(Without damaging the paint)

 

I bet they probably stick on or clamp or something. Doubt they would damage the paint unless its loose rubbing dirt around or something.

 

Here is how it's clamped on

All the "clamps" are rubberized so they won't scratch your car as long as your car is CLEAN before you put it on


You can see how the "feet" is soft rubber and has a notch to follow the side of the roofline so it's an easy fit. All the rubber parts and the Clamps are custom from Thule for each car.


One more picture from further back with the door closed.
You can see how the rubber weather stripping just goes around the clamp mount and does not affect the way the door closes at all.


The rear is very similar idea.
Initial setup is a little longer but after all the width's of the bars are preset, it only takes 10 minutes to throw this on.

 

The scratch/no scratch thing is really dependent on how long you leave it on for. My old Diamante had some pretty noticeable damage from 2 years of using the rack through central NY winters. I waxed the roof and washed it every time before install but b/c the car was parked outside, it still didn't help the paint. Yakima uses similar rubber feet and vinyl wrapped metal but if you always leave the rack on, eventually paint will fade or something will rub.

I gave my whole $700+ Yakima setup to my younger brother and went to the hitch rack. Sure the hitch is there permanently but my car is black so it's less noticeable than 4 pod feet marks on the roof. I've seen some setups where people made the bottom of the hitch portion removable which I'd consider if I wasn't too lazy. Plus I potentially have over $10,000 in bicycles on the back so keeping them on the car is a good idea and having a bootleg trailer hitch failure isn't how I want them to go. Since getting my bike stuck in the LOW CLEARANCE sign in a parking deck in NY, I really don't think it would work great for my condo deck either.

 

blklude98,

What Ski resort is that? It looks so familiar.

 

I agree on the Clearance thing...that's something that i'm always afraid i'll forget when I have the bike on the car.
I usually take it off after i'm done with it because it wastes gas and if you leave it on for too long stuff collects AROUND it. What the previous owner did to my car was use some black vinyl where the mounts would be to protect the paint...you can also use Clearbra as an alternative.

Killington, VT

 

I've flamed the roof rack the entire time, you can check the thread, but I agree with mishap on this point. Even if it's not a black car, a hitch is much less noticeable than a roof rack. They're also more useful, you can't pull a small trailer with a rack! Also, people talk about the hitch not being removable... IDK how they mount on the G35, so I may be totally off on this one, but on our trucks the hitch comes off with 4 bolts. It would probably only take me 10-15 mins to do. If it can be modded, even better!

I think my dislike for the roof rack may be because they put me in the mind of the cargo/luggage racks on old station wagons and Chevy Suburbans. It's not an image I want to project for my luxury sedan. Besides, why risk screwing up your paint??? Honestly, I would far rather throw a mud covered bike in the trunk than damage my roof paint, at least I can take the trunk mat out and clean it. If I was into the whole bike thing I would go with a hitch. But hey, that's just my .02, do what you like, it's your car.

 

This is why you buy a 4k Pathfinder and just save your G in general.

 

^or that.

 

Cool.

 

For my situation, the rack makes more sense because I also ski. If I just biked, then I would think about the Hitch Rack...it would also possibly be more fuel efficient.

 

mishap: What brand of hitch is that?