Matrix Roof Rack Questions

[A. Cooper]

Looking to buy a 2007 Matrix XR to haul a couple of kayaks on a roof rack.

Someone told me the Matrix roof has a maximum load limit of 60 lbs.; I need about 140 with a rack and two boats. He said the roof is easily deformed if the rack is overtightened or overloaded. I cannot find the Matrix Owners Manual anywhere online. Can anyone confirm this figure?

For safety, I always use front and rear tiedowns on the kayaks; looking under the car at the dealer, I found what look like a couple of tow loops way back behind the front spoiler. But someone said the Matrix and Honda CR-V also have some kind of pop-out plugs in the front of the plastic bumper which reveal threaded inserts for tow eyes. Is this right?

In the rear, up above the muffler, the two main frame members are made of square steel tubing, and seem to have some kind of threaded inserts in them, possibly allowing the installation of a pair of long eye-bolts?

Wondering if anyone else here has already solved this problem?

[Schnotts]

I have a Yakima roof rack that I occasionaly put on my Matrix with to haul 2 smaller kayaks. I have never had any problems with the weight. My gas mileage took a giant dive though with a roof rack on top.

[xrs911]

I have an 2003 xrs with a Thule rack which I modified to put a 65 lbs 16 foot canoe with two 18.5 foot Marathon canoes of 30 lbs each on the sides and it works fine. But most of the time I have the two Marathon canoes. Since the space between the front and the back bars is only 29 inches (this is not enough for 18.5 foot canoes as they can easely break in two as they are made of carbon fiber), I replaced the bars to 50 inches and use two 7 foot lenght of 1 inch square alluminum tubing which I clamped accross the ends of the 50 inch bars. Had to be carefull for the hatch to open securely. Than added two 72 inch bars at each end of the alluminum tubes. Used "U" clamps to tie down the bars, crossing the flat part with each other to the ends of the clamps. This gave the rack a lot more rigidity. Used canoe stoppers to prevent swaying as I tied down the canoes to the rack only. I only used a safety hooked on the front hooks under the front bumber. The canoe nerver budged an inch even at high speeds and cross winds.
All this setup cost me $30(cdn) of aluminum and $25(cdn) for 16 clamps.