I'm pretty impressed with the quality of the products that make up the whole thing. It took me about an hour and a half to assemble but now it goes on and off in about 15 minutes.

There is very little wind noise at highway speeds. I thought there would be more but it's hardly noticeable. That's a HUGE plus!

 

nice Rack!

 

nice looks v-good

 

Looks good.

I was afraid of having a roof rack scratch my car, so I ended up getting a trunk rack for my IS300. It's a Yakima Super Joe III, and it's been quite easy to use.

 

screw the rack
thats one clean OB sedan

 

lol

 

Nice car and nice rack to go along with it! If you don't mind me asking, how much was the rack and where'd you purchase it from? Also, the rails look pretty narrow. Do you think 2.25" mountain bike tires can fit on those rails? How difficult would you say it was to get the bike up there (is it easy for 1 person, etc)? Also, can the rack be removed easily? I'd only want to keep it on during the summer and take it off in the winter. Sorry for the pile of questions, but I'd really consider getting one of these.

 

nice road bike.

 

Thanks for the compliments (everyone else too!).

I bought the rack from Agee's (http://www.agees.com/thule.htm) and it was $480'ish shipped with everything I needed for two bikes. That included the locks.

The rails are pretty wide so I don't see why your bike wouldn't fit. Call Agee's and ask to be sure. As far as how difficult it was to put the bike up there.... it's not hard at all. My bike only weighs like 16lbs AND I put the rails to the outside so I don't have to actually lean too far up and over to put in on. Obviously if your bike is heavier, then it will take a little more muscle to lift it up.

 

I have the same Thule rack and it fits 2.25" tires just fine. I haven't had the guts to put in on my G35 yet but I use it for both road and mountain bikes on my wife's Outback.

 

how is it fixed to the roof?

 

clips that fit into notches on the inside of the door.

 

Thanks for the info, guys. I can't tell from the picture but does the rack actually touch the roof/paint? Or is there some kind of foam, etc that protects the rack from scratching the roof?

 

Yes and yes.

The bottom of the towers have a rubber base that fits over the roof/rain gutter/door frame and the clips that attach to the towers and the door frame are dipped in some sort of rubber compound.

I too have a thule roof rack that I use for surfing and snowboarding, and I choose the thule roof rack over yakima because the other brand didn't dip their clips in that rubber compound and required the application of a decal on the clip to protect the paint.

 

Thanks for the info!