hi everyone. my question is not so much on the factory roof racks as it is on after market cargo carriers for the roof racks, ...<br><br>here's the deal. before i became a dad, i did an awful lot of hardcore backpacking and now that my little one is here, i have to settle for "car camping". in any event, you've seen the big plastic cargo containers that people attach to their roof racks to store things out of the passenger compartment for long trips, ... well, i am in the market for one that works with the factory racks on the rx300.<br><br>i have been to both yakima and thule web sites and spoken with people at rei and sportsracks and everyone seems to think that i will not be able to mount a standard cargo container on the factory racks. everyone is recommending that i either replace the factory rack or mount a separate rack system either along with the factory rack and i just do not understand this. clearly, if you look at the way the cargo containers mount to the racks, they should just clamp right onto the existing factory racks,..<br><br>so i guess my question is this, ... has anyone mounted one of the standard yakima or thule cargo racks and if so, did you have any difficulties or concerns. it seems to me like the manufacturers of the rack systems are trying to recommend that i buy their systems in order to get more money from me. or perhaps it is a liability issue in that they cannot advocate the use of their cargo containers on anything other than one of their own rack assemblies.<br><br>any help/suggestions would be recommended.<br><br>thanks,<br><br>joe<br><br><br>&lt;&lt;&lt;&gt;&gt;

I'm glad that someone else is scratching their head on this one too! There isnt enough width on the factory racks for any serious car camping gear... box and some other items... Yup.. been to REI and Sportsrack and a bunch of web sites as well...<br><br>Yakima categorically and emphatically says that they will not guarantee any of their towers in the factory installed rails. They told me directly from their customer support line, that they do not recommend putting anything on the RX300 factory roof rack that's bigger than a set of skis! No kidding. Yakima went even further to say that the factory roof rails could be damaged by the lift created by a cargo box (which I have bought (Spacecase) and used on my Volvo wagon), or anything else larger than ski's. So that was enlightening...<br><br>Then I called Thule directly... Thule has a set of towers that fit into the rails (with adapters), and they say that they support the RX300, however they said that their cargo weight limit is 75 lbs. They didnt know if that meant 75lbs of cargo in the cargo box, or 75 lbs total. My Yakima box weighs about 40 plus pounds so maybe I could put a couple of sleeping bags and a tent up there... not promising...<br><br>I called my local dealer, in Bellevue WA, and they werent aware of any issues regarding the potential lift damage (actually as helpful as they were, no one really knew the answer), but they referred me to a local custom roof rack dealer that does work for them.... they tried to sell me a custom roof rack...<br><br>I called Lexus customer support, (1800...) and they told me that the factory rack could take a 125 lb load, and that they never heard of any restrictions on or limitations / potential damage to the rack due to lift, but that they would look into it... <br><br>So I guess the bottom line is that I might try the cargo box on a short trip. Dont want to buy a complete new set of Yakima towers, (already have the two round yak bars) for a 135 bucks which completely defeats the purpose of a factory rack...... dont want to buy Thule rail towers, and new square Thule bars... about 170 bucks... dont want to put a trailer on the rig.... <br><br>The Yak towers are pretty good, I've had no problems with them on my Volvo, so if push comes to shove, and the family wants to go on an extended road trip... <br><br>So now what?<br><br>Sergei