Lexus Ski Adapter Manufacturer?

[yl1826]

I lost a piece of my Ski Adapter and my Lexus dealership said they can't replace the piece that fell off (looks like a small metal cylinder that you place a screw through).

They told me I needed to buy a brand new Ski Adapter.

Does anyone know the manufacturer of the Lexus ski adapter, I'm going to try to see if I can get that part on my own so I don't have to purchase a new one.

[1990LS400]

This is the second recent post about someone needing to buy one of those cylindrical shaped thingys: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...584&hl=rack

Maybe you could send a PM to neerajkalra73 and see if he ever found a place to buy one.

The ski adapter could be from just about anywhere -- could be a company that doesn't even sell retail or even in the U.S.

Maybe a machine shop could frabricate the part you need at a reasonable price or at least at a price less expensive than buying a new ski adapter. I've had machine shops fabricate simple parts before and the prices have been pretty low -- some of those guys really get into the challenge of doing something a little different.

[yl1826]

This is the second recent post about someone needing to buy one of those cylindrical shaped thingys: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...584&hl=rack

Maybe you could send a PM to neerajkalra73 and see if he ever found a place to buy one.

The ski adapter could be from just about anywhere -- could be a company that doesn't even sell retail or even in the U.S.

Maybe a machine shop could frabricate the part you need at a reasonable price or at least at a price less expensive than buying a new ski adapter. I've had machine shops fabricate simple parts before and the prices have been pretty low -- some of those guys really get into the challenge of doing something a little different.

Thank you very much. I sent him a message, hopefully he found an easy way to get it.

And thanks for the suggestion on the metal shop. I'll try that as well.

[neerajkalra73]

hey.

i was happy buying the ski rack off craigs for a fraction of the cost and the guy was in my town so delivered it to me at home. but i dint check the parts and realized later that it was missing a cylinder bolt and the rack would be no good without it. so i contacted the seller and he said he will see what he can do. in the meantime i contacted a local dealer only to hear that they would only sell the whole adapter set of 4 for 60$. thats intentional extortion cos they know that no one else makes these and i understand there is a reason why the manufacturer has kept them unique and hard to copy.

luckily, the guy who sold me the rack knew someone at the dealer and was able to get a single bolt for me for 15$ for which I reluctantly had to share the cost with the seller. better than 60$.

If i had known there were others like me out there, i wouldnt mind buying the whole adapter set and then splitting with others. Now, knowing that there are others in the same situation, i would perhaps buy a set and keep the leftovers for the future or for others. these little screws and bolts are rather easy to loose and hard to find.

please let me know if you would rather have just one bolt and i can request the guy who sold the rack to me to help me with one more or you could try a machine shop. worst scenario, try and find something at a hardware shop that would fit the screw, which i wont recommend cos it could be a hazard.

hope this is helpful and if u decide to buy the whole set, i and others would know who to contact if we are in need.

thanks

[yl1826]

hey.

i was happy buying the ski rack off craigs for a fraction of the cost and the guy was in my town so delivered it to me at home. but i dint check the parts and realized later that it was missing a cylinder bolt and the rack would be no good without it. so i contacted the seller and he said he will see what he can do. in the meantime i contacted a local dealer only to hear that they would only sell the whole adapter set of 4 for 60$. thats intentional extortion cos they know that no one else makes these and i understand there is a reason why the manufacturer has kept them unique and hard to copy.

luckily, the guy who sold me the rack knew someone at the dealer and was able to get a single bolt for me for 15$ for which I reluctantly had to share the cost with the seller. better than 60$.

If i had known there were others like me out there, i wouldnt mind buying the whole adapter set and then splitting with others. Now, knowing that there are others in the same situation, i would perhaps buy a set and keep the leftovers for the future or for others. these little screws and bolts are rather easy to loose and hard to find.

please let me know if you would rather have just one bolt and i can request the guy who sold the rack to me to help me with one more or you could try a machine shop. worst scenario, try and find something at a hardware shop that would fit the screw, which i wont recommend cos it could be a hazard.

hope this is helpful and if u decide to buy the whole set, i and others would know who to contact if we are in need.

thanks

Funny you mention that because the reason why I want to buy a new metal cylinder is because I want to sell it. There's no way I'd want to sell this to someone knowing it wasn't going to work without the tiny little piece that I lost. Shame on that Craiglist'er.

Would you mind seeing if your contact can get one more metal cylinder for me? Because going to a machine shop will cost significantly more than that I'm guessing.

And I agree I wouldn't want to find a 'similar' piece because I don't want to know what might happen if it goes loose and rips off going 80mph on the expressway.

I'll tell you, I didn't like the Lexus Ski Rack so much that after using it only once I went out and I bought two more ski racks from Thule (which I only used twice and am planning to sell also). In total I spent about $600 on the 3 ski racks. They're all good, but I like to carry up to 4 boards and each of those ski racks only carry 2 (the two Thule ones can be coupled together to hold 4).

[neerajkalra73]

sorry for the delay in replying. I will check with my contact and will let you know in a couple of days.

i use the rack for a max of 2 pair of skis or 1 board and 1 ski par and it seems just fine.

How did you find the thule in terms of functionality and ease of use compared to the oem?

I will keep you posted.