If you look at the picture where the vehicle is depicted from the side, you see that the roof is really curved.
Unless you mount the track well at the back, there is some bending to do and I am not setup for it.

If you do a search on that board, someone did this though.
Finally, that is a lot of drilling involved... I already had trouble with only 8 holes! Grin.

Now, I can go kayaking again.

Cheers.

 

I had drilled very close to the front beam, such that I had to insert the little mounting widget thing in a transverse orientation then rotate it 90 degrees, to clear the beam.

My landing pads are spread further apart than yours, resulting in a 43" spread between the bars.

I need to work on some pictures, and specific measurements.

 

Nice work dude, looks great! Lovin' that Tidewater Blue... Next time you head out with your kayak, snap a pic for us with it on top!

 

Here is one I shot last night in the garage;

 

which landing pad is this?

which landing pads come with a rubber gaskets?

 

Just a thought here. Maybe a glass place that installs sunroofs would be able to help locate the roof beams.

 

maybe use a stud finder...

 

That is probably Landing Pad #7, which comes with fasteners for sheet metal.

The #6 has the same top part and gasket, but includes hardware for a through-bolt installation where you can access the back, such as a camper shell.

I used #7 on my Fit, and #6 on my cabover camper.

 

This has been a useful thread! Hope somebody, like Hydocynus, is still listening...
The diagram of the body structure seemed not so useful at first---no measurements listed. Then I blew it up a little and noticed what appears to be a framework for the map lights. If that's true, then I should be able to avoid that front beam by positioning my landing pads on a line a little to the rear of the map lights.

For the rear pair, it seems as though there would be a safe area just ahead of the antenna, guided by a test to make sure the load line would be parallel to the road, or perhaps barely lower in front.

What do you think?

 

The beam you are referring to is the beam onto which the windshield is attached. The second beam has a frame for the two handles above each front door. So, if you want to guesstimate where the beam is, just draw an imaginary line between the center of the two handles. The beam is about 2.5 inch width.

I got lucky with the rear, I got lucky and could not see any beams.
Hope this helps.
Hydro

 

Im pretty sure you could probably have installed a track system into the rubber area on the roof... I saw a kit to do this online while I was researching roof rack systems for my SUV...

 

Thanks for the suggestions. If I didn't already have the Yakima Control Towers, bars, etc., I would look into a track system that fit in the rain gutter. But the Yakima track that I have is too wide for that placement, so I'll save it for use with some flatter-roofed future vehicle.

Hydrocynus, your set-up looks great. You say the front screws for the forward pair of landing pads hit a beam. Do you know how far back from that position would have allowed the screws to clear all the beams? Maybe a better way to ask is: measuring from the edge of the windshield trim, how far back should the front edge of the Landing Pad be?

CBX's arrangement also looks good. Does a straight plank resting on the bars lie parallel to the road or is it higher in front? If it's higher, I think my rear Landing Pads should move a little further forward than those.

 

I was a little dense here---sorry. Now I realize that Hydrocynus hit the beam that's above the center of the grab handles, not the main beam at the front of the roof. I'll make sure the rear screws on the front pads are about 2 inches forward of a line between the centers of the left and right grab handles. When this is all done, I'll post comments on the process.

 

It is pretty level in my installation. I sought what I thought to be an optimum balance between pitch and front-rear bar spread, erring on the side of slight downforce. The front is about 0.20 inch lower than the rear, without occupants. I think front occupants may slightly inctease the downforce, though I have not measured it.

Here is a photo with a 36" level atop a pair of 78" Yakima crossbars in a box. Vehicle front is to the left;

 

Thanks so much. As mentioned, I will post some pictures and details from this project when it is finished. I'm busy rounding up the parts now.

 

Just to give you an update on my rack setup. Still no problem with the landing pads and rack. All is holding well. I use the kayak once a week so in nearly 5 years, It got used ~250 times... No signs of wear on the rack and the landing pads have not moved.

The only thing one can notice is that there is a slight deflection where the landing pads are. Hardly noticeable, but there. There is indeed some flex in the roof where two of the landing pads are. I did load the rack with three kayaks one day (~150 pounds) and another day, one canoe filled with water, so that was easily 200 pounds.

Hydro.