Supposedly, the fairing comes with some transparent 3M tapes for you to stick it on the paint where the fairing is in contact with the roof to avoid scuffing. But in general, I do agree with you that the fairing doesn't warrant the risk of damaging the paint work (either from scuffing or from the gooey sticky stuffs that the tape may leave behind). Anyone have the fairing want to chime in and let us know how much wind noise that it will actually cut down? I noticed that just having the crossroad feet and crossbars on alone will increase wind noise dramatically when driving above 45mph.

i have this... it is great... highly suggest this if you are only going to carry skis or snowboards.... the fairing is overrated imo,,,, does look nice

I have found the same thing.

Here's a set that just came up on eBay - http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-T...91573059QQrdZ1

I got the Thule 754xt setup. it's the most slick solution. it's discontinued in the US, but it's what they use in Europe (so I'm told). the load bars are integrated into the foot mounts, and include the 4 lock cylinders. all you do is set the clamps on the factory rack (yes, the bars running front/back), center the bar, dial in the clamp (with the endcaps) and lock it down. I like it better because to install/remove is cake (and tool free), the load bars are the most narrow (I don't like them sticking out too far on the sides... they're 4 inches shorter than the LB58). some like them wide because they carry lots on the roof... I wanted narrow for aesthetics. check around, some shops may still have the 754xt (foot mount, bars, and locks). might be able to find on close-out or on eBay. they were a bit more expensive, but worth it. oh yeah, the bars appeared (from pictures) to sit closer to the roof compared to the other 2 options. this is the 756xt, but it looks similar to the 754xt. http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/prod...id=2&sku=756xt

from here, just get either the snowboard carrier, ski carrier (holds either a board or skis), or a roof box (I used to use this option... it's great. protects the boards while driving, you can leave the boards in until the next trip... BUT for me, it won't fit in the garage, thus the box now sits in the basement).

the bars do cause a whistling noise. I didn't want my bikes over the moonroof, so I didn't experiement w/ moving the bars fore/aft and I don't have the fairing, so I can't comment on its effectiveness.

Does anyone have a picture of the Thule Snowcat 5401 on their X without snowboard or skis on? I've seen a picture from JaySpec7 with snowboards mounted. I'm trying to get a feel for how solid it looks, if the cross bars sag in the middle, and if the Snowboard mounts are wide enough for wide boards.

If you can wait, I should have pics up by the end of the week. Heading up to Tahoe next weekend, and it's time to get the rack on.

Terrific, I can defintely wait. Thanks for offering. :thumbup:

Just came back from a trip in Tahoe. The Thule rack worked very well . From what I noticed, I did not see much if any of a dip in the bars even when loaded with 4 snowboards. I am pretty particular about this such as this, as I am an engineer by trade.

My only complaint is that these racks ride real close to the roof. My particular bindings actually hit the roof when flipped upside down, but some of my passengers had lower profile bindigns and were able to barely get them in w/o contact to the roof.

Does Thule manufacture raisers?

http://www.filefarmer.com/2/jaredteo...ng003small.jpg http://www.filefarmer.com/2/jaredteo...ng011small.jpg http://www.filefarmer.com/2/jaredteo...ng018small.jpg

Nope, Thule doesnot have the adaptor to raise the ski/snowboard carrier for better clearance, unlike the Yakima system. I'm currently using the 726 model and the bindings do have enough clearance from the roof. The 725 carrier sits lower than the 726 so the bindings will rub.

If you don't want any issue with clearance then this Thule snowboard-specific carrier is the one:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y243/breytonX5/575.jpg