On mine it measures ~29.5 inches from center of t-slot to center of t-slot

 

Bought my OEM rack yesterday at Prestige. (They either knew nothing about this whole issue, or played dumb to make a sale.)

Will be installing it today. Crossing fingers...

Thinking about bike trays now. I need a tray that does not require removal of the front wheel; my most commonly used bike now has a Cannondale Lefty "fork" on it, so this will not work in a fork-mount tray. I am leaning toward the Thule Big Mouth.

With more racks out there now, hopefully there are folks who can weigh on these questions.

1. Are there any trays to stay away from?

2, Are there any that are overwhelmingly better?

 

Please let us know how it goes and what the stock number on your rack is ?

Good luck!

 

Oh yes; also wanted to thank Taxmaxter for the quick response.
I had measured between the barely visible lines indicating where to remove the gutter strips...but this makes it much more clear.

The centers available on the Rola rack are 30"...I think I can cheat 1/4" each way and make it work.

Thanks again!

 

Looks like Mini-Fini is at last coming out with their rear mount system. I had their Sport Link on my 06 Cooper S and loved it. However I don't think it will be an inexpensive solution.

http://minifini.com/ShopDetail.aspx?id=29

 

No kidding! I'll have two bike trays on my rack and have made the same total investment as the Club-Link without any attachments. I'm glad I went the way I did.

 

Slightly off topic but still about carrying bikes etc.

See this post for more info https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...5&postcount=14

So the racks went on okay i assume as you seem to have the bike attachments on already?

How do the bike ride up there?

Is there a lot of extra noise?

Tell us what you think.

 

picked my HC-S up yesterday. My MA total me that he has been watching our thread and Schatzy he mentioned that your directions are actually approved directions. He told me there is a fix that will cost $110 (which includes some fix and adjustments) and needs to be dealer installed. He said with the new 09 and the roof rails that Mini will NOT have a fix for the roof rack problems.
I will be installing mine tomorrow using Schatzy's PDF. Roof box will go on, on Saturday for a test drive.

 

 

What dealer are you working with?

Who is your MA?

 

InSkip in Warwick RI. Peter Rock is my MA. I asked him about the mod on the rack and he said he wasn't quite sure what it was, but knows that their service department has a fix for the rack.
Be nice to him Eric if you call him

 

$110 for a design defect???

 

I contacted Thule to ask what was the outcome of the Clubman test-fitting they did in Connecticut and almost immediately got this reply:

----- Original Message ----
From: "LeFort, Nick"
Sent: Tuesday, August 5, 2008 11:57:11 AM
Subject: RE: Thule rack for Mini Cooper Clubman

The testing was done and we were able to qualify that it was the same fit for the standard Mini…
BUT – In field testing, 10 out of 20 people had trouble getting the brackets to attach to the rack properly, so we suspended the fit for the time being until we can do further testing.

--------------------------------------------------------
So it looks like they were not going to try to make use of the roof-slots that the OEM rack uses.




MORE EMAIL FROM THULE:
here's the second response from Thule:

----- Original Message ----
From: "LeFort, Nick"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, August 5, 2008 1:08:38 PM
Subject: RE: Thule rack for Mini Cooper Clubman


The rain gutter isn't a standard raingutter on that vehicle, but it does utilize it in a way - but in a bracket on the 400XT foot.
The testing was fine, really, it was just difficult for people to get the bracket to reach the foot in installation, and I would rather not have people having problems with the racks on their vehicles… You know?

We’re looking into the slots as an option… But as a side note – we don’t make that OEM rack.
We made a version of it up until 2006. I am not sure who makes it now (though they are virtually the same)

Nick LeFort
Fit Specialist

Thule Inc
42 Silvermine Road
Seymour, CT 06483

Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 12:55 PM
To: LeFort, Nick
Subject: Re: Thule rack for Mini Cooper Clubman

Thanks for the rapid response Nick.

I would have thought that Thule was looking at a fit using the rain-gutters, but you said it is the same fit as for a standard Mini and your website says that is the 400 XT Aero foot or the 400XTR Rapid Aero foot which are for cars without raingutters. I just can't picture how this foot would sit on the top of the Clubman roof with those tall ridges that MINI calls "roof dunes" running the length of the edge of the roof in the way.
Too bad the field testing didn't go so smoothly. How did the 10 out of 20 people that got it right manage to get the foot on the roof past those ridges?

Any chance of Thule developing a fit kit that makes use of the slots in the roof that the Mini OEM rack (made by Thule ) uses?

Thanks for the update

 

that's what I was thinking to.

 

This all sounds so familiar...even before they did their CT test fit.

I just will not believe that MINI will charge the customers who have already purchased their base racks and who've had problems with them to get the retro fit. Not accusing geoffv's MA of lying, but there's got to be a miscommunication here.

 

Yakima Research,

Ok, for a couple of years (like alot) I was a Yakima fit specialist for a number of bike shops I worked at. The fact that this car (08 Clubman) already has the slots into the roof is phenominal (sp?). Challenge is finding the Yakima Q clip that is close enough with slight mods to work. I know a challenge I had with my 06 JustACooper is that while the Qtowers + Q78 Clips fit it well (Qtowers are a compression fit rack) ...it needed to be snug and adjusted well to prevent the sucker from sliding back. With 4 towers that grab the car with the clips and then some integrity from 2 bike mounts...very good solution for me. I took it off when I wasn't going to use it for 2 days or so. You have to be careful that the contact pads on the Qtowers don't get too grunghy as you will have grunge on your roof over time. With the baked in slots...the slide back issue is solved. So cool!

