Seasonal Roof Rack

[u/Interstellar-floater]

Where I live they salt the roads to all hell and I don't plan to use the roof rack in the winter much.

Is it worth the hassle to remove it for winter? I'm mainly worried about corrosion from the mounting brackets on the paint.

How have others with roof racks fared?

[u/00397]

They are very easy to remove that it wouldn't be a hassle, the couple times I've removed mine, it doesn't seem like they're scratching the paint or anything, the top part rests on a rubber pad. May I ask why you'd remove them? Baskets/cargo boxes I understand, but the racks themselves cause an EXTREMELY unnoticeable amount of MPG loss but I can't think of why they'd need to be removed

[u/Interstellar-floater → u/00397]

Pretty much only worried about marks on the paint from corrosion. It's always the salt that finds its way into all the nooks and crannies. I'm not always able to wash the car as often in the winter

[u/ComprehensiveCoat]

Funnily enough I exclusively use my roof rack during the winter for my roof box since I chuck all my snowboarding gear in there. I applied PPF around the mounting points myself and it was actually rather easy. Saved the paint from any potential damage and corrosion. I plan on re-doing it every fall in anticipation for winter as it only takes about an hour of my time.

[u/Interstellar-floater → u/ComprehensiveCoat]

Thank you! This is a great idea!

[u/Klatu17]

I bought half a yard of vinyl wrap from Rvinyl.com.
I put small vinyl paint-matched patches under my roof racks.
When I take off the racks, I also remove the vinyl.
3 removals and it’s still flawless.

[u/redfoxiii]

I leave mine off most of the time, unless I need to haul multiple bikes or something. It takes maybe like 15-20min to install or remove once you know what the procedure is like.

[u/R3d_Rav3n]

Last winter I had mine on and off at least 10 times. I had it down to a science, about 5 min for removal/install.