norsecarnut

bars: everyone except me hits their head on a bar at some point, including the officer at the side of the road ! "oops, sorry sir, "

tint: 3M on BMW. On Audi Ventureshield, or whatever Accutint in Seattle is using, I forget. You check their website.

Lotus99

35% is what I'd be doing also. Anything lower I think might be too dark for our car, and risks the wifey having issues looking outside when it's dark and wet...

Though on our previous car, the XC70, the factory tinted glass (and on all SUV's) I'm told was about 20%, therefore much darker than the 35% I used to have on my other car, but it didn't seem that way from the inside. I think I could see less out of the 35% tint than from the factory tinted glass in our XC70. I wonder if it's more difficult to see out if you have tinted windows, vs. factory tinted glass?

norsecarnut

I should clarify, mine is 35% like you said, 32% is a limitation legally in many states including NC.

Secondly, that is the combined rating so a good shop first tests your windows to determine what the end result will be. At night, mine is actually very easy to see out of, the next step darker however is noticeably harder to see out at night. Both cars have the rear camera though so that helps

I thought % referred to the amount passing through, such that 20% is darker. If that's correct, I seriously doubt your volvo came from the factory with anywhere close to that. An suv with "privacy glass" optioned maybe, but not a wagon. 20% looks "ghetto" . If you want to see, I'll snap a photo of our Jetta that I had done and it's a little too dark, but it's just the backup, family & friends, loaner car anyway.

Lotus99

J: About the length of the bars, I guess one thing I am thinking of now is that although your box is 36" wide, the attachment points for it are probably not at the outer edges of the box, so one could have the box overhang the bar, by putting the attachment point of the box as close to the edge of the bar as possible, therefore maximizing the usable space of the bar...

I only need to shoot for a bar length that would hold a medium sized or MED/LGE box and two bikes I'd think, given our lifestyle, as we could probably put a third little bike in the box if need be anyway for the next few years. You think I'd need 60" bar too, or could get away with a shorter one like 50", which by my calculations shouldn't hang over the roof edge?

PS I would seriously have a tough time not laughing if the cop who pulled me over banged his head on the bar!!!

Lotus99

You're right, the % is how much light passes thru, so the lower the %, the darker the tint. I had read in a few places that the tint on factory windows was usually 20%, but you're probably right if you've got 20% and can compare it to your 32%, as I don't have a comparable.

Here's what our factory tint looked like, which does seem to be closer to yours... I wonder then if factory SUV's come with even darker tint?
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norsecarnut

that's a nice xc70! why the bmw?!

the thule boxes all have the mount points roughly 4-5" within the drip line of the upper lid so yes, you can work with that a few ways. one is to have the box actually over the one roof rail and bar mounts. it ends up acting like a rain awning too on that side of the car.

it sounds like you could go with the 52-54" bars - i don't think any are whole 10" steps, more like 54, then 62, etc.

norsecarnut

cargo box sizes: think about your "stuff" there are so many different shapes you could end up with same volume but longer, wider, taller, etc.

we have xc skiis which are the lengthwise factor, especially my 206cm classics. I have two boxes which fit them though, the bigger, wider, 2100xt and the sleeker spirit which i swear is more aero. it's not wide enough for the bikes inside idea though, not my bikes anyway, especially now that my primary mountain bike is a 29r full suspension.

oh, to clarify the bikes inside idea, i always removed the seat post, front wheel, and pedals. one bike fits fine with pedals on but a pedal wrench is easy to bring and makes it all fit better.

Sarge

I found this photo on rennlist. This is Huper Optik 50% (This is probably the route I'll go):



This is Huper Optik 40%


They also make a 60%, but I think it's lighter than I want.

Sarge

Just FYI:

Huper Optik SPECIFICATION CHART

Sarge

J: RE the hitch, I got an email back from your shop. They can only do it if the car is there. They have no diagram/schematic to do it otherwise. I'll probably see what my local shop can do with the Curt hitch. It's science, but not exactly the rocket variety...

RE tires, I bought a set of 245/40/18 Continental Conti Extreme Contacts (A/S). I'll probably try a set of 245/45/18 once the warranty is up, but my only local dealer advised against it for the time being. Since my dealer is 100 miles away, and the next closest is 300 miles away, I'm staying conservative (I've had some ridiculous arguments with them in the past over my X5 on minor things, so I'm reticent to push things).

Question for you J: Are you noticing much rock chipping on the sides of the car from the tires size and offset you're running?

Still haven't decided on wheels, or found any info on a wiring harness for trailer brakes...

Another dirty photo from yesterday: