Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board

But WAIT...about Thules and braking

Posted By: Mike and Rikki
Date: Saturday, 8 March 2003, at 12:42 a.m.

In Response To: Re: what I gather is.... (brad shepard)

Serious...there is a design flaw in some Thule feet, please read this closely, and everyone else who have an SUV:

Thule offers a foot that utilizes the existing track of the SUV. The foot is secured in the track on the SUV bt means of a small piece of steel (non-S/S I might add) that is shaped like a parallelogram. The idea is that this is supposed to jam in the track, which are almost always 6000 series anodized aluminum. Well, guess what...under hard braking the jam piece slides inside the rail. We learned this under hard breaking when both yaks and bars slid forward in the rails! I kid you not, there is no way to really secure them well unless...
For 4Runners, Land-Crushers, the new 4Runner, and the Sequoia...and the Lexus SUV, you unscrew the existing racks and use the threaded s/s pieces that come standard with Toys. It's the same thread pitch as the Thule supplied metric socket screw (which I might add, it not s/s either). The existing hold-dwn oeices for Toys are designed to grip-crimp ro the inside of the rail. I know this is also true for Nissans, but don't know anyone with a Ford/Chevy or Dodge SUV.

Another thing...under load the bars will slip in the foot-masts, too. To secure then down you should drill and tap a s/s machine screw on the top of the bar just next to the inside of the mast so that when the bar slips it will jam up against the foot-mast.

I know this makes no sense in words, but if you e-mail me I'll be happy to send didg images of the retrofits dome to the cheapo Thules. If I was to do it again I would get Yakimas, at least I can get a s/s pipe the dimension of the Yakima cross pipes...the Thule bars are a seamed mild steel bar with a cheap plastic coating. Damn things will rust in a second unless you treat the inside then foam fill them. The worse if\s that there is no s/s square tube in the world that is that size.

So...there

Messages In This Thread

kayak transport
brad shepard -- Friday, 28 February 2003, at 1:05 a.m.

Racks work fine
Brian Nystrom -- Friday, 28 February 2003, at 3:17 p.m.

Re: Racks work fine
Don Lucas -- Friday, 28 February 2003, at 4:58 p.m.

Re: Racks work fine
Brian Nystrom -- Friday, 28 February 2003, at 5:38 p.m.

Re: Racks work fine
John Leonard -- Friday, 28 February 2003, at 5:44 p.m.

Re: Racks work fine
Ed Hopkins -- Saturday, 1 March 2003, at 9:56 p.m.

I forget people really do that!
brad shepard -- Thursday, 6 March 2003, at 1:13 a.m.

Re: kayak transport
John Leonard -- Friday, 28 February 2003, at 5:41 p.m.

Re: what I gather is....
brad shepard -- Friday, 28 February 2003, at 7:22 p.m.

The long haul
Pamela -- Friday, 28 February 2003, at 10:00 p.m.

single end-lines
brad shepard -- Thursday, 6 March 2003, at 1:08 a.m.

Re: single end-lines
Pamela -- Thursday, 6 March 2003, at 8:42 a.m.

Re: single end-lines
Mike Hamilton -- Thursday, 6 March 2003, at 12:05 p.m.

Re: single end-lines
Mike and Rikki -- Sunday, 9 March 2003, at 3:13 a.m.

Re: what I gather is....
RickW -- Sunday, 2 March 2003, at 7:38 a.m.

Wow,bad luck,thanks for post *NM*
Don Lucas -- Sunday, 2 March 2003, at 9:29 a.m.

Yes! the "inverted vee"!
brad shepard -- Thursday, 6 March 2003, at 12:50 a.m.

Re: what I gather is....
Robert Woodard -- Thursday, 6 March 2003, at 9:51 a.m.

But WAIT...about Thules and braking
Mike and Rikki -- Saturday, 8 March 2003, at 12:42 a.m.

Re: kayak transport
Alex -- Saturday, 1 March 2003, at 5:02 a.m.

Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board is maintained by Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks with WebBBS 5.12.