CX-5 Roof Racks

Hello,

So, my partner just got a 2015 Mazda CX-5 - he loves it except there was some "confusion" in the sense that he did not want the roof side rails (he would never use the rack, crossbars and prefers the look without them). Our mistake, but he accepted delivery of the car with the side rails - under the condition that it be removed. A week or so later he's getting a lot of flack from the dealer that the body shop does not know how to remove the side rails, no one has ever done that before... blah blah. Unless something has changed radically from 2013 - it seems to me that the rails were installed using pre-drilled holes, the trim was cut, and that was that. Am I correct in saying that to remove them the dealer would just have to... unscrew them... and replace with two new door trims, each under $40? After seeing the 2013 installation manual for them I just can't think that reversing them would be such a big deal... opinions?

Thanks!
Alec in RI
 
Hello,

So, my partner just got a 2015 Mazda CX-5 - he loves it except there was some "confusion" in the sense that he did not want the roof side rails (he would never use the rack, crossbars and prefers the look without them). Our mistake, but he accepted delivery of the car with the side rails - under the condition that it be removed. A week or so later he's getting a lot of flack from the dealer that the body shop does not know how to remove the side rails, no one has ever done that before... blah blah. Unless something has changed radically from 2013 - it seems to me that the rails were installed using pre-drilled holes, the trim was cut, and that was that. Am I correct in saying that to remove them the dealer would just have to... unscrew them... and replace with two new door trims, each under $40? After seeing the 2013 installation manual for them I just can't think that reversing them would be such a big deal... opinions?

Thanks!
Alec in RI


Gesus, crazy situation. I'd ask your partner if the hassle is worth it or just keep the freakin' rails on the vehicle.

IMO, the roof rails (and perhaps w/crossbar) help make it look like a CUV otherwise it looks like a tall wagon :) Good luck!
 
The rails are held on by 10mm bolts (maybe 8mm), 2 on each end. The plastic piece covering the end pops off to reveal the bolts. A body shop that can't figure out how to remove the rails, or be bothered to us google wth kind of place is this. Also, the black stripping under the rails is cut to fit the rails; in other words, once removed, the weather stripping will not fit correctly. You would need to order a new set of the weather stripping to run the entire length, probably $15-$25 each side. (it's snap on/off maybe a flathead for prying but not really).
 
Racks

The rails are held on by 10mm bolts (maybe 8mm), 2 on each end. The plastic piece covering the end pops off to reveal the bolts. A body shop that can't figure out how to remove the rails, or be bothered to us google wth kind of place is this. Also, the black stripping under the rails is cut to fit the rails; in other words, once removed, the weather stripping will not fit correctly. You would need to order a new set of the weather stripping to run the entire length, probably $15-$25 each side. (it's snap on/off maybe a flathead for prying but not really).

Thanks much, Chris_Top_Her!

As I suspected - looks like they're trying to dick around with us. I knew that the original strips would have to be replaced with new ones - but this "the holes have to be manually drilled to attach and such" was crap.

Think we'll go to another place for service. We can have them do this and then sell the side rails (btw I'd much rather have the rails and carrying options - but it's my partner's car, not mine - and he really likes the look without).

Does anyone happen to know if the moldings for a 2013 would fit a 2015? Can't find 2015 specific on line
 
Gesus, crazy situation. I'd ask your partner if the hassle is worth it or just keep the freakin' rails on the vehicle.

IMO, the roof rails (and perhaps w/crossbar) help make it look like a CUV otherwise it looks like a tall wagon :) Good luck!

Thanks for the response, Mark - actually I like the side rails - but I'm not going to be driving it all the time - and I also like the look without. Stephen (partner) *much* prefers the look without so it's going to be a constant minor irritation to him - we all have the things we focus on, no? It's an annoying situation but I think fixable. It's his first new car in 10 years and it would be nice if it was perfect as possible. (BTW we both *absolutely love* the car otherwise - not that I've gotten to drive it much!)
 
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Thanks for the response, Mark - actually I like the side rails - but I'm not going to be driving it all the time - and I also like the look without. Stephen (partner) *much* prefers the look without so it's going to be a constant minor irritation to him - we all have the things we focus on, no? It's an annoying situation but I think fixable. It's his first new car in 10 years and it would be nice if it was perfect as possible. (BTW we both *absolutely love* the car otherwise - not that I've gotten to drive it much!)

Yes, you will need new weather strips but that isn't rocket science for a body shop to figure out. Take it to a different one!

So funny, I finally this weekend got my boyfriend to put my side rails on because I think SUVs/CUVs look silly without a roof rack. My dealer had wanted $450+ to install when I bought the car so I passed on that and bought them later for about $150 (rails) and $100 (cross bars). It looks so much better (personal preference). Anyway, there's a guy on the forums right now looking for a set of cross-bars but I'd probably want to keep the set together and try to sell that way.
 
