Cargo carrier / Roof rack?

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mazda
I ended up in renting a minivan as I was unaware that the luggage could have fit in the M5!

On the way back, I saw someone driving a Honda Element with suitcases on it - there is a cross bar that holds it from slipping as if it doesn't even need to be secured. Of course it was till tied. The suitcase appeared to be touching the roof but I don't think so. Closest I found was below - but the one below still require two bars, making it inefficient:

I am looking for product similar to this - any recommendations?
 
Make one:
You can bolt about anything to that.
 
I just made a roof rack based on those instructions in negusm's link, but instead of superstrut I went to a junkyard and looked at roofs. I found a set of cross beams from a large Jeep, think it was a commander. You want them to be at least longer than 120 cm, so you can cut them down to size:

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Those are aluminum and can be cut with a simple jigsaw and a metal cutting blade. I even managed to get the end caps reinstalled on the fresh cut.

Once cut down, use the rubber stoppers and bolt down with an M6 bolt. The length of the bolt will depend on the width of your roof beam, but the +10 rubber stopper is around 25mm, and the mount on top of the Mazda 5 goes in between 10 and 15mm. Here, I used a 55mm and it fit perfectly.

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They still need some sanding and painting but I'm hoping they'll work for a roof rack to be purchased just as soon Craigslist hits my price point.
 
Cool. Those rubber stoppers are key. They basically solve the problem of bolting just about anything to those roof mounts without damage.
 
Cool. Those rubber stoppers are key. They basically solve the problem of bolting just about anything to those roof mounts without damage.

Those are amazing, they deform just enough to cover the slots and still support the rack.

Funny thing is I found three bike trays cheap, but they want a Thule bar up front. I may end up pulling the front down and swapping with unistrut to get it done.
 
So ms2000 I wanted to sum this up by backing wayyy up to make sure your question is answered.

It sounds like you're after a basket or top carrier that doesn't require any beams at all. There are big cloth suitcases that do that, by using strap hooks that hook into the interior trim. However, I don't know if the straps are compatible with the Mazda5's sliding doors.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

 
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