Thule roof rack in lux flush rails

[spiderjoe]

Unfortunately I don't have any videos or sound recordings. Noise level is relative, if you ask overlanding folks, they will say "what noise?" with their roof tent, jerry cans Pelican boxes and trail tires roaring but if you are coming from unibody crossovers, then it will sound obtrusive. If possible, maybe go back to your dealer and ask to test drive a GX with cross bars or rack installed to hear it for yourself?

If you are not in a rush to get a rack for this winter's snowsport season, better to wait and see what Yakima and Thule has in store for cross rail for GX550/LC250? Also if you go to Rack Attack or similar stores, they normally have a very good return policy. Thule/Yakima run 20-25% sales a few times a year if you can wait it out.

If you are going for a full platform rack, I won't pick the OEM platform rack as a first choice, it is not full size, only has 4 cross bars for securing items and due to having only 4 mounting points, the weight limits are not as high as a full rack such as Wescott Prinsu etc. At the moment, we don't know who made the platform rack for Lexus and Lexus doesn't sell any OEM mounting accessories, if you need brackets, etc more of trail and error, buy third party try and hope it works.

If you are going with cross bars, I have had great experience with Thule, very quiet with the aero/raised sections for wind noise reduction. And the Thule ones will be much better quality than OEM. Which snowboard attachments are you currently using?

 

[ilumo]

Unfortunately I don't have any videos or sound recordings. Noise level is relative, if you ask overlanding folks, they will say "what noise?" with their roof tent, jerry cans Pelican boxes and trail tires roaring but if you are coming from unibody crossovers, then it will sound obtrusive. If possible, maybe go back to your dealer and ask to test drive a GX with cross bars or rack installed to hear it for yourself?

If you are not in a rush to get a rack for this winter's snowsport season, better to wait and see what Yakima and Thule has in store for cross rail for GX550/LC250? Also if you go to Rack Attack or similar stores, they normally have a very good return policy. Thule/Yakima run 20-25% sales a few times a year if you can wait it out.

If you are going for a full platform rack, I won't pick the OEM platform rack as a first choice, it is not full size, only has 4 cross bars for securing items and due to having only 4 mounting points, the weight limits are not as high as a full rack such as Wescott Prinsu etc. At the moment, we don't know who made the platform rack for Lexus and Lexus doesn't sell any OEM mounting accessories, if you need brackets, etc more of trail and error, buy third party try and hope it works.

If you are going with cross bars, I have had great experience with Thule, very quiet with the aero/raised sections for wind noise reduction. And the Thule ones will be much better quality than OEM. Which snowboard attachments are you currently using?

Thanks for the info! I am in a semi rush as I’m going to go snowboarding this season and previous seasons I just stuffed everything in the trunk and had only 3 young snowboarders. I wanted to bring 4 adult snowboarders this season and will not be able to fit everything in the trunk. I dont have any carriers so all will be new. I probably won’t get a “box” and just get those clamping mounts to store the snowboards on the roof. For all of the soft /compressible gear I can fit those in the trunk.

I e been checking thules site every few weeks and even emailed them. They are “working on it” and just told me to keep checking their site for the cross rail systems.

 

[spiderjoe]

This might be worth a try if you need something in a hurry that doesn't break the bank? Made for flush rails:

Amazon.com

 

[spiderjoe]

I wonder how hard it would be to add sound deadening to the roof. I prioritize a quiet ride.

I personally would not want to risk opening it up on my own for fear that the lining will sag after some time. I would be more adventurous opening up bottom or door panels but not the roof. Others with experience might want to chip in..