Could someone provide me with some measurements of the factory roof rack cross bars? What I'm looking for it the usable length of the cross bar, for the front and back, that part that you could actually clamp a bike tray to. The factory rack looks like the plastic on the sides intrudes quite a bit. I'd also like to know the farthest spread of the factory cross bars in the side rails as well has how far from the front bar to the rear hatch spoiler when open. I did a quick drawing to outline what I'm looking for. The dimensions I need are the blue lines. I have Yakima fork lifts on my P5 now on the factory rack. It's not a large rack by any means. I had to modify the forklifts to clear the rear hatch on that car and I want to see if I'll still be able to use them when I get the CX-5. Thanks for you help in advance.

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What? I know that that rails are the same for the '13's thru to the 2016's. I have a 2003 protege5 right now with a factory roof rack on that car. I'm trying to get measurements from the roof rack of a CX-5 to compare the two and figure out if I will need different bike trays or not.
 
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So can anyone get those dimensions for me? I think it's useful info to have. Maybe I should start a new thread.
 
Got my Thule installed on the CX-5 using the under the gutter fixed points and loving it!

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So what "feet" did you end up using to do this? I'm thinking I will go this route as the OEM rack is too limiting in how far back it sits to actually fit my bike trays up there. I'm looking at the whispbar racks but their site has nothing listed for working with the CX-5. I think I could easily drill holes in the filler strips to access the mounting points for the oem rack. Does anyone know if the mounting points are the same on the US spec vs EU spec CX-5's. If so then maybe I could order the fill strips from Europe or Australia to get the little covers that go over the mounting point.
 
So what "feet" did you end up using to do this? I'm thinking I will go this route as the OEM rack is too limiting in how far back it sits to actually fit my bike trays up there. I'm looking at the whispbar racks but their site has nothing listed for working with the CX-5. I think I could easily drill holes in the filler strips to access the mounting points for the oem rack. Does anyone know if the mounting points are the same on the US spec vs EU spec CX-5's. If so then maybe I could order the fill strips from Europe or Australia to get the little covers that go over the mounting point.

The rear one looks a lot lower than the front in that picture's perspective.
 
I used the 2013 Mazda 3 Thule AreoBlade kit with 48" bars - love it and very quiet. The bars are the same height from the roof, and the bar barely clears the antennae pod.
 
Has anyone successfully installed the Thule Aeroblade Edge 760 cross bars using the mounting points for the factory side rails? What foot fit kit did you use? Neither Thule nor Yakima have an option on their site for this type of install. I'm assuming I could just drill a hole thru the weather strip where the anchor point is. I'm looking at these racks right now: http://www.thule.com/en-us/us/products/carriers-and-racks/roof-racks/complete-all-in-one-racks/thule-aeroblade-edge-7601b-_-7601b If anyone has done something similar I'd love any info or tips you have on installing them. Thanks
 
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Has anyone successfully installed the Thule Aeroblade Edge 760 cross bars using the mounting points for the factory side rails? What foot fit kit did you use? Neither Thule nor Yakima have an option on their site for this type of install. I'm assuming I could just drill a hole thru the weather strip where the anchor point is. I'm looking at these racks right now: http://www.thule.com/en-us/us/products/carriers-and-racks/roof-racks/complete-all-in-one-racks/thule-aeroblade-edge-7601b-_-7601b If anyone has done something similar I'd love any info or tips you have on installing them. Thanks

Were you ever able to get this figured out? Was wondering the same thing--can't seem to find anything about whether or not the Thule rails will fit the 2016 mount points.
 
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For this exact setup use:

Thule Fit Kit 3069
Rapid Podium Foot Pack 460R
Thulle AeroBlade ARB47

I've installed these on several CX-5s now, however I haven't done a 2016 yet, but I'm willing to bet it's the same placement of the mounts.
 
Wooo just read through the entire thread and still unsure which way I want to go!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
 
Has anyone successfully installed the Thule Aeroblade Edge 760 cross bars using the mounting points for the factory side rails? What foot fit kit did you use? Neither Thule nor Yakima have an option on their site for this type of install. I'm assuming I could just drill a hole thru the weather strip where the anchor point is. I'm looking at these racks right now: http://www.thule.com/en-us/us/products/carriers-and-racks/roof-racks/complete-all-in-one-racks/thule-aeroblade-edge-7601b-_-7601b If anyone has done something similar I'd love any info or tips you have on installing them. Thanks

How did you make out?

That route appeals to me because it's a little cheaper. Same kind of setup as dawhoo's but more restricting. I could be wrong tho, this thread has taught me almost everything i know about racks so far ha.
 
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