Kansas

What more can I tell you? European Lexus dealers have sold "clamp on" roof ski racks for the LS and other Lexus models since the beginning and continue to sell them today. The roof rack "clips" I have seen including the ones on my Yakima rack have rubberized coatings. It's not as if there is metal-to-metal contact between the clips and the car. Have you guys ever driven on the German autobahn? If you do in winter, you might see Lexus LS cars with skis on roof racks going well over 100 mph on autobahn sections where such speeds are still allowed.

oldskewel

iTrader: (1)

I have a '91, with a standard (but appropriately old - new ones won't fit) Yakima rack system. I removed it recently after being installed for 5+ years. No problems with the doors or seals. Very slight abrasion marks where the pads contacted the roof. I guess it will never make it into the Lexus museum after all. So a rack system on a Gen1 LS is completely possible without custom engineering.

My '91 does not have TRAC, and never did.

I have a second home at 6000+ feet in South Lake Tahoe, CA, and have done a lot of driving up there in the snow in various vehicles for decades. The LS does not do very well in the snow, but of course anything is possible. Good all season tires will help. I'd skip on the snow tires if it is for occasional trips. I consider myself a very good snow driver, am very knowledgable about the exact roads I drive on up there, and am often challenged to keep it together using _cables_, so I strongly recommend chains - don't think cables will be good enough. They barely do it for me.

Weight in the back will help.

But I think that with chains and careful driving you'll be just fine.

My favorite solution for skis, snowboards, and everything else is a rocket box or equivalent. On a ski trip, a major advantage you have is that you can leave the equipment locked in the box, just throw it in there at the end of the day, don't worry about taking it inside at the end of the day to prevent theft, etc. Very convenient.