Don't get me wrong. These are after-market crossbars and if you look at the pictures, they go on differently than OEM. Looks like it would take 10 minutes max.

It's $208 for the factory cross bars on amazon right now. Just seems like they are a PITA to get on and off. That's what I am learning.

it takes 5min to put OEM bars on or take them off...the only downside is the clearance between them and the roof.....could not fit one if my bikes racks there...

Ski rack w/ factory cross bars - best solution - RX350 crossbars are moronic
 

On my RX300, I was able to use the factory cross bars and mount a simple Yakima clamp-style ski rack such that I had enough spacing front to back on the bars to clamp the skis so that the entirety of the bindings were between the 2 cross bars. (The racks clamped in front of the front toepiece and in back of the rear heel piece, respectively.)

On the RX350, I'm dumbfounded. It seems that the maximum spacing front to back for the bars will not give me enough clearance such that I can similarly rack the skis w/ the bindings between the 2 mounts on the cross bars. You just can't slide the crossbars forward and backward enough to allow this. It seems absolutely asinine that I can't slide the x-bars to have sufficient spacing like I could on my RX300.

So, I'm totally up in arms about how best to do a ski rack. It is impossible to have a workable clamp rack if you have to clamp between the front and rear bindings, especially if you have elevation plates on your bindings (like some of our skis do). The skis won't be balanced and they're too thick, too variable in thickness.

I assume I'm not the first to be let down by the RX350 crossbars--- what did you choose to do instead of the "conventional" approach I'm suggesting here?

Did you see the Lexus ski rack and ski rack adapters?

http://lexus.sewellparts.com/accesso...2010/2446.html

http://lexus.sewellparts.com/accesso...2010/4441.html

Thanks. That rack is +/- like the one I have. The issue is the span that the cross bar can provide front to back between cross bars. The adaptors appear to be a way to attach the rack to the rails w/o using the cross bars which defeats my purpose. (EDIT: Correction - looked at the installation instructions and they attach to the cross bars and in turn the rack attaches to them. My point remains.) I bet you anything that rack will not work for the same problem I describe unless your bindings are set for ladies boots oh say size 8 or smaller.

The RX350 cross bars can be at most 20.5" (on center) apart. Compare that to the adjustable cross bars I just measured on my mother-in-law's Grand Cherokee or my sister's Ford Explorer (both can easily be 60" apart or more).

HERE'S HOW I SOLVED THE PROBLEM
I did look at the installation instructions and noticed that at both ends of the roof rails are these rubber "stoppers" that are 3" long each that control how far forward / aft the rails can be positioned on the rails. Other than stopping my ski rack from working, I'm not sure what those stoppers are really doing or why they need to be that long. Wind noise abatement measure, perhaps. I removed them all. Cut 2 in half to create 4 1.5" stoppers. This yielded 3" additional span, just enough to get the rack to work as desired.

If you ski and use a hinge rack mounted to the cross bars (and have normal mens size feet say 10 or bigger) you would have this same problem.

Hope this fix helps somebody else.

Do you know if I need to buy both ski rack and ski rack adapters, or I can simply buy the ski rack only? My intention is to put 2 snowboards.

Roof Rack suggestions?
 

I would like to add storage capacity to my RX. I was considering this roof box...seems like a nice fit for the RX... and 18 cu ft is certainly a significant amount of added space.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-me...e=UTF8&index=0

In the past, I have had problems with these racks jumping up and down at high speeds.... has anyone experienced this with the RX? If so, I would consider adding a 3rd cross member. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated...

Multiple roof rack threads
 

Thanks for the tip. I have been looking at these black stoppers and wondering if something like this was possible. Front and back they consume about 6" of rack space, along with the wide track that the factory crossbars have that make the rack practically useless; what a dumb design. Did you ever have any negative effect from cutting the rubber stoppers in half?

I plan on removing my roof racks later this week. But after reading this post I am getting very worried. Is this a common problem? And what exactly should I do to prevent this from happening?

So to prevent this if I remove one screw and make sure a second screw is in place but loose then there is no chance that the bracket will fall in.

thanks

roof rack removal
 

hi all. i just bought a roof rack removal kit from a lexus dealer on ebay. what do you guys think of the look with out a roof rack? i cant find too many pics of them with out it on. and i never see any in my area with it removed. but im thinking it would have a cleaner look especially with my black color. what do you guys think?

You probably don't see many RXs around here without roof racks because FWD is pretty rare. I've thought about it myself a few times to make clearing snow off the roof easier. Even polishing too. But I want to stay true to the AWD SUV looks. Yours will definitely stand out from the crowd. Just make sure you use plumbers tape on the bolts to prevents leaks. And be sure to post pics when you're done.

I have a 450h without the roof rails and crossbars. it is does appear sleeker and is easier to clean. Some have also reported a small bump in gas mileage.

If you do remove it I would be interested in buying your roof rails. Although I like to look of the no rails, I want to carry my kayaks. Sent you a PM

I'm thinking about having my roof rack removed at my 5000k service. My rx is black and I think it will look better without it. It would be nice if it helped with the excessive wind noise, but probably not.