roof rail questions

[hammerstone]

Hi All,

relative newbie here, so new I don't even own a CX5 yet, but am thinking of purchasing. Can anyone give me more information on the roof rails? I've seen several offers on this site of people selling used roof rails, and wanting the "uncut" pieces that go in the roof. I've never seen this process, any discussion on how they are installed would be appreciated.

also, does anyone have any comments on these rails? Why are people removing them? Do they add wind noise?

anyone else have comments on how you can carry items on the roof WITHOUT these rails? I need to get a canoe up there at least, and maybe a cargo carrier sometimes.

thanks for the input.

 

[bucketeer]

Hi All,

relative newbie here, so new I don't even own a CX5 yet, but am thinking of purchasing. Can anyone give me more information on the roof rails? I've seen several offers on this site of people selling used roof rails, and wanting the "uncut" pieces that go in the roof. I've never seen this process, any discussion on how they are installed would be appreciated.

also, does anyone have any comments on these rails? Why are people removing them? Do they add wind noise?

anyone else have comments on how you can carry items on the roof WITHOUT these rails? I need to get a canoe up there at least, and maybe a cargo carrier sometimes.

thanks for the input.

As one complete noob to another (this is my first post/reply), I bought one a couple of weeks ago and have been doing a bit of research and this link may answer a few questions for you http://www.whispbar.com.au/instructions/fittingkits/K451.pdf I just ordered a set of these for mine this morning.
We don't have the rail option here in Australia

 

[deuxdiesel]

Interesting that the fit kit listed for AU is not sold in the US. Possibly because we don't have those little access flaps on our roof moulding, but it could be made to work. The Yakima Landing Pads stick up a bunch and are pretty un-level, front to back.

 

[rjdee]

The threaded points are completely different between US and ROW models. US roof rails don't fit EU,AU models. The EU crossbars aren't compatible with US models.

 

[hp79]

Does having roof rails without crossbars have effect on gas mileage? How about wind noise?

I have the OEM rails (was already there when I bought the car), but no crossbars. I'm probably never going to load anything on the rack, but it just looks better than without it. But on highways, the car is loud and I notice a lot of wind noise. Maybe this is coming from the roof rack, but I don't know because I never drove one without. Also, I read that roof racks can use 10% extra gas on highways but this might be with the crossbars.

 

[arks]

Does having roof rails without crossbars have effect on gas mileage? How about wind noise?

I drove for a month before adding the roof rack. No significant change in mileage or wind noise with only the rails but adding the crossbars make it quite a bit louder. I keep them under the rear seat along with a T10 wrench.

 

[Rich 65]

Check out the post in the How To section: http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123815898-Roof-Rails. I too need to carry a canoe (16.5 ft) and decided on getting the factory rails with Thule Crossroad feet. This combination allows a greater spread between the bars than using no rails and Thule Traverse feet. I notice no extra noise with the factory side rails.