[saabdrvr]

Stumbled across a brand called Turtle Can Carry. Tracked down some websites and then found some of their racks on eBay.

Racks ship from Poland so they take a few weeks to arrive (18 days in my case to Virginia). A slight whistle at some speeds but otherwise quiet aero bars for about $170 total (that includes the shipping). Happy with the quality.

http://turtlecancarry.com/

https://www.ebay.com/itm/for-BMW-X1-...72.m2749.l2649

[rb10475]

Those look good.

[saabdrvr]

Originally Posted by rb10475

Those look good.

Thanks - more of a real aero bar compared to the thicker OEM, and a little less expensive.

[gkamieneski]

Because of the X1's roofline, your rear bar looks significantly below level of the front bar.

Wondering how you deal with that when mounting things to the bar, like a cargo box?

[saabdrvr]

Originally Posted by gkamieneski

Because of the X1's roofline, your rear bar looks significantly below level of the front bar.

Wondering how you deal with that when mounting things to the bar, like a cargo box?

This was just a quick proof of concept mounting - will make fore and aft adjustments as necessary. Might require putting the bars at minimum distance apart that can still accommodate the Thule box so I don’t have too much of an elevation disparity btwn. front and rear.

Those Thule claws adjust so I should be able to make it work OK.

There may be some optical illusion at play. Here is why I think these racks will be fine:





Of course we won’t really know until I mount a box too.

UPDATE: I pulled out the long level. If I push the front bar forward a little toward the point where the rail begins to drop down it will lower enough to create a level set of bars.

On that note - considering a white or gray Goplus box (and keep the Thule box for my MINI Countryman)




https://www.costway.com/14-cubic-fee...l?piid=9224700

https://www.amazon.com/Goplus-Waterp...2353097&sr=8-4

[wcs2229]

Thanks for the side view pics.

[gkamieneski]

Thanks for sharing. It's a help for the rest of us trying to make load bars work.

With my 2 ft. level, I found that the optimal position for my Thule bars is the front Thule Podium foot being 16in on the curve of the rail from the front window crease, then 24" (the max spacing) to the rear bar. This setup shows the bars to be spot on level.

My Thule Ascent 1100 box is 88in. long and 24in. is close to the minimum bar spread, but eyeballing it looks like it will work without interfering with the hatch opening. Won't know for sure until I mount the box, but right now that's just right hanging on the wall of the garage.

[saabdrvr]

Originally Posted by gkamieneski

Thanks for sharing. It's a help for the rest of us trying to make load bars work.

With my 2 ft. level, I found that the optimal position for my Thule bars is the front Thule Podium foot being 16in on the curve of the rail from the front window crease, then 24" (the max spacing) to the rear bar. This setup shows the bars to be spot on level.

My Thule Ascent 1100 box is 88in. long and 24in. is close to the minimum bar spread, but eyeballing it looks like it will work without interfering with the hatch opening. Won't know for sure until I mount the box, but right now that's just right hanging on the wall of the garage.

Thank you for sharing that intel - will save me some experimentation time for sure. I have a 4' level to assist me in this endeavour. My roof box won't be as large, so I think my challenge will be less.

Will update once I have everything set - would love to see your setup when complete as well.

Just curious - does anyone know if the OEM racks have built in compensation for the height disparity due to slope of the roof?

[gkamieneski]

I suspect Audi and some other manufacturers also have to compensate for the sloping roof line.

What puzzles me is why these flush rails do not seem to have any standardization. Seems craze that Thule has to make a fit kit for each manufacturers flush rails and that each manufacturer has to have their own OEM rack.

All of this lack of standardization makes for more expense for the consumer, i.e., finish with your Thule rack on your BMW and you cannot sell it to an Audi customer.

[saabdrvr]

Originally Posted by gkamieneski

I suspect Audi and some other manufacturers also have to compensate for the sloping roof line.

What puzzles me is why these flush rails do not seem to have any standardization. Seems craze that Thule has to make a fit kit for each manufacturers flush rails and that each manufacturer has to have their own OEM rack.

All of this lack of standardization makes for more expense for the consumer, i.e., finish with your Thule rack on your BMW and you cannot sell it to an Audi customer.

The Apollo 13 Command Module used square cartridges... the LEM used round.

Some standardization would be nice, but this isn’t the Military, and the engineers at these companies will always be looking to innovate, so I suspect this won’t change anytime soon.

[gkamieneski]

Yes, but do you realize how much alike flush mounted rails are among manufacturers? I would equate it more to wheels and tires.

[saabdrvr]

I guess I didn’t. Unrelated, but the racks I miss the most are Whispbar.

[gkamieneski]

I went with an old-fashioned Thule Square Bar system as I was able to find the older model Podium Feet and they use the same Fit Kit as all their other bar sets. I did this because I had so many square bar accessories including bicycle trays, ski racks and lumber carriers.

I have to say, I like the way the Thule Podium towers attach to the flush rails much better than how the Thule Crossroads towers fit the raised rails that I had on my Passat Wagon.

[saabdrvr]

I don't have experience with the towers - on our other raised rail vehicles (like our 2012 VW Tiguan), we used the rail bars that just go straight across like the Volvo OEM made by Thule:



I did use Rhino Rack one time when I was searching for a solution for my VW CC - I really liked those: