Bradke32

Do the Thule and Yakima cargo carriers attach properly to the factory mercedes roof rack?

Also, is the factory roof rack preferred, or not? I would love to hear feed back from those who have already purchased and installed a roof rack and cargo carrier as I am about to purchase these items. Thanks.

vorozhbyt

Hi, I use Whispbar Prorack (www.whispbar.co.nz) and it is great product. It attaches to the roof easily and has very nice look, better than MB or Thule, IMHO. I used Thule Atlantis cargo and bycicle carriers with it - all good.

Hope it helps

xxGenericSNxx

I've got the factory bars (which are made by Thule) and use it with my Packasport luggage carrier with no problems whatsoever.

termite

The factory bars will take all of the Thule stuff that will fit the Thule aero bars. In other words, if you have Thule square bar bike trays, you need to by an xadapt kit from Thule to use the trays on the factory bars. The kits are about $10, so it is not a big deal. I guess that I have a bigger Packasport than xxGenericSNxx, because mine would not fit between the towers on the factory bars; I went w/ a Thule aero bar setup on both of the R500s that I have had...

Spud_Racer

The current Thule cargo boxes are designed to attach quickly to any load bar shape. Thule's own Aeroblade bars are very close in shape to the Whisbar design. You should have no problem with the bars.

And I can't speak for Yakima but our Thule Atlantis cargo box uses locking clamps that slide back and forth in an approx. 12 in. track. So, no problem fitting the factory bar spacing on the R Class. No more fixed mounting holes or drilling new holes to get a box to fit non-standard bar spacing.

I think many manufacturers have started to work with either Thule or Yakima to engineer factory mounting points for the major aftermarket solutions that customers are likely to want. It makes sense.

Yu Chem

Did you compare price for them with original bars?
I have bought original bars and they costed less than what Thule charges online.

AsianR350

My local MB sells OEM Roof Rack on Ebay for $265.00.

xxGenericSNxx

I've got the second to largest Packasport available, and it barely fits between the two plastic pieces on the rear rack (but it fits no problem).

When cost and ease were factored, I went with the factory racks at ~$270 shipped vs. finding the correct feet and etc. which would probably also be around the same price.

Spud_Racer

I (re)used my Thule square bars to save money and went with the 460 Podium Foot Pack $151 and 3038 Fit Kit $67. That's $218 without the bars. Add in a pair of bars bars and you're right around the OEM rack price.

The reason I went the Thule route is that I've got lots of other stuff that fits square bars from years of Thule use. Wind fairings (2), bike carriers (3), canoe carrier (1), bars (2 sets). And the new boxes will fit any bar shape.

If I didn't have all the legacy square bar stuff, I'd go with the OEM rack. No wind fairing required to reduce noise. Pretty much mandatory with square bars unless you like the sound of Banshees attacking your car.

njroadier350w

Go to Thule .com go with fitment guide. get wider bars than u need u can cut them down w/ a hack saw so they are as wide as your sideview mirrors. (legally speaking) then proceed top load the crap out of it. I've had four bikes and an Atlantis 1200. with no issues!!!!. good luck

GLO

I have the OEM racks and the Mercedes Roof Box (Large)

The OEM roof rack will support 100kg max.


The roof box is 220cm long, 41cm wide and 30cm high.
It weighs 14kg and can carry a maximum load of 64kg.

njroadier350w

Unless u want the "smooth, stock look" go aftermarket w/ Thule, Yak or Whisp. you can get a wider rack base to put more stuff, up top. And, only ifyour haulin bricks would I worry about overload

njroadier350w

I've had the same set of Thule bars for 20 years and they've carried way more that they are rated for. I just keep switching foot packs and mounts when I get a different vehicle. the newer aerodynamic bars have less of a load capacity., so in my opinion go old school square.

CedarMtn

I have the Mercedes rack and use a Yakima Skybox Lowpro and it works perfectly. As others have pointed out, the factory rack is made by Thule and has the same T slot.

Some notes: the Thule and Yakima racks have a slightly lower height, so if clearance is a problem that is something to consider. I have less than one inch of clearance for my garage when the box is on but it fits (the Yakima Lowpro has the lowest height for its size - 15 cu ft).

Also with the box on, there is no rack space for anything else (bike racks). Again, with a Thule or Yakima/Whispbar you can get longer load bars.

GLO

Please post a pic!

