Lone Starr (Ivan)

I have waited so long for my roof rack, that I took it over to the dealer at lunch today and installed it. First, let me thank "the guys" for tips, and sometimes much more.

The instructions are bad. Real bad. The Chinese made bookcase behind me had better non-English to English translations than the German to Queen's English translations here. Bad Audi!

The roof rack is two pieces, two rubber runners and some bolts and some Scotchcal-like tabs for protecting the roof beside the rack inserts. Every rack piece is marked very clearly RF RR LF LR. Even "I" put everything in place properly.

The hardest part of installation of the base rack was guiding the bolts into the roof. There are locking covers over the attach points, and they get a little in the way of the provided hex torque wrench. (Yes, a torque wrench comes with it, labeled for 6nm and 9nm. Very handy.)

It looks as good as a roof rack can look on a TT. Very nice quality materials, aluminum or stainless steel and flat black.

I first inserted the rubber runners into the groove at the top of each cross member. I was tipped to lubricate them with silicone so they would slide in nice and easy. Then, it's just a matter of fastening the cross bars down loosely until both ends are attached, then tightening to 6Nm.

The bike rack is a separate part and is the type that holds the wheels of the bike and has a triangular piece that swings up to grab the bottom tube of the bike (the diagonal tube). It also locks.

I opened the box and was intimidated by the amount of hardware, then I looked at the instructions, and started asking "How much for installation?" (My old promise to myself to never again build my own BBQ grill went through my mind. Go ahead, tell me Home Depot assembles them for free. The wound is healed, I swear.

I was assisted greatly with installation of the bike rack (translation: I watched). I suppose when a "Brand Specialist" showed a customer to my TT and "allowed" me to extol the virtues of the car I was compensating them for the help, in a roundabout way.

After 3 or 4 attempts "we" finally figured it out. "We" were sure 4 times that it was the wrong part. Poor Craig, the parts manager. "I have checked it 3 times, but I will check again," he said cooly. He's a sport, to say the least.

As it turns out, the bike rack just slides into the grooves on the top of the rails and tightens down. So, I removed the rubber runners I had slicked up so nicely for installation. The lock down bolts take the same tool from the base rack but are tightended to 9Nm. How coincidental those markings were on the torque wrench!

There is one HUGE caveat to all of this, and LarryTT has already warned us about this, but it is worth repeating. You CANNOT open the hatch all the way with the bike rack on the car. With the Mark II Spoiler, the hatch shocks are so strong the hatch pops up. You MUST guide it with a hand. The bike rack does have rubber end covers and does give in case you forget, so you probably won't lose a window.

Finally, for those of you that are holding out for Thule or Yakima to make a base rack for the TT, forget it. I priced a base rack for a Honda Civic and the bike rack and locks and it was the same price to outfit a TT for a bike as it is a Civic. Just get the Audi rack.

I have not actually put a bike on it yet, as my car was at the dealer when I did all of this. I'll let you know how that goes. And I will post a pic of "Humpback Zorro" soon.

Peas. Out.<p>Ivan
<i>Jacksonville, Florida<i>
<img SRC="http://www.geocities.com/y2ktturbo/tinytt.jpg" BORDER=0>
"Zorro" 2000MY, 180hp, Fronttrak, Silver/Ebony, MKII suspension, spoilTT,
K&N, Garmin EMap GPS, Colgan "mask" on order, Audi roof rack, Cobra R/D

Larrytt

I need to get some highway long distance mileage under my belt with the setup.

I will let everyone know what sort of speeds can be safely maintained with a mountain bike on the roof of a TT!

I also want to see how bad the wind noise is on a 4 hour drive.

I need to do this as I am going on a 7+ hour drive in August up to Lake Placid and plan on bringing my bike!

Just Plain Cliff

If you are going to Placid, Larry, be sure to hike up Haystack, its a fun climb! BTDT!

BigTT

Ivan,

Does Audi have a fork mount bike attachment? I absolutely do not like the wheel mount racks as they are way to unstable for my paranoia (not to mention that it probably not fit my FS bike). Someone here mentioned a while back about using a Yakima bike mount on the Audi racks. Do you have any info about this??? (I have several Yakima mounts: bikes & ski and I would rather re-use my existing stuff if possible)


Thanks
Ted

gtt

Yes, they do make a fork mount. I believe http://www.clairparts.com/ has what you are looking for. I too would purchase same if/when I decide to take my Santa Cruz Superlight and Lemond on a trip as I think it's more secure and less windage.<p><img src="http://www.goodmangraphic.com/images/ttmini3.jpg">
2000 180Q Coupe Desert Green

BigTT

Thanks... just wish I did not have to scrap my Yakima stuff...

FrenchCoupe

Thanks for the detailed write-up Ivan. I think it's a great looking rack too. Went in to order one from my dealer here in France but couldn't; they tell me it is still being tested to meet French standards?! Wonder too what the noise level/mpg result will be. Like to hear your impressions in due course. Rgds Mike.

Lone Starr (Ivan)

You might try to create goodwill between you and your dealer's service and parts department by ordering it from them. That is, of course, if you have a good parts and service department.

Clair is just an Audi dealer in Boston with a web front end.

A fork mount is available from Audi, too.

I will post pics of the rack, but I am warning you I have not figured out how to take good closeups with my Kodak DC280.

Bike On!

As I have not put a bike into my bike rack yet, I was very interested to see your comments about stability. My main reason for getting the mount I did was to keep muddy tires out of the hatch of the TT. My bike is a mountain bike, weighs 29lbs, which is fairly heavy due to the chrome-moly (instead of aluminum) frame.

John, how has your experience been with Clair?<p>Ivan
<i>Jacksonville, Florida<i>
<img SRC="http://www.geocities.com/y2ktturbo/tinytt.jpg" BORDER=0>
"Zorro" 2000MY, 180hp, Fronttrak, Silver/Ebony, MKII suspension, spoilTT,
K&N, Garmin EMap GPS, Colgan "mask" on order, Audi roof rack, Cobra R/D

gtt

I purchased a cover for my TT from them and that is my only experience. They had it in stock while my dealer did not. Also parts person was knowledgeable about the fit with the new spoiler. Regarding the rack, I do a lot of cycling and it is windy where I live. I did not want to put a clamp around the paint on my road bike and my mountain bikes sometimes are strange frames and so the fork mount works best besides lowering the profile of the bike into the wind. I am waiting for a rear mat for the TT before transporting anything muddy like the front wheels. Possibly a plastic garbage bag may be an easy solution to keep the hatch area clean.<p><img src="http://www.goodmangraphic.com/images/ttmini3.jpg">
2000 180Q Coupe Desert Green

gtt

Me too. I have 2 steelhead tray mounts for sale with locks. It seems every new car needs completely new racks. I wish things were more like the mid '80's when you bought a SAAB and the racks were made by THULE and all was very easy to deal with. Now every OEM rack is unique and requires unique parts though some people have found creative solutions on this thread.<p><img src="http://www.goodmangraphic.com/images/ttmini3.jpg">
2000 180Q Coupe Desert Green