Installing US roof rails on non US CX-5

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alexeit

Member
:
Mazda CX-5 LTD
Hi there,

I really like the look of US roof rails and the fact that I can easily put roof rack when I need one (like i do with my current car).

Our local (NZ) version seem to have same mounting points as Japanese / European cars designed for roof bars to be mounted on foots.

I wonder if anyone has tried to drill holes and managed to install rails on non US vehicle?

Cheers
 
FYI - These are the only aftermarket roof rails that I have been able to find that are made for the European version CX5 Mazda (but I have not tried them myself):

http://weizel.de/?product=dachreling-silber-alu-mazda-cx-5-copy

I also like the US type roof rails but as you know I am sure, they will not fit directly on the Euro version. The have 2 screws for each of the 4 fixing locations and they are also in a different location from the Euro version. The single hole threads on the Euro version are (obviously) closer to the center of the car.
 
I don't know if they fit or not but have you tried pulling the little black strip in the rain gutters on top of the car? I just find it hard to believe that Mazda would actually produce two different shells of the car just for rack attachment placement. I'm wondering if maybe they are actually the same and the second set of attachment points are just buried under that strip and don't have the little access door for them.
 
@Ride92

This is what gutter looks like facing towards the rear of the car

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There are a few suspicious round marks, i fonder if screws for black mount go through them

This is the best picture of US mount i could find:

0011661_2012-mazda-cx-5-aluminum-black-roof-bar-roof-rack-2pcs.jpeg
 
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Also looks like black mount is quite easy to attach to the shell of the car (I thought screws for rails go inside of the roof which would required bigger holes, but this is not the case which is good news)
 
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I was able to install the US spec roof racks on my latin american spec cx5 (same japanese and EU mounting points). i did it by drilling new holes on the roof and adding riveted nuts to them. After that i installed the original mounting points over them and presto us spec rails on a cx5 made with japanese mounting points.

edit: i did use the black brackets but decided to drill holes to them in order to attach them to the riveted nuts to avoid taking apart the roof lining. after that i used a lot of sealant on the fresh drilled holes in order to avid any leaks and after 6 months with a lot of rain everything is going nice.
 
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alexeit said:
Looks like those black brackets are easy to source
http://onlinemazdaparts.com/parts/2...ARDWARE&group=ROOF&subgroup=ROOF & COMPONENTS

Not sure though why there is a difference between with and without sunroof...

What i need now is picture of a gutter with US brackets and some measurements :)
Click to expand...

Good luck with the drilling project. I find it too risky for a new car. According to the German CX5 forum, that involves removal of the ceiling lining and some more of the interior moulded parts as well as adding some bracket for stability. But maybe all that is not totally necessary.

In the meantime I found out that the roof rail I referred to is actually made in Russia. FYI: http://www.aps163.ru/products/rejlingi/mazda_cx_5

I think I will go for the Russian one if I can get it delivered at a reasonable rate.

Please update here on your progress
 
The factory Mazda roof racks when installed by me at the dealership require the metal rails to be cut at the mounting locations and then the front and middle sections are retained and the rest is thrown away. Where as with Mazda 3s, there is a factory replacement roof rail to install.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk
 
Joaks said:
I was able to install the US spec roof racks on my latin american spec cx5 (same japanese and EU mounting points). i did it by drilling new holes on the roof and adding riveted nuts to them. After that i installed the original mounting points over them and presto us spec rails on a cx5 made with japanese mounting points.

edit: i did use the black brackets but decided to drill holes to them in order to attach them to the riveted nuts to avoid taking apart the roof lining. after that i used a lot of sealant on the fresh drilled holes in order to avid any leaks and after 6 months with a lot of rain everything is going nice.
Click to expand...

This is very interesting. How much weight do you carry on your roof rails? Do you by any chance have pics of how it looked like during the process?
 
cartracer12 said:
The factory Mazda roof racks when installed by me at the dealership require the metal rails to be cut at the mounting locations and then the front and middle sections are retained and the rest is thrown away. Where as with Mazda 3s, there is a factory replacement roof rail to install.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean - did you install it in non US brackets by shortening rail length?
 
alexeit said:
This is very interesting. How much weight do you carry on your roof rails? Do you by any chance have pics of how it looked like during the process?
Click to expand...

haven't had the chance to use them yet since i didn't bought the cross rails. Sorry no pics of the install.
 
alexeit said:
I'm not sure what you mean - did you install it in non US brackets by shortening rail length?
Click to expand...
The brackets are still there, underneath the roof rail. They look the same as the ones pictured in this thread. So you have to pop the rail guard (the black piece) out of the rail and cut it with a cutting wheel at certain points. The in pips back into place and you can bolt the roof rack side rails onto the brackets.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk
 

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Your vehicle looks to already have the tap out access holes for the factory brackets so that part probably won't help. The factory Mazda3 rack uses a threaded section of rod that goes into each of the brackets (about 4-5" long and then a nut is threaded down to the base of the bracket to lock the rod in place. You could use that technique and pass a roof rack price over the threaded rod and then lock it in place with a second nut and lock washer.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk
 
I have a how to here for US-CAN CX5, pictures may help you...

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123815898-Roof-Rails

but for people outside US-Can it is another ball game since the black brackets do not exist. I am sure it can be done, but personally if I was to do it I would do it correctly, remove the liner etc.... to make sure there is enough support and isolation.
 
Thanks for all the replies. Will check over the weekend in a local roof-rack shop what other options could be there and what would drilling cost (too afraid to do it myself).
Might just succumb and go with fixed point rack if they are easy enough to remove....
 
I noticed that local Mazda 6 station wagon have a very similar rails as US CX-5
I wonder if they could be fitted to CX-5 (in this case i can probably source all the parts locally)
 
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