Any ideas how to reduce wear on crossbars?

[Sjyokel]

As big as this beast is, when we started hauling my daughter's lacrosse teammates to tournaments, we picked up a Yakima roof box. It works great for holding all the sticks and bags, but really scratches the paint on the crossbars. On the one hand, maybe it's not a huge deal since few people are tall enough to notice and I don't think they'll rust. On the other hand, I hate to feel like I'm scratching up the otherwise pristine exterior of the QX every time I load the box.

Anyone else having this problem?

 

[Punisher]

I have a piece of rubber I wrap around the crossbar at each of the attachment points.

 

[jjrho]

cross bar

hi, have a new qx with crossbars too and am wondering more basic thing...
is the cross bar distance adjustable or is it drilled and screwed in at a preset location..... my other suv crossbars were always adjustable but i can't seem to figure this out... plus, i need a torx screw to turn the screws too; which i assume is for security purpose but....

yeah, i agree, it's painted to my car color; which would scratch badly with a thule/yakima box on top... at least no one will notice it but....


james R
'14 qx80

 

[Gumbey]

I remove my cross bars in the summer as I really don't require them until winter (when I use my Thule box). Plus with my box on I cannot fit the QX in my garage...

They were easy to remove. They do have torqx screws and from what I can tell they are fixed to one area. Unless there is a hidden section, I see only one place to fix the cross bars.

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[castiljd]

Which model cargo carriers you using?

Also how much mpg you lose?

 

[Sjyokel]

Which model cargo carriers you using?

Also how much mpg you lose?

I went with the Yakima Rocketbox Pro 11. It's long and skinny enough to fit on half of the QX's rack and leaves plenty of room on the other side for skis.

I'm not sure if the QX just gets such bad MPG that it couldn't get any worse or if the box is fairly aerodynamic, but we haven't noticed any drop at all when the box is on. We did a 1,800 mile round trip over the summer with the box and still saw 17 - 18 mpg the whole way.

 

[WRubicon]

Anyone have any clue as to the size of the bolts that secure the crossbars to the top side rails? We bought a set of crossbars second hand and they did not have the hardware. Now we can'tcan't find hardware to secure them and Infiniti will only sell them as a kit with new crossbars ($300+). And yes I have called multiple dealerships. All I need is a size and length and I can order some through Fastenal.

 

[Kcrebel]

Maybe try stopping by your local Infiniti dealer provided they have one of these bolts and see if they will let you measure it? I have found my dealer to be more than accommodating on such requests.

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