Thule Rack for a Mazda 3 ????

oldpaddler · Post by **oldpaddler** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 2:21 am

...uh.....HELP!

Before I drill holes in the roof of my wife's nearly new 2008 Mazda 3 (five door) to install the Yakima rack equip I have, I want some help figuring out if I should be using a Thule setup. The Thule website shows a foot pad attachment possibility to a MAZDA factory threaded nut in the MAZDA 3 roof, but my car doesn't have the removable cover along the roof seam that appears in the Thule document (covering said roof-nut), only a continuous rubber strip from windshield to rear hatch. Before I tear off the rubber strip, looking for the factory attachment point that may not exist, I thought I'd ask this robust group if anyone else has done this to their MAZDA 3?

I really don't want to drill holes in the roof of my wife's car. She really likes her car.

Thanks in advance.

cbcboat · Post by **cbcboat** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 7:10 pm

You must have the Control Towers from Yakima? You can get the Qtowers from Yakima and not have to drill holes, though there really should be a removable piece that the Control Tower sits in in that rubber track. If not, it just so happens I have a set of Qtowers that I need to sell, I would sell them for half the retail cost which I believe would make them $80. You would just need to get the Qclips that are specific to your car which would be Q99 for the front and Q34 for the rear. Maybe this helps and if you would like to buy my Qtowers let me know

Thanks
B

oldpaddler · Post by **oldpaddler** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 8:56 pm

Yep, I have the control towers for the new car. I THOUGHT I wanted a permanent attach point setup. The more I ponder this situation, the more I become convinced that I need psychiatric therapy. My brain hurts.

I have a clip-on Yakima setup for our Mini-Van (clips on the front door sills for the front bar, and grabs on to the factory rack in the back). It's been very stable, but really did a number on the paint at the door sill. I desire to have a less abusive attachment to the new car.

The control towers have me drilling 8 oversized holes in the roof, only to put 8 small(er) diameter bolts thru their attachment hardware. With this setup, I can spread out the front and rear bars to fit the curvature of the boats. I really liked this idea (not the hole drill'n part....) And the attachment points will disconnect from the attachment pads so I could leave the bars off, until I needed them. But the closer I came to drilling the holes, the more reluctant I am to proceed.

I need to get this done before this weekend.

Post by **sbroam** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 9:10 pm

I feel your anxiety... The last time I drilled holes in the roof of a vehicle to mount Yakima hardware ("toploaders" on my truck) I regretted it. No leaks, but the sheet metal flexed more than I liked.

I'm not familiar with this install - does it make use of existing features (i.e. a track, ridge, etc)? Are these attachment points near a structural member (i.e. a cross beam)?

billcanoes · Post by **billcanoes** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 9:31 pm

I have a Protege5 which is simillar to the Mazda 3- I have the clamp ons and it's very noisy, PLUS the roof dented, though I did have 7 boats on the rack-

I have a subaru which I drilled the rack into, I've had 9 boats on it and it has been great- no leaks

cbcboat · Post by **cbcboat** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 10:54 pm

extreme caution when drilling into the roof of a car---there is a liner in the ceiling. Its not like drilling into a fbierglass or aluminum truck topper. If you decide to do the drilled install I would recommend having a professional do it, that way if they mess up they have to pay for it. OR JUST BUY MY QTOWERS please. Oh noise can fixed with a fairing or 'windjammer'
good luck
B

oldpaddler · Post by **oldpaddler** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 6:20 pm

and, my Mazda 3 has side curtain air bags up there, too.... so while I'd really like to mount the control towers as far outboard as possible...I need to avoid the air bags mounted up there. The aft bar would be well aft of the bags, but the front bar would be in the middle of everything.

There is a roof seam running fore-aft, that serves as the mount for the factory (Thule) rack system. This is the roof stiffener.

I think I'm chicken'n out. Don't have my REI receipt anymore, so this change is gonna be expensive.

Bob P · Post by **Bob P** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 6:27 pm

No guts, no glory. Drilled 40 holes in the roof.
(Of course, I don't have any hidden air bags)

c1swim · Post by **c1swim** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 6:40 pm

You don't need a receipt at REI, even if you're not a member.
They will take it back. If you're not a member, they will probably only give you store credit; but they sell Thule as well.
I love that store. They send me a fat rebate every year.

oldpaddler · Post by **oldpaddler** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 12:41 am

This is from oldpaddler's alter ego....the one that's willing to drill holes in the roof...

Bob P----WHAT IN THE SAM He## is that? Looks interesting....kinda like I would have engineered it.....

I've located replacement hardware for my Yakima Landing Pads (the drill the holes in the roof solution...) Now I'm looking for Mazda 3 and Mazda 5 roof structure information so I can try to locate roof structural doublers to use, or miss entirely, when I drill the holes to locate the landing pads. I've test-fit the slalom and open boats to the top of the car, so I know what bar-spread I need or could tolerate.

I've ordered Plus-nuts to replace the Yak attachment hardware to give me a tight structural fit in the roof-holes for the Landing Pads. I've also got a tool on order to install the plus-nuts. Now I need the info on where I can drill. Looks like I have a trip to the junkyard in my future to try to get measurements off of a couple of sacrificial cars.

Tomorrow, I may turn chicken, again.

and if I can figure out how to paste a photo into this message, I'll show you our temp solution for getting the slalom boat to put-in.

arghh. Maybe I should stick to drilling holes in the roof...

Bob P · Post by **Bob P** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:06 pm

More details on my Focus Rack:

Link to page

I really didn't want to get into removing the headliner so I designed it to feed into the stronger part of the roof next to the longitudinal seam. The cross-bar is steel tubing with triangulated feet that bolt into the aluminum T. Very strong.

Post by **sbroam** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:51 pm

Bob -

Very nice - thought about doing similar on my camper shell so I could have bar spacing adjustability, but I had a set of Yakima top loaders lying around and it was just a whole lot quicker...

Scott

oldpaddler · Post by **oldpaddler** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 1:45 am

Bob, you make it sound so EASY...."handforming" a T extrusion...metal stretching and shrinking, to get the extrusion to follow the curve of the Ford's roof. Maybe, on some day with weather too miserable to paddle, you can give me a lesson on "handforming.." a T channel extrusion.

Yakima has a roof channel extrusion that can be allow for adjustible (fore-aft) attachment of the control towers....but neither of my target rooflines are flat.....and I've never tried to "handform" an extrusion. Well, lets just say I've never SUCCESSFYULLY handformed an extrusion. Bent one or two into scrap, maybe....but ending up with a useful part....nope. So I left those Yakiima channels at REI.

You have a very nice rack setup. I, too, plan to keep the cars until they run no mo.... So if I can get this rack setup right, it'll be worth the effort over the long haul.

My plus-nuts arrived via UPS today. Expensive little buggers...

Larry Horne · Post by **Larry Horne** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 2:10 am

and you call yourself boaters

.... how could you even BUY a car that doesn't offer factory roof rails! ..or at least rain gutters. jeez. C'mon guys!
that's rule #1.
rule #2 is you need to be able to sleep comfortably in it.
so sell that puppy before you ruin it and get a wagon or somethin.