MK4 OEM Roof Rack Tips

Tis the season to be mounting roofracks if you're a skier/snowboarder, and so I thought I'd pass along a few tips for those looking into racks and then trying to mount em etc.

1) Why OEM racks? What about Thule or Yakima? The main reason is because these bars have a really good connection system than attaches right on to the unibody of the car. The also include the locks at no extra charge, and include the clear plastic strips to protect your paint, heck they even give you a torque-wrench tool to put them on. Finally, the price is competitive if not less that Yakima Q towers/bar or the Thule aftermark system. Rumour has it that VW has Thule make the OEM racks for them.

2) The OEM rack comes with clear directions, so I won't go into detail on how to mount them. You can buy an OEM ski carrier or get a Thule one. If you get the Thule one, make sure you get the "T-bolt" package so you can mount them. I believe Thule calls this the "FastTrack" system. Basically they're bolts with a base plate which slides through a groove in the top of the bars. The bolts stick up and you just line up the hole on the ski carriers, or bike tray or kayak carrier and then secure it with the nuts provided with the t-bolt package (no tools required).

3) Take em off if you're not using em. Racks are exposed to elements and take a beating and hurt gas mileage. If you're not using them all season, take em off.

4) There's a rubber strip included with the OEM racks, which fits into the groove where the t-bolts go. This strip is handy if you want to put some lumber or canoe up there and not have it slide around as much. It also minimize the hum from wind. Wind noise is at it's worst when the bars are empty, but the strip does help. When you mount it, DO NOT try and slide it, but rather just put it on top and push it down into the groove. Work your way from one end to the other and you'll find it's much easier than sliding it in. With my ski carrier, I have part of the bars' groove left open due to length of the carrier, so I cut this stip to fir in the remainng space. I can just mount both piece of trim in the racks should I take the carrier off, so no big deal.

5) If you love fairing and their look, and ski racks, don't go for OEM bars - it just doesn't work out. Go for yakima. I'm unconvinced that there is much noice or fuel economy savings with a fair in our cars.

Anyways, hope this helps those on the fence etc. Here's the final product:

Do Thule and/or Yakima racks not take advantage of the OEM VW roof-rack mounting pins?

The Thule rack for my Saab uses the OEM mounting points, at much less cost than what the dealer would want for the rack. I'd be surprised if it wasn't the same with VW... Thule is a modular sort of system... you buy "standard" towers, with whatever adapters are relevant to your vehicle, then whatever length bars you want, then whatever carrier systems you need. On top of that, add a lock-key package.

People in Ottawa (or anywhere, I suppose...!) can check out Autoracks Ottawa.

I just don't want people thinking they must go to a dealer to get the advantage of a well-engineered system, especially since I see good deals float by every once in a while on newsgroups and such.

A great accessory with lots of utility; thanks for the post!!

The Votex (OEM) load bars are rounded in the front & back and flat on the top & bottom. They have a channel that Votex accessories lock into. I'd imagine you could use Thule accessories designed to clamp on to Thule's rectangular load bars. Not so sure about Yakima, it would depend on the diameter of the bars.

Do Thule and/or Yakima racks not take advantage of the OEM VW roof-rack mounting pins?

Click to expand...

I know the Thule mount system does for sure. The difference, however, is that each mounting point has two pins to hook onto - Thule utilizes only one of them. Nothing to worry about - it feels plenty secure.

The other advantage to using the Thule/Yakima system is that the standard load bars are longer than OEM, so you can carry something like a canoe without any modifications.

--Andy

The OEM roof racks are based on the Thule "Aero" Bars sold in Europe. I bought the OEM VW bars through IMPEX for MUCH less than a set of Thule or Yakima bars. I already owned a bike rack and ski rack for the standard square Thule Racks. I thought I would have to sell them on EBAY and buy the VW ones. NOT SO!! It turns out that Thule sold the “Aero” bars here in the US for like a year or two. I called Thule and asked for the adapters to make my bike rack and ski rack fit the “Aero” bars. They mailed them to me free of charge! I also think that the quality and fitment of the OEM racks are nicer than the standard Thule or Yakima!!

I bought a set of OEM roof bars used at a GTG. I also bought a Yakima bike carrier used off Ebay. It wasn't until AFTER both of these events that I realized that there are no adapters available to fit the Yakima carrier on the OEM rack.

No worries though, as it turns out, a standard-sized bolt head (dont remember what size) will slide right into the channel of the load bar, and then you can bolt the carrier down without any fancy/expensive hardware.

The yakima system uses both pins. I recently put a full yakima system on my car. I was originally planning to get the oem, but I've been told the oem clamps were only wide enough to carry two snowboards(sandwiched) while my yakima rack can carry four.

