Landrover Disco II roof bars on Lexus IS250 idea/questions?

[MrTrendizzle]

Hey, so basically my neighbour has just replaced the roof bars on his disco and has decided they're going in the bin. Me being the hoarder myself, i decided i'll nab those and come up with a use for them at a later date. While walking past my IS250 i thought "Hmm... Could i fit these" i held them up to my car front to back and they seem pretty straight if they were to be bolted on maybe 6 inches from the windowscreen and reach back to the middle of the rear doors or if i moved them slightly further forward they would sit at a slight angle forward.  

My question is the plastic trim between the roof and the doors, is that removable? Could i drill 2 holes and fit a rubber washer/spacer to seal it? Does the IS250 have a strong enough roof to support a roof rack which would carry a roof box for a fully loaded suitcase (Family size) or maybe a kayak or a set of spare wheels when i visit the track?  

I know you can buy roofracks but they seem to sit horizontally compared to these that sit front to back.  

Might be a silly question but worth an ask just incase someone can bring some insight to this.

This are the roof bars in question.

[MrTrendizzle]

Just to be clear the mounting location would be in the rain gutter either side facing front to back like the picture i added. When holding them up to the car they look like they would sit comfortably but i would need to drill through the rain gutter to bolt them on and use maybe a rubber washer to seal the bolts. 
First time thinking about doing something like this so need validation more than anything else and maybe some advise as to the roof being able to hold weight like that.  

IS250 as a family car with 4 kids is not fun when traveling on holidays due to the lack of boot space once a family sized suitcase goes in so a roof box would be nice.  

Could it be bolted so far forward so the weight would effectively be above the drivers head/passengers feet. Please forgive the poor photoshop skills but this is where it would be mounted so the bars would be level/straight. Would this be too far forward?

 

 

[Linas.P]

That would be real abomination mate.

Is the IS250 roof strong enough to support roof bars - yes THE MODEL SPECIFIC ONES that are attached to specifically designed slots.

Now yes - plastic trim is removable, although clips which always breaks are like £9 each and there are like 11 on each side (I know you can get them from China in bulk for like £20, but good luck finding exact ones). So that is £200 just for the clips you would need to replace, when entire model specific roof bars can be found for like £100-£150 used. They were like £350 brand new from Lexus.

And are you really planning to drill the holes into your car roof to salvage some junk Discovery roof bars?! I am not even talking about the looks as that is subjective, but I can't see utility either.

I can only see million ways of how this can go wrong and not a single way it could go right. First of all, unless you use existing slots that are reinforced and meant for such thing (they have little covers you can remove and check), the roof is just thin sheet metal and would bed from slightest force... that is not great unless your goal is "ripple effect" one the roof. Then just waterproofing and leaks, yes I have seen you planning to put rubber gasket, but one thing for sure - the water ingress in your car roof is last thing you want and drilling holes is kind of asking for trouble. Then you need to check the electrical wiring as some of it goes via roof rails, it is minor, mostly for lights and sunroof if you have one, but if you drill trough them and short something then expect problems. Structural integrity is another thing, although I don't believe two holes would weaken it that much, but holes in the roof are generally less desirable than no holes in the roof.

In summary - here you going for maximum pain and risk, to fit something that doesn't meant to be fitted on your car and doesn't even look good (in my opinion) instead of looking for some used IS250 specific bars (or even cheaper universal bars for that matter) and planning to do £200+ of damage to your own car to save £100. Just don't!

[Linas.P]

P.S. - Here you go £200 worth of quality Thule bars ALREADY with the box - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325735951450

Just note - roof box will add like 50% to fuel consumption. So that is not fun either.

[MrTrendizzle]

28 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

That would be real abomination mate.

Is the IS250 roof strong enough to support roof bars - yes THE MODEL SPECIFIC ONES that are attached to specifically designed slots.

Now yes - plastic trim is removable, although clips which always breaks are like £9 each and there are like 11 on each side (I know you can get them from China in bulk for like £20, but good luck finding exact ones). So that is £200 just for the clips you would need to replace, when entire model specific roof bars can be found foe like £100-£150 used. They were like £350 brand new from Lexus.

And are you really planning to drill the holes into your car roof to salvage some junk Discovery roof bars?! I am not even talking about the looks as that is subjective, but I can't see utility either.

Now I can only see million ways of how this can go wrong and not a single way it could go right. First of all, unless you use existing slots that are reinforced and meant for such thing (they have little covers you can remove and check), the roof is just thin sheet metal and would bed from slightest force... that is not great unless your goal is "ripple effect" one the roof. Then just waterproofing and leaks, yes I have seen you planning to put rubber gasket, but one thing for sure - the water ingress in your car roof is last thing you want and drilling holes into your own roof is kind of asking for trouble. Then you need to check the electrical wiring as some of it goes via roof rails, it is minor, mostly for lights and sunroof if you have one, but if you drill trough them and short something then expect problems. Structural integrity is another thing, although I don't believe two holes would weaken it that much, but holes in the roof are generally less desirable than no holes in the roof.

In summary - here you going for maximum pain and risk, to fit something that doesn't meant to be fitted on your car and doesn't even look good (in my opinion) instead of looking for some used IS250 specific bars (or even cheaper universal bars for that matter) and planning to do £200+ of damage to your own car to save £100. Just don't!

Thank you. This is what i was looking for. I wasn't sure if the roof would be strong enough to hold the weight. I guess in my mind i was thinking of the cars with the little slots for roof bars and figured they're in a similar location so "could" it be done here.  

When holding the bars up to the roof while i agree they look terrible they didn't look too bad when on the car so long as they were located just right to be almost inline with the cars curves, almost like a roof wind deflector frame sort of thing.  

Thank you for your input and saving me from a possible costly mistake.