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A New Yawker reading the Herald? Did they run out of the Post and Daily News at the bodega? Laura and Gayle would be so happy to hear that they are being read south of Dorchester.
I went shopping for the "Thule T-nut Adapters" recommended to mount my Atlantis 780 box onto the factory aerodynamic cross bars on my 06 CS and could not find them... After looking at the slots the adapters would fit into, I decided to slip in some carriage bolts and they fit perfect! I think they were 3/8"x1.5", but I'm not sure since I had bought them a long time ago for a different project. I then removed the installed clamps from the box, and set the box up onto the racks with threaded bolts facing up and tightened the nuts from the inside. I padded the rack to box contact with about 12" of old bike tube, and hand tightened the nut onto the bolt because the flex of the box will hold tension on the nut. Just for safe keeping I added a second nut on top of the first, and tightened the second nut down to the first, creating the lock.
Bottom line- my box is mounted clean and secure with no crazy hassle, and you can do the same for about $2 worth of carriage bolts, nuts and washers from the hardware store.
Hoping to update this topic a bit. I'm looking to put a roof box on the 09 Turbo S and I'm just not sure if I can really fit a 21 cu/ft box or stuck with 17 cu/ft. For thule thats the 626 vs 625. Does anyone have any pictures of a 21 cubic foot box on their P!g?
I was planning on using the factory "roof transport system" bars that go into the rails on all 955/957's According to this post #139 you can put the thule boxes on those factory bars and since I don't plan on putting anything else on the roof I can't see why I should use the full system from thule/yakima. Also the factory bars support 220lbs which is higher than anything aftermarket.
I welcome any other thoughts on bars/rails/boxes and especially pictures. For a family crossing the country with a baby and a lab the 957 leaves much to be desired for storage space!
Timing is good as I'm going to be doing this same thing to the '09 CTTS with Pano Roof that I just bought. It has the inlaid silver roof rails and to those I'm going to be mounting the silver OEM crossbar Transport System. I have a Yakima Skybox Pro (which is an 18 and 7' 8" long) that I'll be clamping onto the crossbars. I have also sourced some 5 mil vinyl that looks like brushed stainless so it should match the roof bars very closely the purpose of which will be to protect the actual finish of the roof bars themselves at the clamp locations, and when the vinyl gets messed up or scratched, I can just replace it with a fresh set. I also plastidipped the Skybox fasteners so they now have a softer rubberized coating on them instead of the original hard plastic. This will help the vinyl to last longer between replacements and help to keep the box from sliding at all (this was done previously with the QX and worked great).
For storage I have the Thule lift system - stores it nice and securely up along the garage ceiling and then I just lower it down and clamp it onto the Cayenne bars which will be parked underneath. Did this with the CTTS' predecessor, which was an Infiniti QX56.
Also, I've read in the Owner's Manual that you can set the limits for the tailgate opening. I'm going to set it where I can get under at 6'1" tall, but so it doesn't go up all the way. Then I'll adjust the crossbars and fastening positions for the Skybox latches to me as far back as possible without contacting the raised tailgare.
Here are some pics. I'll be wrapping the bars this weekend and then doing the mounting when my wife returns with the car next week as she took it to a dance competition this weekend.
More to follow in the next few days, but here are a few pics.
So first of all. It was YOUR post on the Turbo S with specific options thread that taught me to run away from the alcantara inserts as fast as possible when shopping. Right off the bat that ruled out most of the available cars. Anyway, I ended up finding an 09TTS black/black with almost your whole laundry list except the PCCB's (which I didn't want actually). I had to settle for 39k miles but still we are both quite low mileage for these beasts. Ill talk about it more in the other thread when I take delivery (sitting in sellers driveway until I have a garage spot here in NYC for a month...then going to the midwest).
Anyway, awesome that you are going through this too. Just to be clear, you were talking about these bars correct?
I like the yakima boxes and from the reviews they look to be just a bit more sturdy than the thules. If yours is also 92" long then that will be the perfect test to see if I can fit the full 21cu/ft box as its the same just 1" taller. I did read the manual and learned how to set the tailgate limit (6' for me) but not sure what gains would be made. I'm also interested to know if you can have the keys unified between the bars and the box.
Great idea vinyl wrapping the bars and coating the clamps...should completely eliminate visible wear.
Yes, those are the crossbars and are compatible with the Pano roof. Check both Suncoast and Sunset for the best price as I can't remember where I got mine - think it was Suncoast though.
I'm interested to also see if the roof can be fully open (panels stacked) without contacting the bottom of the Yakima clamps, especially when loaded, or if the roof can't be fully opened when the box is in-place on the bars, and only tipped up.
Originally Posted by nychase
So first of all. It was YOUR post on the Turbo S with specific options thread that taught me to run away from the alcantara inserts as fast as possible when shopping. Right off the bat that ruled out most of the available cars. Anyway, I ended up finding an 09TTS black/black with almost your whole laundry list except the PCCB's (which I didn't want actually). I had to settle for 39k miles but still we are both quite low mileage for these beasts. Ill talk about it more in the other thread when I take delivery (sitting in sellers driveway until I have a garage spot here in NYC for a month...then going to the midwest).
Anyway, awesome that you are going through this too. Just to be clear, you were talking about these bars correct?
I like the yakima boxes and from the reviews they look to be just a bit more sturdy than the thules. If yours is also 92" long then that will be the perfect test to see if I can fit the full 21cu/ft box as its the same just 1" taller. I did read the manual and learned how to set the tailgate limit (6' for me) but not sure what gains would be made. I'm also interested to know if you can have the keys unified between the bars and the box.
Great idea vinyl wrapping the bars and coating the clamps...should completely eliminate visible wear.
Made some progress tonight. Applied the brushed aluminum look vinyl to the crossbars in the area where the Skybox clamps will attach. I made the vinyl 4" wide so it's about 3/4" wider to each side of the clamp to give a little "wiggle room" as I'm getting the box set down onto the bars. Can't do more until the car comes back and I can fit the bars onto the roof and determine which positions they should be in.
I found the centerline of the bar, then measured out to where the Skybox mounts would attach to the bars. Vinyl is 8"-12" from centerline
4" vinyl has 3/4" extra space to each side of the mount clamp
Instructions say to mount the bars the way the car on the side caps is pictured, which puts the thicker curve of the bar leading. That's the way I'm going to do it, but it seems odd to me as that's the same way an airplane wing is shaped which seems to me like it would add lift and put additional force on the embedded roof rails, or maybe that's the point to help negate the weight of whatever is up on the roof bars with a little bit of aero lift. Also, you would think with the more aerodynamic edge (thinner and pointier) of the crossbar leading that you would create less noise and drag, being more aerodynamic. Their way it's like diving into the water and leading with your butt instead of your pointed hands.
Anyone know why the instructions specifically say to install them this way?
Well I walked past a car today that had thule aero bars and it was the same thing. Fat end forward tappering to skinny end backwards. I don't think it creates lift though as I think the surface area of the lower side needs to be less to create the lift (usually its flat). The thule bars at least appeared to be even between the top/bottom halfs.
12-12-2007, 02:35 PM
