Recent content by Armchair Bronco

I'd like to add a 2-bike carrier to my CX-9's OEM roof rack. My last bike carrier was a Yakima brand carrier that was custom fitted for my Subaru Legacy station wagon. I love it. Looking for something that will mate well with the CX-9's roof rack rails and that can handle 2 mountain bikes.

I've been reading user reviews of the Bosch Icon blades on Amazon. Interestingly, you get lots of variation depending on the size of the wiper! For example, the 17" Icon blade (passenger side on the CX-9) gets rave reviews, but the 26" blade (driver's side) has many more very negative reviews...

Here are some of the marketing blurbs from the Bosch Icon web page I linked to above: "Better resistance to ice and snow build-up" "Protects tension springs from snow/ice build-up" "Windshield-hugging performance in even the worst winter weather"

More info on the Icon blades from Bosch: The rebate seems to be extended to Feb. 28, 2010. And the Bosch site has some good installation info, including a video (yay!). http://www.boschautoparts.com/WiperBlades/Pages/Icon.aspx

Looks like the Bosch Icon wipers are the way to go. Very good reviews, and if you buy 2 of 'em by December 31st, Bosch will rebate $15. Here's the Amazon Link for the 2 front wipers (26" and 17")...

I live in the Seattle area, and we get A LOT of rain here...like 300+ days worth per year. I need some new wiper blades for my CX-9 and am looking for some "best-of-breed" recommendations. Don't mind spending more (2x) for some really good and durable blades.

Nope. I tried the slider switch in all positiosn, and I pushed the adjacent button in and out repeatedly. Also manually tested all of the door switches. Nuttin' worked, and the darn thing burned through the night. But when I popped off the cover, it must have jarred something on the way out...

For those without an CX-9, here's what I was up against. As you can see, the OFF/DOOR/ON switch is nicely labeled. This wasn't the problem. Instead, it was inside the left-hand side recess where the bulb is housed. You can pop off the plastic cover by jamming a small, thin fork or...

Hey, I fixed it! I used a small cheese fork to pop off the plastic cover from the left map light. As soon as I did this, the light turned off and was back in working order. Yay! I'm guessing that the light bulb (it looks like it's a halogen bulb) or some part of the assembly itself came...

Map Light on Driver's Side Won't Turn Off The front seat driver's side dome light on my wife's 2007 CX-9 won't turn off. Yesterday, she was shopping w/ my daughter and one of her friends. They opened up the hatch, loaded up the car, and got inside. That's when my wife noticed that her front...

I'm going to talk to the Service Manager @ the installer tomorrow and insist on this. Seems like the most reasonable explanation. A colleague at work also said to make sure that the tires weren't installed "outside-edge-in". The tread patterns should be mirror images for each left/right pair...

About 6 weeks ago, I bought a set of 20" Yokohama Parada Spec-X tires for my Mazda CX-9. I liked them so much that I decided to get a set of Yokohama ADVAN S4's for my Audi A4. However, I'm having some MAJOR problems with this second set and am wondering if you guys have any ideas about what...

I've had the new 245/50R-20 Yokohama Parada Spec-X tires on my CX-9 for about a month now, and I really love 'em. What a change from the factor tires that had 36K+ miles on them. The ride is smooth, stable, and so quiet. And they performed really well in last week's HUGE rain storm in the...

Back in October, I ordered a set of 20" Yokohama tires for my CX-9. I got the hard-to-find 245/50R-20 Yokohama Parada Spec-X and I couldn't be happier with them. What a change from the stock tires that had 36K+ miles on them. Anyway, I liked the Yokohama Paradas so much that I decided to get...

Great link. The Yakima DoubleDown 5 looks like the way to go for us. I bought a 2-bike Yakima holder for the roof rack on our Subaru and loved it. Thanks!