Yakima Racks in Action

[ohioboater]

Just wanted to post some first hand experience with Yakima racks on a Mazda5, since I had a hard time finding such info myself.

The clip/tower combination works just fine. You need to tighten them very slowly, alternating from side to side, to avoid interference with the sliding door - what Yakima calls 'fine tuning'. This slows down installation by about 10 minutes but is very straightforward. If you like to remove your racks regularly, this could get old. In our case, we use the racks enough that they stay on all the time. Once on, the towers are plenty secure. I mounted an old Thule fairing on mine - the current crop of fairings will interfere with the sunroof. Wind noise is noticeable but not terrible. The car gets between 22 and 25 mpg on the highway with gear up top, depending on other conditions like wind, what kind of gear, etc.

Here are a few pics of the rack in use:

 

[halfgreek]

Thanks for the feedback. Good to hear how well they work before making that decision.

 

[jandree22]

haha, looks sweet! thanks for the report.

 

[Zoom5Zoom]

Just wanted to post some first hand experience with Yakima racks on a Mazda5, since I had a hard time finding such info myself.

The clip/tower combination works just fine. You need to tighten them very slowly, alternating from side to side, to avoid interference with the sliding door - what Yakima calls 'fine tuning'. This slows down installation by about 10 minutes but is very straightforward. If you like to remove your racks regularly, this could get old. In our case, we use the racks enough that they stay on all the time. Once on, the towers are plenty secure. I mounted an old Thule fairing on mine - the current crop of fairings will interfere with the sunroof. Wind noise is noticeable but not terrible. The car gets between 22 and 25 mpg on the highway with gear up top, depending on other conditions like wind, what kind of gear, etc.

Here are a few pics of the rack in use:

Thanks for info now I have something back for you...

I noticed you tie off the boats to the hood which IMO is very weak if a heavy gust catches it.... here is my idea I tell my customers.

Go in the rear compartment above your spare tire and find your TOWING PIN which goes in the front bumper where the round cap is on the right side of bumper cover. Attach the pin there and then with the eyelit you tie off he boats.

Hope this helps eh

 

[07MZ5SA]

Front towing pin might not be long enough for the short boat.

Tie down ropes may in contact with the hood or bumper.

 

[raspykart]

good info, I suspect we'll be getting a rack and carrier at some point in time... the minor consequence to not getting a "full size" minivan. The tow hook is a good idea, I wonder if one could engineer a different device to go where the tow hook goes, but be more suitable for your application?

 

[MD5]

That rack looks just like the one I had on my 95 Civic.

I wonder if they are the same part numbers.


If so, I could sell this rack for cheap.. I've had it in the attic for 10 years... The darn thing was like $350 new.....

 

[ohioboater]

some followup

I don't remember the exact clip part numbers, but the sheet with one set of clips said it was for a Volkswagen Eurovan, and the other for a Subaru B9. I assume eventually Yakima will add the 5 when they reprint the instruction sheets. When I bought the clips, they didn't even list a fit for the 2007 - only the 2006 model. For all I know, they still may not list the 2007, but it's the exact same body, etc. as evidenced by the fit on my 07...

The bow line is anchored to loops of climbing webbing that in turn are anchored to the frame via existing factory bolts. Force applied to the rope gets transferred to those mounting points, not the hood. I agree that the tow hook would be much stronger, but I chose not to use that for several reasons:

1. Paint rub - the rope would have to go up over the front clip plus the hood.

2. Rope length - the longer the rope, the more likely everything will end up sliding next to the car should the rack fail.

3. Single tie down point - I prefer having two tie down points whenever possible. The resulting triangle-ish shape helps keep the boats centered in gusts and truck wakes.

 

[mazdaFIVEmike]

Yakima Q-Clips for the Mazda 5 are:

Front - Q131
Back - Q12

 

[mazda5nova]

I recently purchased the Yakima racks for my 2007 Mazda 5 and they are terrible. I have 2 problems with them. The first problem is that the sliding doors hit the qclips. I've been trying every adjustment I can think of and there's no way around it?!? Also, the front bar is a few inches lower than the back with makes it look ridiculous! The reason they are lower is because Qtowers on the front are spread apart more than the ones on the back.