CX-9 roof rack (OEM)

bladehack

Member
MY wife and I purchased an '07 CX-9 GT AWD a couple of months ago and it did not come with the factory roof rack. I would like to install the factory roof rack so that I can mount our Thule Weekender cargo box for vacations.

I can see where the rubber strips on the edge of the roofline have plastic clips that can be removed to reveal tapped holes (3 on each side of the roof). Is this all that needs to be accessed for installing the OEM roof rack? Is the installation this simple (ie., no drilling of the roof and no removal of headliner, etc. in the interior)? Has anyone on this forum installed the OEM rack by themselves?

Thanks in advance!
 
Yes, that's all there is to it! The rails came installed on my vehicle, and I was interested in removing them, so I found the installation instruction pdf online somewhere (can't remember exactly where). I haven't actually removed mine yet because I don't have the plastic clips to cover the mounting holes!
 

Attachments

  • Roof_Rails_CX9.pdf
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The rails came installed on my vehicle, and I was interested in removing them, ..... I haven't actually removed mine yet because I don't have the plastic clips to cover the mounting holes!

l-miwa,

Before you get the plastic clips... Here are two pictures of the installation. Be careful with the removal of the front cover, there is a locking pin that can break off (circled with red) from the front cover. This is not shown in the Installation Instructions!

front 1.jpg
cover 2.jpg

Good luck,

George
 
Do the factory rails hold enough weight for a Thule box?

Do the factory rails hold enough weight for a Thule box? I thought I saw that the specs said 100 lbs. Would it be better to get Yakima Q towers and crossbars? (Thule doesn't make anything that fits the CX-9 yet according to their website.) I'm expecting to buy a CX-9 and want to know how to carry my skis/bikes/etc. A cargo box is probably not in my future, but it'd be nice to know it's feasible! Thanks!
 
I got tired of waiting for the factory cross bars and purchased the Thule 450 Cross Roads with 50" load bars and they fit fine carrying my Thule 18 cf box. I was going to use it to go on vacation but had to cancel our vacation plans. I'll sell you the 450 system with the load bars for a real good deal. They've never been used. The whole system including locks cost me over $240.00. If you are going to haul bikes, skis, cargo boxes, canoes, etc. This sytem accepts all the Thule attachments. make me an offer.
 
My CX-9 didn't come with a factory rack either but we ordered one online and installed it in about 30 minutes, it is very easy.

I think the 100lb limit is for the cross bars, I think the side bars would hold much more than that.

I have two Thule sidearm bike racks on my factory cross bars but I had to make a new rear bracket for each of them because the original one was too short to go around the factory cross bars. I don't think a cargo box would fit on the factory cross bars since they are curved and I think all the Thule, Yakima, etc... cross bars are straight.

Eric
 
everyone,

thanks for all the replies...just the info I needed. I'm going to buy the roof rack and rails.

Hopefully, Thule creates a foot to adapt their crossbars to the roof rack.
 
I think the 100lb limit is for the cross bars, I think the side bars would hold much more than that.
Roof racks have the same load specs: "100 lbs evenly distributed". I do believe this is a very conservative figure with a significant safety factor.
 
everyone,

thanks for all the replies...just the info I needed. I'm going to buy the roof rack and rails.

Hopefully, Thule creates a foot to adapt their crossbars to the roof rack.

Like I said above, the Thule 450 Cross Roads foot system fits right up to the roof rack side rails. The system uses Thule's cross bars so it fits all of Thule's attachments. The reason the Mazda cross bars took so long to become available is because they have had design issues with them. They could not make them strong enough to carry much more than 50 lbs. I gave up on the cross bars and got the Thule 450 Cross roads system. Much more versatile and have a 220 lb. rating.
 
Like I said above, the Thule 450 Cross Roads foot system fits right up to the roof rack side rails. The system uses Thule's cross bars so it fits all of Thule's attachments. The reason the Mazda cross bars took so long to become available is because they have had design issues with them. They could not make them strong enough to carry much more than 50 lbs. I gave up on the cross bars and got the Thule 450 Cross roads system. Much more versatile and have a 220 lb. rating.

The roof rails/cross bars are designed for 100lbs. That is the rating, if you put more than that and have issues (roof dents/deformation or broken rack) you will be out of luck. The Mazda cross bar were stong enough to carrry the 100lb load, because the cross section was used on other Mazda/Ford roof racks. There were other issues not load carrying capactiy.
 
Update on factory roof rails. For then entire US, these are on backorder. They are due to arrive into the country on August 13 and to your local dealer, a few days thereafter.

I'm having the dealer install mine for I don't want to monkey with a $36k car!
 
Update on my roof rack installation

Well, just got back from our vacation.

Our local Mazda dealership got the OEM roof rails ordered and delivered in under 24 hours. I installed the OEM roof rails in a grand total of 14 minutes, lol. The attached .PDF in this thread was a great help since it let me know that I had to go out and get a T25 torx screwdriver ahead of time.

I purchased the Thule 450 crossroads foot system which adapt to the roof rails very easily. I already had a set of their 58" load bars which are recommended for the CX-9. We used our Thule Weekender cargo box to carry our gear. The combined weight of the Thule 450 feet, 58" load bars and Weekender cargo box was 45 lbs, so technically we were only able to carry another 55 lbs of gear on the roof.

The combo of the OEM roof rails and Thule system seemed so rock solid that we wound up putting about 80 lbs of gear up there and had no problem whatsoever. This was just the hint of wind noise from the addition and we had no problems cruising at 80 mph for the 350 mile one-way trip.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions!
 
Had my roof rack installed today at the dealer. Still waiting for the cross bars to come in.

Man, what a difference!! The car now looks "complete". Without the roof rack, it just looked like something was missing! :)
 
CX-9 Roof Rack On-Line

Where can I purchase the CX-9 Roof Rack on-line?
How much does it cost?
Thank you!
 
We prdered our rack when we bought our car, so it was included in the financing. The dealer only charged us $199 for the rails and crossbars.

Wow! (thumb)
We paid $300 for rails and crossbars when we purchased the car. This included professional installation though.
 
...Just curious...why do you recommend staying away from Wayne Mazda?...they are the largest in the country...any bad expiriences?....care to share?...thanks..
 
...Just curious...why do you recommend staying away from Wayne Mazda?...they are the largest in the country...any bad expiriences?....care to share?...thanks..

I haven't had any order problems with 2 orders but their communication SUCKS!!!!!!!
 
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