W123 300TD Cross Bars
 

I recently acquired a nice set of roof rack cross bars for my W123 300TD. The bars do not have the original black cushions on the bars. Does anyone know what the cushions are made of or know where I can get some nice ones?

Thanks

My 1983 300TD, which I bought new, did not have the black cushions on the cross bars. I have seen them in photos, but do not know when MB started putting them on. I would not try to support much weight on the stock cross bars, so I am not sure why MB put cushions on them. I think the idea was to support the weight on the black wear strips on the roof, and use the cross bars to hold the load in position to keep it from sliding on the roof.
Peter

Thanks for the info. I appreciate the info as the original owner of a TD it is great to know that the cars did not have the cushions. My car will never have anything carried on the roof - for show only. Thanks again.

I've always wondered about the black cushions myself. My 85 TD has them and the remaining ones are in rough shape. The EPC shows the cross bar (Fixture in MB terms) with the cushions in place. The cushions don't show to be available separately. The cross bar was superseded once with a note - From Model Year 1983. My guess is that is when the cushions were added.

I was told once that they are there for wind noise reduction. Had a pair a while back but sold them once I found a load bearing roof rack. Look nice but that's about it.

My original bars don't have the black cushions, wish they did.

What about the black rubber strips on the roof? three of mine are shrunk and don't stretch all the way. Are yours in good shape? Some wagons do not have these and some do. Always wondered if these could be replaced too.

The black rubber strips are glued on and not too bad to remove. My TD is low mileage and was always garaged in Monterey, Ca, so the strips are in good shape.