biff44

I noticed a rubber strip, around 5 inches long, at the front of each of the rails on my roof rack. It was stopping the sliding cross piece from going all the way forward by 1 "click". I took them out, and now the crosspiece moves all the way forward, without any problem. The crosspiece in the new forwardmost position clears the moon roof by a mile when the glass tilts up.

So the question: Why were these two rubber stopper pieces on my rack rails stopping the crosspiece from moving to the forwardmost postion? Am I missing something.

With the rubber stoppers installed, there was not enough spread between the two crosspieces to carry anything substantial, like wood boards, etc.

Kan-O-Z

Perhaps the RX350 was shipped new from the factory with these pieces. Perhaps these rubber pieces were supposed to be removed by the dealer but they forgot to. Just a thought. I'm glad it works better for you now.

Kan-O-Z

32kcolors

Any possibility that they're there for aerodynamics purposes (like the black taps that hang in front of the tires)?

biff44

I do not think they are aerodynamic, as they are flush to the inside of the rail when mounted. I like the idea that they were shipping things that they forgot to remove.

rxdriver

Those pieces have to be there for a reason. I'm sure they're not packing material.

Possible things that come to mind include preventing weight from riding that far forward, or maybe there's something related to the moonroof.

If it works for you without the pieces, great. I'd just be careful with it.

BobsGX

They are probably there to keep the cross bars from interfering with the moonroof when it's in the tilt position.

biff44

Like I said, the moonroof clears the crossbar by many inches!

BobsGX

Sorry Biff, I just noticed you said that in your initial post. There still must be some reason that Lexus didn't want the cross bar to go that far forward.

rgreen350

I also have an ’07 350 with the rubber strips in place. Are you saying there is another set of holes under the strips?

lexuslover

i don't know if they serve any real practical purpose but from what i can tell if you have the crossbar moved all the way forward w/ sunroof tilted, the wind noise is not good... so i think all the strips do is remind the customer where the "resting" position is under normal circumstances when you are not hauling anything up top.

we remove ours when we load up the snowboards so the holders are spread further apart. normally i put the rubber strips back but this past year i forgot and it makes absolutely no difference, i just move the crossbar back to the "resting" position when i'm done.

biff44

Now that makes some sense. There probably is more wind noise if the moon roof is open and the crossbar is all the way forward. Still, it seems a little stupid to put in the rubber strips. Lets say you go to home depot and load up on some 16' long lumber. The two crossbars are too close together to haul that load with stability, unless you take out the two rubber snubbers.

And yes, there is another hole beneath the rubber strip, so if you remove it you can move your crossbar one more "click" forward. Just take a flat head screw driver and carefully insert it under the strip from the forward edge. It lifts up, and then you can grab it and yank the tail piece out.

RA030724

iTrader: (1)

I asked the dealer and Lexus Hotline what they were for when I got my 2004 as I assumed they were shipping stops left in by accident. Neither could answer my question. Just said they were supposed to be there. Did offer the erroneous answer that they were there to keep the sunroof from hitting the rail, but like others on this list, I checked and there is no way the sunroof would hit the crossrail in the tilt position.

biff44

I have been running it without the rubber stops installed since January and have seen no negative impact. I have used the moon roof many times.