All of my Yakima attachments come with the yakima round adapter, and then a monster adapter that will fit the square thule, or any other wonky bar system.

IMHO, i'd go with a company that specializes in roof racks. And the yakimas are much prettier.. ;]

I have a MOMO magnettic ski/board rack.
I love it's looks and ease of use.
I takes 5 seconds to put on and off completely.

I need to dig it out so i can snap a pic thought

Before I bought my VW OEM rack I was considering a magnetic version, but the thought of having snowboards on, creating a relatively large drag surface area, I didn't feel too comfortable about it! Can you drive 140kph with those?

They probably work, but I'd be constantly looking up through my sunroof to see if my babies were still there!!

I used to drive with one hand out the window holding on to my babies.

You get over it after a while.

1) Why OEM racks? What about Thule or Yakima? The main reason is because these bars have a really good connection system than attaches right on to the unibody of the car. The also include the locks at no extra charge, and include the clear plastic strips to protect your paint, heck they even give you a torque-wrench tool to put them on. Finally, the price is competitive if not less that Yakima Q towers/bar or the Thule aftermark system. Rumour has it that VW has Thule make the OEM racks for them.

Click to expand...

I agree that the OEM racks are nice, but I got sick of adapting my accessories to work with them (then adapting back to Yakima/Thule to go on my wife's roofrack).

My solution? I put Thule crossbars on the VW towers. I got some Thule crossbars for about $20 used (and that included two long bike trays). The internal size of the Thule crossbars is identical to the internal size of the VW crossbars, even though the external dimensions are different. Using a hacksaw and drill press I modified my Thule crossbars to fit the VW towers.

Now I have the nice looking and very secure VW towers and standard crossbars that work with all of my accessories. The entire project took about an hour. I have a drill press which made things a little faster, but you could do it with a hand drill.

Disclaimer: It works for me, but I make no guarantees that it will work for you.

alex

The Votex (OEM) load bars are rounded in the front & back and flat on the top & bottom. They have a channel that Votex accessories lock into. I'd imagine you could use Thule accessories designed to clamp on to Thule's rectangular load bars. Not so sure about Yakima, it would depend on the diameter of the bars.

Click to expand...

The VW OEM bars have a much larger external diameter than Thule bars. Accessories that clamp around Thule bars won't work with the VW OEM bars.

Thule sells an accessory kit to mount many of their products into the slots on the VW bars. These can be adapted to work with other products too.

alex

The yakima system uses both pins. I recently put a full yakima system on my car. I was originally planning to get the oem, but I've been told the oem clamps were only wide enough to carry two snowboards(sandwiched) while my yakima rack can carry four.

Click to expand...

The Yakima system uses both pins, but not as securely as the OEM towers.

The OEM towers use sloted brackets which engage with the pins. When you secure the towers the brackets push away from each other. The pins are surrounded on three sides, and the side which isn't surrounded is facing the other pin.

The Yakima system also surrounds the pins on three sides, but the side which isn't surrounded is the same on both pins. The towers count on compression between the pins and roof to keep it from sliding. The VW system hardly touches the roof, everything depends on the pins.

Next time I mount my roof rack I'll have to take a picture and find this thread to show how it works.

alex

That would be great. I just got a LEER topper for my Dakota, and it came with a Yakima rack. I was going to get Yakima towers so I could re-use the load bars... I would like to see how the Yakima fits.

moondawg

TDiMike said:

4) There's a rubber strip included with the OEM racks, which fits into the groove where the t-bolts go. This strip is handy if you want to put some lumber or canoe up there and not have it slide around as much. It also minimize the hum from wind. Wind noise is at it's worst when the bars are empty, but the strip does help.

Click to expand...

I know this is a reeeeally old thread, but I just got an '03 Golf with the VW roof racks. They don't have that rubber strip. Does anyone know a p/n for it, or have the instructions for it that may show a p/n for it? I'd like to reduce the wind noise on mine.

TDI in MT said:

I know this is a reeeeally old thread, but I just got an '03 Golf with the VW roof racks. They don't have that rubber strip. Does anyone know a p/n for it, or have the instructions for it that may show a p/n for it? I'd like to reduce the wind noise on mine.

Click to expand...

I didn't find the part number in my instruction manual...but...

You can get a rather expensive OEM rubber strip on eBay.

You could also try an aftermarket Thule rubber strip that should work from etrailer. I haven't tried the etrailer strips but one reviewer states that they work in his OEM VW racks.

Anyways, good luck!

SomeGuy

Thanks! I'll see if any local shops carry Thule.

TDI in MT

You're welcome!

Please post if you have any luck with the Thule strips.

Yes, they worked! I don't have the Thule p/n but that link is what I showed to the local bike shop guys. They are a bit quieter now. $4 for the parts, $9 for shipping....

Good News!