<center><img src="http://www.msnusers.com/_Secure/0RADFGPMSnGbF0wb8zwEHu3GBR7nlkgKExdwrl3UmaNBwlrD09 dpMrfYJ4UaM4Ev!NW1hHd0gLam5*GRnBueUrGdP*r22NfFu92j Lo!*I7L4/P1001389.jpg?dc=4675432523723914880"></center><p>After a couple of years of lining the back of my TT with an old blanket, taking off both wheels and gently organizing everything (not to mention moving everything that had been in the back to the passenger seat), I've finally come up with a rack solution.

THE PROBLEM:
1) The DaLan hitch that everyone talks about doesn't fit the 2000 TT.

2) The Audi roof rack has been discontinued and is prohibitively expensive anyway.

3) The Thule roof rack relies on hooking into the window frame which is a problem because (a) I just spent over $200 to get my window realigned and (b) I had a Yakima roof rack on my old Honda Prelude and the front foot popped off on the highway sending the back end of the rack down through my rear window while I was driving.

THE SOLUTION:
Mount a Yakima rack on the hatchback! Note: Yakima does not guarantee this installation in any way, and NEITHER DO I.

I knew a while back that the edges of the hatchback would be the perfect place to attach roof rack towers. I just never took the time to figure out what the appropriate parts would be until now.

Knowing that Yakima probably wants to avoid advising people how to do off-label installations, I phoned their tech support line and described the surface I wanted to mount to. I did not tell them it was a hatchback. I told them I planned to use their Q-Tower system and they told me that the Q-Clip I probably wanted was Q41, which is just a basic right angle good for mounting to a flat surface (actually they design it to mount to their screw on Top-Loaders).

I rushed to REI and got the parts I needed and it worked like a charm.

PARTS LIST WITH REI PRICES:
(I think these are basically the MSRP. I don't think Yak dealers can stray from these).

Yak#...Name....................Price...QTY
0105...Q Towers Set of 4........$125.....1
0408...48" Roundbar Pair.........$45.....1
0641...Q Clips Q-41 ($24/pair)...$48.....2
2064...Copperhead Bike Mount.....$80.....1
Optional
7206...SKS Lock Cores 6 pack.....$50.....1
2067...Wheel Fork................$30.....1

Total for basic bike rack: $298
Total with Locks and a fork for front wheel: $378

Notes:
a) after installing, do some serious yanking on the towers to make sure they're secure. While it is important to make sure they can't slide off the side by pulling while standing beside the car, it's also important to make sure they can't slide back towards the back end of the car. The width of the hatchback is slightly tapered so this is a danger. One fix to this (if you have access to welding equipment) would be to weld up a little bump on the bottom side of the hatch just below where the clip sits, so as to prevent the clip from sliding down. Similarly you could epoxy a small nut at that location as well, but it would not have as much lateral strength.

b) My installation relies upon the spoiler to prevent slippage of the rear towers. If you don't have the spoiler, you may need to do something similar to what I described in (a) for the rear towers.

c) I cannot notice a difference in the level of wind noise with just the rack on. With my road bike on there, I get a whistle that starts at 48mph and cuts off completely at 70mph. I don't know about the rest of you, but that's a bracket I rarely drive in.

d) You may wonder about the weight change for the hatchback... With the rack alone, the hatch operates pretty much as normal, although it slams a little harder if I'm not careful. With one bike on, it requires me to lift it open, rather than relying entirely on the pistons. Once open, however, the pistons are sufficient to keep it open, at least in 90-100 degree heat. Not sure what effect temp would have on that quality.

e) I have noticed that the back end feels heavier when I drive with the rack on. I attribute that to the air spoiling properties that the rack surely has back there. If you pay close attention and intend to drive with the rack a lot, you may need to adjust your camber, even if that means replacing your tie rods.

f) While I used a long-tray style mount, you could probably get away with the separated style mount (e.g. Boa for $65) because the spacing is just about perfect. I prefer the long tray because I imagine it adds some additional stability to the full system.

g) with the front towers mounted so they are flush with the front edge of the hatch, and the mount placed dead center, the front of the mount comes up just a hair shy of touching the antenna on top of the car.

h) While Thule has similar towers and probably has analogous clips that would work, you should use Yakima. Why? Because Thule's rectangular crossbars require that their horizontal axes are in pretty much the same plane in order to attach a mount between them, while Yakima's round x-bars don't have definitive horizontal axes. (I.e. the front crossbar will be sitting at a downward angle, while the rear won will be sitting pretty much level to the ground).

See the link below for more pictures.

 

BTW, in the picture from the front, you'll notice that all you can see is just the small horns of the top crossbar sticking out at the sides. Since that is the part that is outside the tours, you could saw that off on both the front and rear x-bars to cut down on extra extension. Leave enough space to pop the endcaps back on though.

Tex

 

It looks interesting. But while I would carry snowboards..... I think it would block the view. Do you have any pics of the rack and the bike together?

Cheers

 

I put 16 pics online at http://www.msnusers.com/TT-Yakima/shoebox.msnw

Three of 'em show the bike on there, but I took all my pictures after work today, and the ones with the bike I took after dark. With just the bike, the view obstruction is not bad.

If I were doing skis or snowboards, I would put them all the way over to the left (and I wouldn't cut off the extra nubs, because I would use as much of the x-bar as I could. While they might obstruct a little bit of your vision in the rear view mirror, over on the left they would not be in your way while looking over your shoulder, but they would be in the way for that on the right.

I would also have put them over to the side because I ski, rather than snowboard, thus I would want to be over where the bindings were not in danger of rubbing the bulge in the window.

Tex<ul><li><a href="http://www.msnusers.com/TT-Yakima/shoebox.msnw">16 pics of the Yak rack on the hatchback</a></li></ul>

 

Very clever. Nice mod!

 

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/51065/101-0117_img.jpg"></center><p>I did see a euro rack on another Lake TT it was painted to match the car, at Pipes, near Swammi's Beach, a great local break. It looked good, but not as good as if it was removed

 

dude,

this looks awesome. Very creative. I wonder if I can do something similiar with my Thule racks.

 

Is that a Thule bike rack you have?

 

You probably can't do it with that rack because that's the 757, which is specially designed for the roof of the TT. It is made with the special feet integrated directly to the crossbars.

What you need is a set of crossbars and feet and then you have to find the Thule Fit Kit equivalent of the Yakima Q41 clip, if it exists. If you do that, then you would be able to attach your ski/board mount to that rack.

As I noted in my previous posting, even if you can do what I describe above, you may still have a problem with the rectangular bars of Thule.

BTW, the only thing vehicle-specific about the Yak setup I have is the Q41 clips. If you can find someone selling a used rack setup with Q-towers, then all you'll lack is the clips (and whatever accessories you want that the person isn't selling). I saw some Q-towers with crossbars that went for $100 on ebay; that would save you $75 right there.

Same thing (most of the parts being easy to find used) would go for a Thule rack to be installed the same way, assuming they have an equivalent fit kit.

Tex

 

Yes, TTed in DC is sporting the Thule