Hello, any opinion in placing a rack for snowboard. I m looking between Thule Snowpro 745 and the original rack. Please tell me your thoughts. Thank you

 

i would like to know this as well

 

It depends on what you want to transport. Speaking from experience, the Mini snowboard rack is great! If you want to carry more than one snowboard or carry skis and snowboards, get the mini rack. If you only need to carry one, get the thule. Also, never buy a new rack. I found my snowboard rack off craigslist for $80, and it was pretty much brand new. My only con is that it whistles a little bit when there is nothing in the rack, but its very easy to take off/put on again.

 

I bought the larger Thule so I could carry more. The way the mini holds skis limits you as some skis won't fit. I still had to find the perfect spot to space my rack on the roof so my skis wouldn't hit the hatch, my snowboard bindings would fit and so my daughters tiny skis would fit. I found a thule 975 on eBay for $80. It works great and nothing whistles.

 

all Thule racks will fit. The OEM MINI rack is actually made by Thule.
I have the OEM load bars & Thule 4 board-holdercarrier. Its the double wide Thule.
It makes a tad more noise than just the load bars, but thats expected.

As an install note. you dont really even need to cut the rubber strips. just poke a hole through them where the securing screw will poke through to mount the carrier.

also, do to the low profile of most OEM load bars, if your a snowboarder & want to mount 4 boards, its very likely your collapsed bindings on the bottom will still hit the roof/glass panel. ok for glass, not so much for paint. Thule does offer risers though.

 

I have the MINI OEM rack and it's just as good as the Thule... Sits a little higher but it will hold more. It does whistle a little on the Highway when empty, but really no more noticeable than my old Thule snowboard rack did years ago on my Honda Accord.

I would go with the OEM MINI rack and holder just due to the overall costs of getting a full Thule setup.

The OEM was very easy to install. I did it in the freezing cold, at night, with lousy lighting, in about 5 minutes total... Literally.

 

Yes, I have the OEM rack with the thule six ski carrier similar to smithworks.

 

I recently opted for a Thule base rack & cargo box. I chose the Thule setup because I liked the look of their aeroblades over the oem base. Also, I went into it thinking i'd get the snowboard rack, but opted for the box given it's versatility for use in going camping or on longer road trips in the warmer months. I'd also heard about the whistling of the board/ski racks and that didn't appeal to me. But you'll get additional noise no matter which way you go.

 

I really like the length of that box. what model is it? Do you know how long of a board it will fit?

 

It's the Thule Atlantis 1600...website and guide provide a max storage length of 178cm. I have a 155cm snowboard that fits with plenty of room for boots and other gear. The dual side opening feature is super convenient. A word of caution, the box requires a stubby antenna for clearance as the oem antenna is too tall.

Only down side is that it is a bit tall so it won't fit in my garage when mounted (not uncommon for cargo boxes). But the locking ***** and relatively light weight make it really easy to take on & off when not in use. [end sales pitch]

Now for a question in return...how do you like the those NM RS-e14's? I've had my eye on those for a bit. What kind of tires do you have? I like how the 45 sidewall coupled with the 19" wheel fills the wheel well. Nice clean look

 

leogetz, thx for the info. I'm a fan of Thule products. I've been using them nearly 10+ yrs on 6 cars. I've never owned a cargo box though.
Appreciate the board size info. I ride a 155 & 156, might try a 159 at some point.

I leave my Corrado in the garage & the CM outside :(

As for the NM RS-14's, they're great. super light & very strong. It s a semi forged design. IIRC a roll forged barrel & cast spokes. I hit a pretty bad pothole on the highway doing 65ish (the kind where you think your windshiled should have broke) & swore there was either going to be a pinch flat or lip bend & nothing at all. I'm quite happy. Not for nothing, I see other car driver's peeping them too. The MINI cap throws them off I guess. Clean enough to look OEM like, but nice enough to know theyre not stock.
Now the flipside. The lug bolt openings are very small. Its hard to use the factory lock w/o scraping the paint finish on the inner wall. Since MINI uses a extremely uncommon m14x1.25 bolt, aftermarket locks are next to impossible to source in the US. Eurolock is a type of security cover lock that ECS sells & these are a good deterrent, but not as nice as an actual bolt IMO.

As for the tires, The GMax AS-03 rated extremely well for an UHPAS. (tirerack tests/reviews)
The only downside is they are a tad noisy. not unbearable, but a tad louder than the 17" A/S RF's.
I was recently in a blizzard with these where all sorts of cars were off the road, they had no traction issue whatsoever. Gmax is made by continental.

The larger sidewall fits 100%, zero issues of rubbing, not even close. IMO it actually looks better. The speedo is now accurate till 80mph & then starts reading shy of actual. the 45 series 'fit/fill' the wheel well opening better IMO. the other obvious advantage is the larger sidewall. The side wall is smaller than the stock 17's and still doesnt look 'ballonish' .

 

Thanks for sharing in such detail. I think these will be the wheels that go on in v the spring once the winter set is no longer necessary.

Did you purchase them online? Feel free to pm me as I'm feeling I may be hijacked this thread.

 

I finish with my set up, the result is perfect

 

Has anyone had issues fitting their snowboards between the two roof racks? I haven't measured mine up but I just realized it when I walked into the store to pick up a rack.

 

is there a reason the bindings have to be down ?



i picked up a rhinorack cargo box so i can just throw everything up in it with boots and wetstuff.

autoanything has very good prices on racks and boxes.

 

I put them down to reduce the sound ... At 120km/h and more. If you see that the space between the racks is small for your snowboard just adjust the space and you will be fine.

 

Will this fit on the Mini Roof Racks? It says universal...

http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/spo/3552173387.html

 

looks like it should, it has the clamp style feet that just grab around the bar. if he's close to you maybe he'll let you test fit it to make sure the screws are long enough to tighten the clamp around the mini bars since they're pretty fat.

 

the feet included wont be a direct fit, but you could still probably use the hardware & it will work. The hardware(carriage bolts & rectangular washers) are all thats required to mount the attachment to the base bar.

A carriage bolt(square base) & matching rectangular washer(to keep from spinning) is all thats required to make any thule attachment 'bolt' to the load bars. Thule sells the hardware, or you can simply make it from Home Depot/ACE if your in a bind. I have.

this http://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-...5-0660-31.html

& this

http://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-.../853-2154.html

 

That's exactly what I have. It clamps right on.

 

I went to our local rack and hitch shop and picked up the Whispbar (Owned by Yakima same one as the Yakima fatcat 6 but the Whispbar ski rack 6 comes with a seamless attachment that slides into the Mini factory bars. I love it and works great. Highly recommend it!

 

I was thinking about getting that Wispbar. I like they look. But I expected it to mount closer to the factory rack and not stick up so tall. I'm sure that helps with the clearance for bindings.

 

Sorry to bump an old thread, but HOW did you manage to get those to flat mount?! Just got my 2015 CMS and am having a bear of a time figuring it out. The included "t-bolts" are too small to lock into the bar to get it tight!

HELP!