By my measurements: The slots are 5 cm wide and 1.5cm deep. There is no lip inside the slot...it is a straight slot..I don't know what the actual angle is but it is angled slightly down I believe. Crossbar spread on these will be greater than 26-28" (Yakima gets more nervous with less than 24" spread.) Yakima is by far the best rack out there in my opinion.

Question for the collective brain...has anyone experimented with any of the Qclips (realizing Yakima themselves does not have a quote unquote fit for the clubman) to get a close fit with those slots? I didn't have my clubman until Friday so I wanted to get it to get the actual measurements and test/actual car.

I gave up my Q78 clips (the Yakima specified raingutter clip for my 06 JustACooper) when I sold my 06 JustaCooper but they were at least 2 cm too long and angle wasn't there either...but it may be the clip closest and then you modify it from there. The clip itself is a signif. piece of steel so I don't know that cutting 2 cm off would affect the integrity of the fit (1 cm each side). Not for the faint of heart but not a big deal for slightly mechanical types.

I'm going to hit some local bike shops today to see what their Qclip inventory looks like. I'm not concerned about the angle of the ridges...the Qtowers would sit on the outside of the the ridges which seems rock solid to me. The top part of the roof is pretty soft but exterior to those top ridges is very sound. The feet on the Qtowers can handle the angle. So it is more of a inward/down compression fit with those racks.

Cheers,
Peter in Sarasota

btw, when I picked up the car at the dealership they said they could put on the rack (OEM) if I wanted them too. It seems that roughly half of the dealerships are still installing "if they are comfortable." These guys are running out of things to sell as they have no cars to sell.

 

you got better mileage out of Thule support than I did. All i got was the canned answer... It really pisses me off, because I have invested in my rack and items for years and now, even Mini can't sell me one. I'm dead in the water and going on vacations this Friday. Guess I'll have to rent a minivan or something... (yuk)

"We do not any dates of arrival for this vehicle.

We have yet to test and approve this vehicle for use with any accessories. You can look-up this vehicle in our Rack You Car Guide at http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/fg_vehicle.asp
and select this vehicle. In the space provided, if you provide us your e-mail address, we can update you when testing is complete and what products we can recommend.
Thanks -"

 

I have tried out my Yakima rack with Q-towers and yes the tower feet rotate enough to fit on the outside of the roof dune ridges and seem quite stable there.
My old Q-clip to fit the towers onto the car look to be about the same width as the roof slots, or at least the notches etched in the rubber rain gutter in front of the slot. But I haven't tried anything with these.

I'm all for experimenting with Q-clips--does anyone have thoughts on what angle or bends the clip should have to fit the slots?

 

Got another message from Thule--

Regarding a possible future fit he said:
"The highest weight rating you’ll most likely get on this vehicle is 110 lbs. no matter what way we mount it.
But chances are we’ll use the door frames and not the slots on the roof.
Nick"

 

Yakima Clubman update.

Went to the local bike shop and worked with one of the mechanics on a variety of Yakima Qclips....with slight QClip modifcation...should fit the roof rack preparation slots on the Clubman. Looks like the Q47 may be my best bet. It had decent height to it which places the Qtowers on the higher outside ledge of the Dune. 48" crossbar looks fine.

The only challenge appears to be that the clip is 6.5 cm wide and the slot is 5.5 cm wide. I will need to trim .5 cm off both sides of the clip...then we should be good. This would be the easiest clip Yakima could make. Ever slight mod to an existing clip. Depth is good. Depth of the slot is 1.5 cm. Clip depth is 2cm which puts the clip out enough that it won't contact the roof. Angle looks good. I can see..once removing the perforated rubber exposing the slots...that the slot at the suicide door has a different tolerance. Milimeters at best but there is a slight difference. Pretty sure we are fine anyway but I can see how some cars may have had problems if the OEM rack was a B++ fit. I'm $225 into this experiment and the little rubber perforated strips have been removed. You could say I am committed at this point. "The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed. "

I'll post updates as I go. DISCLAIMER. This is a do at your own risk as Yakima does not have an official fit for the Clubman. Maybe they will come out with a fit. Anyone have any friends at Yakima? Aren't they in Washington State? Surely there are clubmans in Washington State.

Cheers,
Peter in Sarasota

 

Can someone who bought the OEM rack post a pic of the protector that goes into the slot when the rack is not installed?

Thanks
Peter

 

There are some pictures in the Coupe forum in their thread on the 2nd gen roof rack:
1. in the box: (see last post on page 2 of thread)
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...highlight=rack
2. installed: (see second to last post on pg 3 of thread)
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...highlight=rack

Schatzy's install guide also has a pix of them still in the box.
I don't know of any pix of the protector that shows the side that goes into the slot.

 

Man I am loving that quote!!!!!!

Aside from that......thanks for your efforts in a new and different direction

 

If you are reading this....

Where are you???
It has been months and no response except marketing rhetoric.

We now have people machining their own parts!
We have rumors that Owners will have to pay to fix this design defect!

How about you get going on this issue?

 

Here are some pictures of the filler piece that goes in when the rack is not on the car.

The last picture is of the little tool that is used to remove the filler. I have tried many different items to get the filler out and this tool works the best. The small end goes underneath the end of the filler and pulls it up and out all at one time.