear clips, I used Q128 clips. If you go to the Yakima website, it recommends using 58" cross bars. However, I found these to stick out a little more than I liked, plus the wind drag was a little noisier than I was expecting, so I ended up using 48" cross bars. I had to slightly modify the end caps of the 48" crossbars so that they fit. If you want me to post any pics, let me know.

Richbum

what do you mean slightly modify the end caps? I would love it if you can post pictures for me !

jhal

For the front bars, the 48" lengths are barely long enough to fit in the Q towers. For the end caps to fit on and not impede the tightening and loosening of the tower, I just had to cut out a small semi-circle from the bottom of the cap so the metal fastener below it could move freely. Although you can't see the part I actually cut in the picture, the red arrow points to where I had to slightly cut it.



Here's some other pics. (Sorry if they're not too great, the lighting in my garage is pretty bad. )

phishfood

Don't know if you're a guy or a gal, but don't take this the wrong way.

That's quite a nice rack you have there!

jhal

danmm7

iTrader: (1)

I like your setup! This is exactly what i am looking for when snow season is here.

A little off topic...
How does the rack, when UNLOADED, affect your day-to-day gas mileage? I am sure you keep it on the car so you should have some real world observations.
How is the noise level?

Thanks!

Richbum

too sick. Where did you purchase yours and how much did you spend, if you dont mind me asking?

jhal

I put the rack on shortly after I bought my RL in March so I’m not sure how much better the MPG would be with it off. I’m guess it would be very minimal though.

When I first put the rack on, I was using the 58” crossbars as is recommended on Yakima.com for the RL, and I noticed some noise from the rack when driving on the freeway. I didn’t like the look of how much the bars extended out from the rack (just a personal preference) so I decided to try the 48” crossbars that I had on my previous vehicle.

When I put on the 48” crossbars, the noise seemed to be greatly reduced. I don’t really notice much noise coming from the rack unless I have my sunroof open. Also, if you get the setup, be sure to also get a fairing. It will reduce the noise and will help so the MPG isn’t affected as much.

jhal

I had purchased most of the rack system a few years ago for my previous car at a local bike shop. I don’t remember what I originally paid, but I believe it was close to retail. (When I bought my RL in March, I just had to buy new clips, a larger fairing, and larger crossbars to fit the RL.) Although, I don’t remember what I originally paid here is what I have in my setup and the costs that are shown on the Yakima website:

Base System (which includes: )----$299
- Q Towers
- Crossbars
- Front Q35 Clips
- Rear Q128 Clips
50” Fairing-----------------------$69
(2x) Bike Steelhead--------------$238
(2x) Bike Wheel Fork--------------$70
Snow Powderhound---------------$119
SKS Lock Cores (8x)--------------$85
Total---------------------------$880

respect2nd

I guess I'm gonna have to say it...

DUDE, you're 21 years old with a RL?! CONGRATS!

Maybe it's just me.

Chas2

Well I know a kid who is 17 that has an RL. I can't believe his Dad bought him one.

Richbum

man. that sure is expensive huh. I guess no new snowboard for me this snow season. ^^ i went to the website and it showed me local sellers, so I guess i'll check them out.. and prepare to hand them a wad of cash.

gcook

I use a burton bag and shove put the bag diagonal from the floor behind the passenger to the head rest behind the driver's seat. Works ok.. Yakima makes the FATCAT4 and 6 and you can have 2 or 4 snowboards. If you go to yakima.com you can pick your car and price it.. and you can get at REI or other places online..

Richbum

true. but you cant take 4 avid snowboarders up the mountain in that fashion.