Yakima has not approved the use of the setup shown below for the Rogue. If you use this setup, you do so at your own risk! If you do not feel comfortable with this, then do not use it and wait until the proper Q clips are released.
I did some test fitting and the Q96 clips did not fit very well. To my dismay, they were far too short. :-( As I said earlier, it would require some trial and error to get the correct clips and fit the racks.
I grabbed some longer Q34 clips for my fiancee's Mazda Protege and tried those with good results. I've used masking tape to protect the paint while test fitting... I strongly recommend this. I had to fit each seperately as I only have 1 pair of Q34 clips. Sorry, no pics with both crossbars installed.
Fitment was pretty good. Even on the Protege, the Q clip has some gaps and does not fit perfectly. The Rogue is the same here. The doors will properly close with this setup. I just haven't shown that in my photos. Although these are not the 'approved' clips for this vehicle and I was not able to perform a load test with both racks installed, I was happy with how they worked.
A few tips:
- Although the Q Clips are covered with a protective tape, there is considerable clamping force and the tape breaks down and can easily scratch the paint. I suggest protecting the paint where the racks are mounted using an invisible paint protection film like this one from 3M:
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/po...Home/
Use a generous piece (approx 4Wx3T") and wrap the film around the inside door jamb and roof edge similar to my green tape so it protects all areas in contact with the Q Clip. Once installed and waxed, you will be hard pressed to see the film.
- The rubber feet from the Q tower are very effective at preventing scratches. Just make sure the roof area is clean before installing.
- Adjust the Q tower spacing as needed to ensure a secure fit. I have provided some measurements: 43" front, 41-1/4" rear (see above). You may need to tweak the spacing to get the Q towers positioned correctly.
- The clamps need to be very tight to prevent movement. The goal is to get the Q tower 'gold slider' within the hash marks and not touching the crossbar. You need to gradually tighten the clamps in stages to keep the Q towers positioned correctly. The Q-Tower install instructions explain this quite clearly. Please refer to them. Once you do it few times, the racks can be installed in minutes. - Buy a set of 4 Yakima SKS lock cores and install one in each Q tower. Not only will it prevent the rack from being stolen, it ensures the Q towers do not accidentally come loose.
- Always triple check your rack and the load after the install, whenever a load is placed or removed from the rack, and after the first few miles of driving. Sometimes the wind load and vibration will loosen things up.