GS400 Roof Rack - Rear Seat Pass Through?
 

Has anyone purchased a roof rack for their GS? I'm looking to carry skis / snowboards. Any suggestions / experiences....

Also...has anyone modified the rear seat fold-down arm rest so that skis can be slipped through?

I have a '98. Thanks in advance for your replies.

I'm not sure about the roof rack - but for the rear seat pass through, all you need to do is cut :cry: into the leather behind the armrest, the rubber sound deadening, and the plastic/fabric trunk liner. I'm sure if you came up with some sort of square brace that would hold the hole together it would look fine. There is no sheet metal aside from the bracing, but proper designing of the cutout would avoid them.

thanks nicola.

yaaa...it might be too painful for me to cut out a pass through. roof rack is probably the way to go.

call me crazy but i kind of like the way a nice roof rack looks...have to find one that wouldn't scratch up the roof though.

There is a Clublexus member in Atlanta with one, he had it done right.
If you search hard enough, you will see members with pics of their GS with it

I would recomend a Yakima or Thule rack. I have a Yakima that came with a Integra I gave my daughter. It has attachments for hauling a bike and/or kayak. Using 2 people and careful installation/removal it has never scratched the car.

I have a Thule rack on my GS. Works beautifully. I've had 3 of the same racks on 3 different cars and they never scratch. Just make sure you clean it first and put a good coat of wax on the rubber pads.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...5/IMGP1775.jpg

benzo what kind of rims are those? bbs?

nice car.

Roof rack-go with Saris. I just bought one and it fits great, is easy to put on/take off and looks way better than Yakima or Thule. I took pictures this past weekend but could not get them to upload yesterday. I will try again tonight and post some pics. Check out their website. You can probably get a hold of a pre-owned on Ebay for about $100-150. You will need the 59" bars and the #6 clips. Then you will need to decide which mounting option you want.

saris....cool...never heard of that brand before, i'll check it out. thanks for all the tips.

here's another I remember from a member named Carlos I think...from waaaay back in the day. Doesnt show the rack very well, but you get the idea.

https://www.clublexus.com/gallery/da...exrolling1.jpg

They are Blitz Technospeed Z1 18X9 fronts and 18X10 rears.

Saris is a great brand, but my friend had it on his VW and made way more wind noise than my Thule.

Here are a couple shots of the Saris roof rack.

https://www.clublexus.com/gallery/da...070406_067.jpg

https://www.clublexus.com/gallery/da...070406_066.jpg


The Saris rack is very cool to install. The rail is placed on the car with both doors open. Then, from either side you just twist the end and it tightens up the rack on both sides. This way you don't have to go back and forth trying to tighen the rack down. Basically it self centers and tightens down with the twist of one side. I don't drive around with the rack on the roof so I wanted something that was easy on/off. It takes about 60 seconds to get both rails on and about 30 seconds to get them off. It is very slick and easy. I also like the aerodynamic shape compared to the others. It is a well built rack and a better value than most of the others IMO. Let me know if you have any other questions about it.

i personally would go with the pass through between the trunk and the cabin. it's less intrusive to the whole car and you have a smaller chance of scratching up your ride (almost no chance really).

If I remember correctly, you can actually pull the back panel of the middle arm rest area down. Go to your car, fold down the rear arm rest, reach up and behind the panel you see behind the arm rest and pull, that panel should come off. once off, you can get an idea of what you need to do to have a pass through trunk.

I'd do it now but I'm in my boxers, I just woke up and the garage is all the way downstairs. :) ok, maybe i'll do it later and take a photo but you can find out much faster if you just go and check yourself.

:)

another thought:

Do you really want to chance having your interior get beat up by ski / snowboard edges or even ski bag corners and zippers, ski poles, etc. ??? I dont see how a snowboard would fit through that hole to begin with. :uh:

Your center console leather would take abuse from your gear sitting on top of it between you and your passenger.

Are skis that long??

I don't ski so I don't know. :)

Anyway- here's a photo off the bananaGS site to show you what the back panel looks like.

http://lexusmodz.netfirms.com/GS_DIY...t/P1010054.JPG

I'm thinking that if you cut through the metal or remove it, you'll have one less barrier. not sure what mods have to be done to the back wall of the trunk though.