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Clio - mk2 - Fitting Roof bars

24K views 14 replies 4 participants last post by  wayne neish 
#1 ·
I've just bought a 2004 3dr Clio 1.5 dCi dynamique. What a great little car! I've also just joined the forums, and have found the advice great. Many thanks!

I'm looking for some advice about roof bar fitting (keen kayaker, so need roof bars!).

Above the rear windows, there are long and thin parallel plastic strips running along the edges of the roof. Are these removable? And are there gutters underneath for roof bar feet to slot into?

There doesn't appear to be any slidable 'windows' in them (like the megane's roof), and they don't seem like they want to budge at first look.

A quick search threw up a thread or two about this before, but there doesn't seem to be definitive answer, and the user manual is suspiciously quiet on the subject!

I know a set of Thule bars will just grip around the edge of the windows, but I'm never convinced about these and if I can get some that hook into real gutters that'd be perfect.

Many thanks!
 
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#2 ·
Hi got the message ok, I have had a poke and a prod
but not had the bottle to prise hard enough to move
them, from what I have been told they should pop off
if you leaver them with a broad flat blade and they do
flex but seem very flimsy and likely to brake, I was thinking
of squirting a bit of WD40 under there and having
another go if they are being held as I suspect by rubber
grommets the WD will help them slip out but its just having
the bottle to apply sufficient force,
Cant see any other way they can be held and they must
have drains under there or they would fill up in wet weather.

:think:
 
#3 ·
Interesting stuff. I'll see if a more definitive answer comes along before giving them a good yank!

On the flip side, I'm yet to see any roof bars for the car which have gutter feet. They all seem to be the 'hook around' type. Does anyone have the official Renault bars?
 
#6 ·
Have had a look at some sites that sell roof bars and
looking at the fittings and the odd pic of them fitted
I would say there are fixings under there and on one
it showed the plastic cover slightly trimmed back to allow
them to be fitted back once the bar feet were in place.
If you look closely you can see a rubber seal under the
plastic I am going to wait till it gets a bit warmer give
it a squirt of WD and see if I can move it, one thing I
read suggested that the plastic strips sort of hinged up
from the inside edge.
 
#7 ·
Many thanks Ralph, I haven't been able to find any information like that! all the stuff I've seen is hook-around-door-type (of which Thule seem best).

Do you have any links you could post?

I'm away from my car now until next Thursday, but I'll have a closer inspection and a bit of a pull when I get back.

It might be worth stopping into the dealers to check out their roof bars; if any are going to fit into mounting points, I guess theirs will. Unfortunately, I've heard their own brand bars are pretty rubbish.
 
#8 ·
The plot thickens!

I've just got back to my car, and upon a wiggle the plastic strips can move backwards and forwards (along the car) about an inch.

This makes me think there's definately gutters underneath.

I gave the strips a pull but they didn't want to budge and they're a bit flimsy.

Does anyone have a Haynes manual for the car? It might say something.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I looked in the Haynes and could not find a thing.
Odd no one seem to know and I have never seen one
with bars fitted
Just been out and they do slide back but they are very
stiff looks like they should slide back then lift off but
they are a bit flimsy and no doubt expensive, when
I get home I will spray it with a bit of WD again and
see if I can get them to move a bit more.
 
#12 ·
I had a real good play with them a few weeks ago, but go no closer to getting them off. I can get them to slide back and forward by a couple of inches, but bent the end trying to pull them off. They don't seem to want to budge in either their forward or back slid position.

Having said that, I'm convinced they have to come off; otherwise why would they be there??

On a side note, I bought Thule bars (got the bits on eBay so saved a bit), and they seem ok. Never going to be as good as "fixed in" bars, but I'm happy to carry one or two kayaks about on them (no more though!). The general view seems to be that automaxi bars are fairly weak!
 
#13 ·
I managed to break a plastic clip and slide around on them, however I damaged both of them what rubbish. I could have pulled them off but its a driving school car. So just bought some curve soft rack, because I only wanted them for a kayak. Plus you can fit them to any car. I did buy an Automaxi roof rack too but didn't want to mess with them crappy plastic panels.
 
#14 ·
I have had another look, and what seems to work is
slide them back a bit grip the bit now over hanging
the end and twist it away from the center of the roof
as though it as hinges on the out side of the roof,
its held by plastic clips that seem a bit brittle, did
not take them all the way off as I ran out of time,
they just pressed back on.
 
#15 ·
Hi all, just logged into the site, was looking for solution to taking off the runners for the clio 16v,

Found the solution they do slide side to side and not much else, you have to get a flat headed screwdriver and slide it along the rubber, there are metal metal pop studs 4 in total, the first one is approx 2 1/2", then the other 3 are 8" apart, they will pop out of the plastic inserts connected to the strip, did not find any inserts to fit roof bars, i went to halfords and got quoted £198+vat for one that fits above the front doors and then it needs another part to stop it from sliding which connects to the top of the boot rim.
Hope this is helpful.

Regards

Wayne:d
 
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