dicer

I said NO on top the trunk. No on top the car. The rack would need to mount UNDER the car, and extend up BEHIND the car. You would NOT want to mount ON the body at all.

There is no way a rack can be on the body without messing something up. Even if it has rubber pads and small hooks to clamp to the trunk, the paint will be abraded if the trip is lots of miles.

Kansas

Here is a link to a thread where I mentioned that Lexus dealers in Europe have sold roof top ski racks for the LS in all model years: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...roof-rack.html

The thread also has a photo showing the cross bars for my Yakima ski rack test fitted on the 2000 LS400 that I sold in 2014. It fit quite well using the same "aero" brackets that I used on my 1980's "ski car" - a Honda CRX Si which was a blast to drive in the mountains. There was never any paint damage caused by the Yakama rack and I used it a lot.

I don't remember the crash or much of the hospital stay that ended my skiing in 2006. If I was skiing today, the only ski rack type I would want to use is one that plugs into a trailer hitch receiver. I hated the wind noise from roof ski racks but I was driving 600+ miles one way to get to ski areas with only one or two quick stops along the way.

I love Blizzak winter tires. Used a series of them on my LS cars and currently have WS70 on the Prius wagon and WS80 on the Sienna van. They've been wonderful during this week of snow and ice.

If the OP was near me, he could have my Yakama ski rack. It's just taking up space in the basement.

winter4w

Sorry I miss worded my question. For the one that goes under the trunk where the hitch will go what is the name and model of it?

What Yakama rack did you have? After doing some research on racks I have heard that they can damage the weather seals on the door. Did yours get damaged from this?

dicer

I just looked. On a gen 1 there is nothing to grip on in the upper door frames, that rack would just fall off.

dicer

The name is Build it your self. And you can call it what ever model you want.

Maybe someone makes one that will fit in a trailer hitch, but then you will need the hitch to stick it in.

Kansas

I didn't see any door seal damage on my CRX during the five years I used the Yakima on it. I never used the Yakima on either of my LS400's except to "test fit" it to my 2000 LS400. The OEM ski racks sold for the LS400 by European Lexus dealers had clips similar to the Yakima's that fit over the door seals. The worst that could happen is that you might have to replace a door seal but that is unlikely. If your door seals are the original ones, they have probably already lost some of their sealing capability.

My Yakima rack looks like a cross between "1A Raingutter" and "Q Towers" at https://www.yakima.com/type/baseracksystem The system I bought fits vehicles with rain gutters and has "aero" adapters for vehicles that don't have rain gutters. The only parts that are vehicle specific are the clips that hold the Q Towers to the vehicle. As I said in the other thread, the same clips I used on the CRX seemed to work OK on my 2000 LS400 and allowed its doors to close easily. The exact version I bought is probably no longer available anymore - it's been over 30 years.

My ski attachments for the Yakima cross bars look similar to these: https://www.yakima.com/big-powderhound-w-locks

Dang, the Yakima racks and ski holders are expensive.

I remember spending a LOT of money on the Yakima rack system and rigging up my CRX for mad dashes to Colorado including installing 200mm Hella European headlights, front fog lights and a rear fog light. I was sometimes driving in full blown zero visibility blizzards and once got stuck for several days in western Kansas when snow drifts covering I-70 were all the way up to the bottoms of overpasses. We carry a snow shovel in each of our vehicles during Winter - currently have nifty folding True Temper AutoBoss Emergency Shovels

As I said in the thread I pointed you to, a full service shop that sells racks (do any of those still exist since the Internet?) might have clips intended for other vehicles that would fit your LS400.

Kansas

The rack clips "grab" the door seals - actually to the metal "rib" above door seals: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/att...k-imgp2953.jpg

It's the same on the GS300/400 of the 1990's.

dicer

Another option would be a very strong magnet on each contact pad. Too bad no one makes one like that.

Kansas

Ski racks that attach to vehicles with magnets have been around for a long time including when I bought my Yakima ski rack in 1985. I considered buying one but my ski car CRX Si had a huge sunroof that took up about half of the roof area and I had difficulty with the concept of magnets holding the rack on when driving through the sometimes incredible North to South crosswinds in western Kansas where I once had a flying tumbleweed put a really big dent in the door of the Mercedes sedam that I drove on ski trips when I needed more than two seats. I used a La Prealpina ski rack on the Mercedes.

Here's a Google search link for magnetic ski racks: https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=magnetic+ski+rack

I was crazy about snow skiing and ski racing - especially Super-G - for about 30 years. Super G is a cross between the Giant Slalom and the Downhill types of racing ... sort of a modified (slower) Downhill race for amateurs.

dicer

I know of some magnets that would hold just fine high winds or not. I have a pretty small magnet that will probably take a 300 pound straight pull. Also about a 1.5 inch square mag base that has to have an on and off switch to remove it from steel. It would probably go 100 plus pounds of straight pull. If one of these was incorporated into a roof rack it would stay stuck, and way better than trying to use the weather strips.

Heres one I found

http://www.orsracksdirect.com/inno-m...-ski-rack.html

http://www.rack-it.com/inno-magnetic...-mv276-p78499/

Kansas

A ski shop here once had a display of a magnetically attached ski rack with a sign that said that anyone who could pull the magnetic rack off the display would get a free rack.

Using "aero" clips to attach a ski rack to the door seals on the car body shouldn't be anything to be concerned with;. Do you really think that European Lexus dealers would sell racks that attached that way for 25+ years if they caused damage or came off at high speeds?

My 1985 CRX Si "ski car" had door seals on it's car body similar to what the LS400 has. Not that I ever exceeded the speed limit myself (has the statute of limitations passed?), but I watched my friend Brett drive my CRX for an extended period at over 90 mph through Kansas with his and my skis on my Yakima rack. The wind noise was horrible but the skis or rack never came off the car.

I have seen skis and ski racks fly off other cars while driving in Colorado and I've assumed that the racks weren't properly attached to the vehicles.

dicer

I checked today Gen 1 there is a lip way under the acting gutter seal that is attached to the body, but for it to be effective the seal would almost need to be removed. Maybe a long lip on the clamp hook would work with the seal but the door is going to be smashing it nicely. Water would then track past the seal, if its cold and just snow then all maybe good.

Kansas

Yes, the clips on both my Yakima rack and the Lexus branded roof sold by Lexus dealers in Europe for the LS400 in Europe slightly depress the seals but that doesn't mean they allow rain water into the interior. Did you see the luggage carrier accessory for the LS400 roof rack? https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...ml#post6066192

European Lexus dealers sold a number of other Lexus branded accessories for the LS400 roof rack besides snow ski and luggage carriers and continue to sell a variety of accessories for carrying ski's, surfboards, storage boxes, etc. on the roof of the LS460/LS600h. Here is a link to the Lexus Germany website accessory (Zubehör) list for the current LS460/LS600h that shows the list of accessories available for carrying stuff on the roof: http://d3rvezpmgp265q.cloudfront.net...927.1451834500

Isn't it odd that Europe has always got this stuff for their Lexus LS cars but we in the U.S. never did?

winter4w

So can that roof rack you listed above do any damage? Would it also leave a mark on the door?

Thanks

dicer

If you use the magnet one it shouldn't do any damage. Any clamp on one is going to be iffy.