Hey i just got finished washing the X and i decided not to only take off the roof basket but the entire room rack, every bit of it. Wow was i suprised what it looked like under where the rack attatches to the truck, some light scrubbing and it was gone but im glad i cought it early.

Uh... It's dirt under the rack mounting points, not visible when the rack is on the vehicle.

Best way to do it is leave it all attached and take it off in one piece! Faster and easier to do! Do it twice yearly.

Yes very good it is dirt but the thing is if the dirt is left there to long it will make the paint look bad maybe you dont care but im sure me and some other people here do and they want to keep their X nice a pretty.

Does anyone have pictures of what it looks like underneathe the "base" of the roof rack. I've been thinking about taking them off to clean but scared to find out how it's being held up. Meaning, are the receiving bolts that hold the screws permanently mounted to the body/lodged in like the screws/bolts on the actual rack? Or is it held up by a stand-alone bolt on the underside of the panel?

Underneath the rack footpads you'll just find a few holes with threaded fasteners welded to the underside of the roof.

And more likley than not alot of dirt and other crap that your paint doesnt want on it.

Thanks!