Thule roof rack in lux flush rails

ilumo said:

Hi guys. I’m looking for some help in getting a roof cargo box system. Step one is to get some cross bars and I’m not too sure how to proceed. I’m thinking of eventually going with one of the Thule xxl cargo boxes. However I’m not sure if their EvO cross bars will fit with my flush rails. Do any of you guys have suggestions on which setup I should get for it to be compatible?

I looked on Thule website to see what is compatible but they didn’t list anything for the GX550. It must be too new for them to certify. But I’m assuming that cross bars for the Lx series should work for GX as well? Thanks!

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marcbarnett1 said:

Wondering if you ever got an answer to this? Just bought a GX premium + and can’t figure out which if any after market cross bars will fit the rails that are flush to the roof?

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Bluegill said:

I've run aftermarket roof racks on a few trucks for years - decades - and I've never had water penetration issues. On my GX550 Overtrail the stock roof rails use bolts in the roof holes just like my aftermarket Westcott roof rack. Same holes, same bolts, same thing. A little silicone or sealant and water isn't going to be an issue.

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spiderjoe said:

While waiting for Thule or Yakima to release their crossbars for GX550 ( OEM flush rails crossbars seems to be sold out or removed from Lexus dealer sites), I installed our Thule Motion Alpine box on the OEM flush rails roof rack. Surprisingly the clamps work and sits secure even if the entire box sits on top of the rack. The Alpine box length is the same as the Motion XXL. Some pics for reference. With the OEM 20" wheels, overall height is approx 90 inches.

Also note that the flush rails are not the type where you can slide the cross bar clamps freely along the rails. The rails do not have indents to clamp on. I think you will need to get footers that bolts within the bolt holes/openings provided.

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GX9 said:

Look beautiful. Do you hear any wind noise?

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spiderjoe said:

Thanks. Yes wind noise is an issue but the noise is with the OEM platform rack and not with the Thule box. I had the Thule box on our GX460 and although you can hear it, it was not nowhere as bad as our GX550. The OEM rack on the GX550 is extremely noisy at 60mph and up and that's what I am hearing on the road. It is almost unbearable and we have to pump up the audio or talk loudly when we are on the highway. This is one reason I am considering experimenting with a different cross bars roof rack setup - less cross bars and potentially less wind noise. The platform rack does look good though Lexus is probably going to tell us if we have a platform rack, you are supposed to be overlanding at lower speeds, nothing wrong with the design ..

I am going to wrap the OEM crossbars with ripcord later this week to find out if it makes a difference (a well known cheap method to reduce noise). If that doesn't work, I will try third party wind faring and if that still doesn't work, sigh ..

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spiderjoe said:

Thanks. Yes wind noise is an issue but the noise is with the OEM platform rack and not with the Thule box. I had the Thule box on our GX460 and although you can hear it, it was not nowhere as bad as our GX550. The OEM rack on the GX550 is extremely noisy at 60mph and up and that's what I am hearing on the road. It is almost unbearable and we have to pump up the audio or talk loudly when we are on the highway. This is one reason I am considering experimenting with a different cross bars roof rack setup - less cross bars and potentially less wind noise. The platform rack does look good though Lexus is probably going to tell us if we have a platform rack, you are supposed to be overlanding at lower speeds, nothing wrong with the design ..

I am going to wrap the OEM crossbars with ripcord later this week to find out if it makes a difference (a well known cheap method to reduce noise). If that doesn't work, I will try third party wind faring and if that still doesn't work, sigh ..

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spiderjoe said:

This helped significantly but doesn’t help much with side cross winds .. wrapped cord on the front rail.. looks rugged too lol

My problem now is with rain.. the roof doesn’t have much sound insulation , it rained cats and dogs last night and the roof sounded like a tin can. You can hear the rain pounding on the roof just like a Toyota or non luxury car.. our previous GX460 and other Lexuses I owned in the past seems to have much better roof noise insulation from rain.. so my guess is Lexus cheapened out on the noise insulation on the GX550 roof and this is one reason for the apparent loud wind noise up top

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