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So my understanding is that there are no roof racks for the 2016 RX that allow the panoramic roof to fully open? Am I correct?
As I understand it from the photos at the beginning of this topic, the crossbars themselves won't prevent the panoramic roof from fully opening; it's when you put your cargo pod on the crossbars that there is insufficient clearance to open the pano roof. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
Last edited by daffydd; 10-04-16 at 02:25 PM.
Reason: typo
As I understand it from the photos at the beginning of this topic, the crossbars themselves won't prevent the panoramic roof from fully opening; it's when you put your cargo pod on the crossbars that there is insufficient clearance to open the pano roof. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
I'm interested in knowing if there are roof racks/cross bars that won't get in the way of carrying items/pods while still being able to fully open the panoramic roof.
I'm interested in knowing if there are roof racks/cross bars that won't get in the way of carrying items/pods while still being able to fully open the panoramic roof.
So am I. Without seeing the Thule system I can't say anything definitive, but I can envision a spacer between the pod and the crossbars that would raise the pod by an few cm and permit the roof to open. Repeat: I'm speculating that might be possible.
Consider, though, that wind noise from the assembly on the roof might make opening the roof an unpleasant experience.
Last edited by daffydd; 10-05-16 at 03:31 PM.
Reason: addition
Just installed my Thule Cross Bars. I was sent the 7603 (front) and 7602 (rear). Looks great and opens just fine w/ the Panoroom. The noise is minimal. You do get a little wind noise, but I'm usually listening to music on the louder side, so it does not bother me. Hands-free conversations over the Bluetooth work like normal as well.
Have a new 2016 RX 350 with Pano roof. annoyed that the roof rails are now flush down on the roof. The raised ones on my 2013 were great. I had to buy cross bars just to have something to attach my roof christmas lights come the end of november.
Just installed my Thule Cross Bars. I was sent the 7603 (front) and 7602 (rear). Looks great and opens just fine w/ the Panoroom.
Do you mean that it opens fine with only the crossbars installed or that it opens fine with a luggage carrier attached to the crossbars? 'Cuz the crossbars aren't really the point, are they? It's being able to carry stuff on them.
I don't think you would want to open the pano roof with any attachment or even the roof rack attached. It would be very noisy.
That may well be true, but it wasn't the point of my question, which was "Do you mean that it opens fine with only the crossbars installed or that it opens fine with a luggage carrier attached to the crossbars?"
That may well be true, but it wasn't the point of my question, which was "Do you mean that it opens fine with only the crossbars installed or that it opens fine with a luggage carrier attached to the crossbars?"
pano roofs just fine with crossbars attached as long as you have it installed correctly (distance wise) as I mentioned in the photos.
Anything on the crossbars like luggage, cargo box, roof rack...then you should not open pano roof because glass sits higher when fully opened.
pano roofs just fine with crossbars attached as long as you have it installed correctly (distance wise) as I mentioned in the photos.
Anything on the crossbars like luggage, cargo box, roof rack...then you should not open pano roof because glass sits higher when fully opened.
Thanks for taking time to clarify. Much appreciated!
I finally had a pair of Thule crossbars installed on my 2016 (by Bike Doctor in Annapolis, MD). I think the embedded photos illustrate why one can't open the panoramic roof with a load attached—with no load there is a close match between glass height and available clearance. But with the crossbar deflected downward by a load there is insufficient clearance. The unladen crossbars do not impede roof opening.
OEM roof rail install RX350 FSport with pano glass
Hi I want to confirm that the OEM roof rails do fit on the 2016 RX350 FSport with pano glass. The set screws can be removed with a torx driver to allow the bars to be used in a clamp fashion. Note that the torx screws are set with some sort of thread locker so it takes quite a bit of force to get them moving. The moon roof will still open free and clear of the cross bars if you position them as shown in my picture. The rails are very sturdy if you follow the instructions for install and use the provided torque wrench. This is the cheapest and by far best looking option for cross bars for the RX350. I purchased the OEM rails from ebay (PT278-48160) for 269$ shipped and the Yakima FatCat6 ski carrier from Amazon for 180$ shipped Total cost of setup: 449$. The rails and ski carriers took about 2 hours to install. I positioned the rails 36" apart from center to center to allow my snowboard bindings to fit between the rails (you could put them closer together if you wanted) My advice would be to open the sunroof all the way, put a blanket on the roof for protection and then play around with the spread to see what works best for your setup.
Hi I want to confirm that the OEM roof rails do fit on the 2016 RX350 FSport with pano glass. The set screws can be removed with a torx driver to allow the bars to be used in a clamp fashion. Note that the torx screws are set with some sort of thread locker so it takes quite a bit of force to get them moving. The moon roof will still open free and clear of the cross bars if you position them as shown in my picture. The rails are very sturdy if you follow the instructions for install and use the provided torque wrench. This is the cheapest and by far best looking option for cross bars for the RX350. I purchased the OEM rails from ebay (PT278-48160) for 269$ shipped and the Yakima FatCat6 ski carrier from Amazon for 180$ shipped Total cost of setup: 449$. The rails and ski carriers took about 2 hours to install. I positioned the rails 36" apart from center to center to allow my snowboard bindings to fit between the rails (you could put them closer together if you wanted) My advice would be to open the sunroof all the way, put a blanket on the roof for protection and then play around with the spread to see what works best for your setup.
I'm assuming you are only carrying adult size skis or boards on those. I don't think my kid's skis fur at those spacing.
I tried my yakima q tower that I had been using on my Venza on the RX. With some width adjustment they seem to fit securely. Not sure why yakima says they do not fit.
10-04-16, 12:26 PM
