CX-9 roof rack (OEM)

[togaf]

DO OEM rails mentioned in this post fit Series II (2010) CX-9?

Can't get these rails from local dealers in Australia, so going to have to import. Any leads on US dealers that ship internationally? Similarly any US sources of Mont Blanc 3700 Aero Wing that shipp internationally.

Sam.

 

[sjg]

Can't speak for the 2010 (don't know if the rails have changed) but the montblanc is fairly flexible and looks like it could grab most rails without a problem. You might want to wait for confirmation from another 2010 owner just to be sure. The rack isn't too easy to find in the US either. You might want to see my post above and see if the same equipment is sold by Audi, VW or Suzuki in Australia.

 

[Touring9]

2010 is the same body. Just the taillights, mirrors, and front clip are different.

 

[fxpthl]

Thanks to this Forum!

Wow, what an easy install! Purchased the roof racks online and had them installed in a matter of a few minutes! Reading all of the postings here helped me make the decision to do it myself and that'st that!

 

[Catman]

I just took my Thule cross bars off my factory rack for the winter. When I did so I noticed the factory rack was bending in towards the center of the car. Anyone here who thinks the factory rack is sturdy should actually see how it is mounted and what it is made of. The "feet" on the factory rack are plastic, no metal at all. I just took the whole factory rack off my car. I will not trust it to carry my bikes and I am looking for an alternative. Trying to find out more on the Thule Podiums.

 

[ceric]

I agree. The factory rack does not seem very sturdy to me.
It is rated at 100lb only so treat it with care...
A bike is usually around 25lbs. Four of them will exceed the rating.

 

[Catman]

I disagree. Weakest rack I've had on an SUV. I wouldn't trust my bikes up there at this point. Both my bikes are worth over $4000 so I'm not risking it. Plastic is not an appropriate material for the rack feet. I'm looking to replace the whole rack at this point. 100lb rating is pretty low.

 

[Catman]

My tests and real world experiences with the rails are pretty conclusive.

We've carried bikes (ours cost 4k also. I must be as superior as you, huh?), 13.5 foot boats, and lumber on it with no problems. Perfectly stable.

One more time: If your AM crossbars don't lock the rails in place, you will have a problem. Get better crossbars and place them correctly. Properly transferring the load, the plastic is just fine.

I suppose you are implying I am arrogant. Maybe I just don't want to lose my bikes to a flimsy rack? Thanks for the unnecessary jab? The crossbars do lock the rails in place but when they are tightened there is a slight pull to the center of the car. So, after investigating I looked closer and removed the entire factory rack. While I have no doubt you've successfully used it as I have, the bottom line is it is not a robust, strong rack by any means.

 

[Lindyrect]

I am a bit confused on this whole dialog. I have a Thule carrier and crossbars (w/ mazda rails). The Thule cross bars and carrier were made to fit my Jetta wagon rails. I was able to fit them, barely, and I do not have bowing problems, and believe me doing cross country moves, with clothes and pans they have done well. The Thule bars slide side to side if not properly fastened, but the CX-9 frame rails are more than adequate to handle mediocre loads. The Thule feet are not just plastic. They are metal feet w/ plastic aesthetic covers.

 

[sjg]

I followed the advice of many on this forum and went with the Mount Blancs. They seem to fit the OEM rails very nicely. When they're properly adjusted there doesn't seem to be any tension pulling the rails to the center. As with most such systems, the towers get adjusted to the outside of the rail and clamps tighten from the inside/out so there's no pulling to the center. The whole system feels rock solid when tightened up. Are the OEM rails the most solid I've ever seen? Hardly. But I'm pretty sure they should do fine with the rated 100 lbs.

 

[Catman]

I have the newer Thule's, not sure of the number. They have a belted rubber strap that wraps under the factory rails and and then fits into a slot on the outside of the "foot". When you tighten it the strap pulls the rail slightly towards the center of the car. Where it became obvious was the middle foot on the factory rack. The plastic cover began to misalign with it's base. I may call Thule and complain, maybe they will do something for me. The OEM rack isn't all to blame but the flimsy nature of it doesn't help.

Lindyrect, my plastic comment was directed at the OEM rack. The connecting points on the OEM rack are all plastic.

 

[Lindyrect]

I have the newer Thule's, not sure of the number. They have a belted rubber strap that wraps under the factory rails and and then fits into a slot on the outside of the "foot". When you tighten it the strap pulls the rail slightly towards the center of the car. Where it became obvious was the middle foot on the factory rack. The plastic cover began to misalign with it's base. I may call Thule and complain, maybe they will do something for me. The OEM rack isn't all to blame but the flimsy nature of it doesn't help.

Lindyrect, my plastic comment was directed at the OEM rack. The connecting points on the OEM rack are all plastic.

Eww, rubber belt. I have not paid attention to newer models. Bought mine in 05' and the bracket that wraps underneath on mine are metal w/ rubberized coating. The only plastic on mine are the lockable covers

 

[Catman]

Catman. Not a jab. I am responding to your suggestion that my practical experience counts less than your OPINION of the rails based on them being plastic. I've had this setup for 2 and a half years with no issues. I wouldn't risk our bikes or boat if I felt the rails were too weak. I also wouldn't have put all of my weight on each individual bar to test them unless I thought the rails could handle it. They can. If they were as weak as you suggest, I certainly wouldn't be able to grab one and rock the entire car, which I can.
I am conveying to the group that any normal load with a properly fitting and quality crossbar is going to work just fine with these rails. I would not use the factory crossbars for anything other then show.
I have seen MUCH flimsier rails than the CX9. Looking at the design and material, I'd guess the plastic feet on the CX9 are just as reliable as they would be in aluminum, without the corrosion risks.