CedarMtn

GLO - I'll post some pictures next week (hopefully). Box and racks are off the car right now and I'm going away soon for the weekend. I'll probably start a new thread for it. Want to show the Thule Lift system which I installed in my garage to take the box off and to store it near the ceiling - it works great. With the MB racks and the Lift system I can go from a naked roof to ready to go in about 15 minutes with no help. The Yakima box is great. 11 inches in height but fairly wide and long. It can handle a lot of stuff. It was pretty much my only option since my clearance through the garage door was pretty tight. Thule and Inno also make low profile boxes - but they're narrower and don't have the same volume.

Added bonus - it kind of matches the car.

The only give-up is because of the lack of bar width for the MB rack. I can't use my bike racks AND the cargo box at the same time - only room for one fork-mount rack and just barely. So I just sold my two Thule Sidearms and have ordered a Kuat platform rack for the hitch (to carry two bikes)

CedarMtn

Here are pics of my Yakima box on the Mercedes Rack. I installed a Thule lift system on my garage ceiling to lift the box off and for storage purposes. As I stated previously - it makes installing and removing the box, by myself, very easy. I installed the lift so that I can park in my usual position and just lower the box onto the racks. When the box is just touching the racks, I can pull the box backwards until the clamps latch onto the load bars. Then it's simply a matter of locking the clamps and then cranking the lift ropes back towards the ceiling.

To remove the box just reverse the process - box stores near the ceiling, above the garage door. The only modification (from instructions) to the lift was to install 2x4's because the joists weren't in the right position. I also added 1/2 inch clear vinyl tubing to the ropes to grip the box better and to protect the ropes and the box.

If you have the clearance in your garage to drive in with a cargo box on your rack, I would highly recommend this lift system.

The Yakima box is great - holds a lot of stuff when I have 6 or 7 in the car. Will be great for skiis and boards in the winter too. The Lowpro was the largest volume box with a low enough height to get into my garage. Very well made - solid. I think it matches the car pretty well too. A medium size suitcase will fit inside the box (basically anything that could go in an overhead will fit - or any soft-sided luggage.) Again - too wide to have bike racks beside it with the MB racks (can fit one fork mount rack only) - so sold my other two bike racks and will be getting my hitch rack tomorrow (hopefully).

dvmak

Looks like you have the same roof box. Do you know if there are handles that can be attached? Opening the box would be much easier with a handle.

CedarMtn

Assuming you're talking about the Skybox LowPro? This box opens from both sides and you need to unlock the box first before the latch will move. You could attack handles to the lid - but I would not recommend this - the lid is solid because of the ribs but drilling and attaching a handle into the thin material would probably risk cracks. The easiest and best way to open the box is using the built-in handle moulded right above the box latch on either side. If you try to pull up on other parts of the box I find it harder to open.

GLO

Hi Guys,

I have a quick related question!

Does anyone know what the thread is for the Roof rack mount?

I am needing to mount a CB antenna and want to get the right bolt that will fit into the stock roof rack mount.

Thanks in advance.

mrmkeller

Hey Guys,

Thule makes a terrific roof rack system which bolts directly to our factory mounts (I have a 2010 C63 Sedan). I was looking at the Benz OEM system which is Thule, but it rides very high. I wanted to find something with a lower profile. Thule sells a fantastic AeroBlade Edge System. The price was around $550 US, shipped. It installs in less than an hour and is a very, very easy task.

I'm not a big fan of the Thule bike racks so I went with the Yakima High Rollers. Attaching the Yakima High Rollers to the Thule AeroBlade Edge system can be rather tricky. Yakima sells the Universal Mighty Mounts which interface with the Thule bike trays. They're flimsy, plastic and awful. They're also very unsightly and raise the bike trays about 2" off the top of the rack. I installed one Yakima bike rack to the Thule bars and immediately removed them and worked on a custom solution. It works flawlessly, but completely voids your warranty with the Thule rack.

Thule Sells adapter kits which I was able to use to mount the front of the Yakima High Rollers directly into the AeroBlade Edge bars. This is the Thule Xadapt 1 kit. In order to get the rack mounted, I have to buy a few M6 nuts and spacers to secure the pieces properly. It's extremely solid. The next step is affixing the rear rack to the back of the Yakima. In order to do this, I used the rail from the Xadapt 1 Kit below the rear rail. I enlarged the holes of the rail with my Dremel and used the OEM Yakima bolts/nuts. It works astonishing well. I'll take a few pics later and post them here, too.

dinfung

i am looking at a low profile roof box, anyone try Packline before?
http://packline-roofbox.com/products...ofile-roof-box

SDR

Nice to see this setup (and I know it's an old thread). Was researching options for a new to me C63 and see that I can do effectively the same thing that I did on my Volvo. Loved the low profile Thule (for the C63 it looks like the 7601/2 are the way to go) and the Yakima bike trays. I also prefer how the bike tray doesn't hang over the front windshield like some other options do.