The Mont Blancs work so well because as they clamp from the inside. They also lock themselves to the crossbars, creating a solid bridge between the rails. I do recommend pacing the clamps right at the joint between the rail and foot, both for maximum spacing, and to transfer the load directly to the feet.

I'm just here to help.

.

If you look at your pic... the plastic cover over the middle foot actually got misaligned from the pull on the rail. I think I am going to go with a setup that actually bolts to the fixed points on the roof. Should be a bit stronger, less complex and lower the whole rack a little. If I do this I will post up some pics. Thanks.

 

[Catman]

Eww, rubber belt. I have not paid attention to newer models. Bought mine in 05' and the bracket that wraps underneath on mine are metal w/ rubberized coating. The only plastic on mine are the lockable covers

I say it's rubber, which it is, but it's reinforced and very strong.

 

[Catman]

Actually, it's exactly where it's supposed to be. You really want there to be something wrong with my setup, but there isn't.
The rack is very solid, and every part is in place and perfectly aligned. The other nice thing is that I can take the whole thing off, leaving just the rails, in about a minute.

This is the best setup I've seen for a CX9, for cost, simplicity, and sturdiness. That's why I bought it, and recommend it.

I even looked at the aero version of the Thules you show, but they don't fit the rails very well and still pull laterally on them. They also cost about 3 times as much as the Mont Blancs. The MBs also come standard with locks that are harder to defeat.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with yours, there is with mine. I'm just saying........if I am going to rethink this than I would rather completely replace the factory rack with a new one that mount directly to the fixed points on the roof.

 

[vikefan7]

Just spend $235 and get the Yakima Control Towers with landing pad 11 and then get some crossbars.

 

[Catman]

You mean on YOURS that part was distorted? If that's the case I apologize for the misunderstanding. I read it as you saying MINE was distorted.

If you need the lower clearance then maybe direct mounting is better for you.

Having done all the research and having over 2 years experience, for a normal AM crossbar setup, I'd still recommend the one I chose.

If you come up with a direct mount, post photos and details for anyone who may want to go that route.

See my next post for my suggestion.

Yeah I wasn't implying anything wrong with yours, it looks fine. I actually sent in some feedback to Thule and I will wait to see what they say.

 

[sjg]

I've ordered from Proline and Rack Attack in the past. Both have been reliable.

Separately, Yakima seems to be taking a beating here. I am really disappointed for their lack of support for the CX-9 and the Mazda roof rails. But I've found their racks to be great in the past. I like their round bars which are incredibly strong, durable and (as long as you're using other Yakima gear) pretty versatile and compatible. I've had good experiences with their bike carriers and a cargo box. They are also generally cheaper than Thule. The round bars are also nice when mounted to rails that are curved. More and more cars seem to have rails with a slight curve to them and that leaves the two square bars sitting in a way that their top surfaces are not parallel. I haven't taken out my level but I'm pretty sure I see some of this when I look at how may mount blanc aero bars look on the CX-9 factory rack. I love the mount blancs but I wish I could have found a satisfactory way to get my yakima bars on the factory rack.

 

[jdoering]

I have a question on the load capability thoughts of those using the Mont Blancs. It's been discussed repeatedly but I want to make sure I'm understanding the consensus.

I believe these are facts:

1) Mazda factory rails are only rated to 100lb.
2) Mazda factory crossbars are rated to 100lb.
3) Mount Blanc bars themselves are rated to 220lb.

Based on this I believe either the factory crossbars or the Mount Blancs are only OFFICIALLY rated to 100lb when installed on the factory rails. So on paper the factory crossbars are sufficient.

Now I want to make sure I'm understanding this right and that the whole assembly with the Mount Blancs isn't somehow improved to 220lb.

I believe the opinions are that:

A) The factory rails are pretty sturdy. So the 100lb rating may be fairly conservative.

B) The factory crossbars don't seem so sturdy so there is a suspicion that they are a weak link when used even though they match the rating of the rails. Based on this 100lb may be a very important limit for this setup rather than a conservative rating.

C) The Mount Blancs attached to the factory rails appear to be very sturdy so combined with assumption (A) there is a common opinion that 100lb capacity is a conservative number for this setup with a large safety factor.

Am I understanding this right? I have the factory crossbars. I have used them for moving lumber, some skis, etc. Light-duty stuff where they worked fine. But I'm looking at adding a cargo box and the 100lb rating is pretty low. I'm trying to figure out if it's worth upgrading to the Mount Blancs while keeping the factory rails. I'm not thinking of super-loading the roof; but I don't want to have to be paranoid about ending up with 120lbs up there.

Obviously I'm asking for pragmatic feedback. I understand that if the roof or rails have any issues and Mazda can prove that I had 101lbs up there that it's beyond the ratings, etc.

-Jeff

 

[sjg]

I've got the mont blancs on the factory rails with Yakima's biggest skybox mounted on top. Definitely have exceeded 100 lbs. but probably not by too much. I don't think there's any science that's going to tell you that putting 220 lb. crossbars on a 100 lb. rack is going to increase the capacity. Nobody at Mazda will have much sympathy if you have a problem.

My biggest concern was that the roof and rails are slightly slanted down in the back. It's a nice look but you can see the slant very clearly in the skybox. I was initially concerned that at high speeds the wind might get under the lip of the top of the skybox and start lifting it off. I got up to speed slowly the first few times with a frequent peaks through the sunroof. The front of the box shakes quite a bit but everything seems fine.