Thule Roof Rack System Fit kit

Why do these cost as much as they do? They do the job but overpriced.

This is a copy of the review I posted for the Thule 460 foot pack.As an update, about a month later, and after sending a copy of my review directly to Thule, I have not received any sort of reply from Thule. Something tells me they don't really care.Horrible to installMarch 12, 2019This review is about the combination of the Thule 460 foot pack and the 3160 fit kit on a 2016 Mazda CX-9 using the Mazda factory installed rails and the square bar option. While the equipment itself looks like it will be solid once you get it on, installing this set of foot packs and fit kit is a nightmare, thus the one-star rating.I am a fairly smart and handy person, but I spent over 8 hours trying to get this setup installed. There are many problems with the installation process. First, the directions are horrible. They are all indecipherable pictures with no text and no hints or tips as to orientation of the parts, etc. Second, the allen wrench tool they provide to bolt the foot packs onto the car rails is useless. It is too long on both the short and long ends. The short end which goes into the bolt head is too long to fit into the curvature of the roofline, which is sloping toward the sides of the car roof and meets the roof rails in a "V". It is worse on the back feet than the front because the slope is more severe by the rear mounting points. I wound up cutting a same-sized Allen wrench to where the short side was about 3/4" and the long side was about 3". This helped and finally allowed me to complete my installation but it is ridiculous that that's the best tool that Thule could provide.Third and worst of all, to mount this setup, the mounting holes that accept the mounting bolts face toward the center of the car. This means that you have to get on a ladder so you can somehow look back toward yourself in order to see the mounting holes. Complicating things further, the foot packs themselves obscure your view of the mounting holes so that you are trying to catch a thread of your 8 mounting bolts virtually BLIND, while using a tool that will not fit in the space. This took over 8 hours of time and frustration - an average of over one hour per bolt to finally catch a bolt thread so that I could tighten them down and secure the foot to the rail. I thought it would get easier the farther I got, having started with the front ones, but it only got worse when trying to do the more cramped back ones. I would have stopped and returned this setup after installing the first one if I didn't realize that it would be as difficult to disassemble as it was to assemble.So, I would NOT recommend trying to install this yourself. I think even for the pros it would be very difficult. I didn't check how much someplace like Rack and Road would charge to install -- I would guess +/- $100.Overall, I'm not sure this whole setup is worth the hassle. Another factor is that the crossbars for this car are only about 30" apart, which doesn't give you a very stable rack for larger items.I believe this a very poorly designed setup at least as far as installation is concerned. I realize that Thule has to deal with the setup that Mazda gives them and adapt their product to the constraints that Mazda gives them, but Jeez, it seems like they should have been able to do better than this. This is a horror show.As an aside, also having to do with Thule, I decided to take my old Thule square bars off another vehicle and put them on this new one. However, they had been on for about 35 years and I had lost the key to the locks. I was able to pick 2 of them to get them off, but it was taking too much time so I decided to call Thule to ask if they had a key that I could buy. I gave them the lock number stamped on the cylinder and the customer support woman said that these couldn't be Thule locks because their lock numbers only go from 0 to 200. There is no question that these were Thule locks, but maybe they were just too old for this person to be familiar with. She kept insisting and I finally gave up and went to a local locksmith. While I waited for them to make a key, I was able to pick the other 2 locks and therefore save myself about $75.So I'm not happy with Thule. I think they put out a product that is very difficult to install and they offered very little assistance in the way of instructions, tools, or support. Again, I would return this product if it wasn't going to be as difficult to uninstall as it was to install. Maybe other styles (like the Aero) are easier to install. All I know is this one is a bear.Thule needs to create better directions, this time with words. And an installation video. And better tools. The best install video I found was done by a woman working for a reseller who was very cheery about how you just "start the bolts with your fingers and then use the magic allen wrench to finish tightening them down". I'm not believing this. Her smaller hands MAY have allowed her to start those bolts more easily, but my guess is, because of the obvious editing of the video, she probably spent about as much time as I did trying to get those bolts in. And I know she didn't have an allen wrench that Thule supplied that allowed her to finish tightening them down. Theirs simply doesn't fit. My solution (cutting a shorter allen wrench) worked, but it still was FAR from easy.So good luck. I hope other people have had better luck than I did. If you did, I'd be curious about how you did it.

First I checked that the Fit Kit holes lined up with the factory holes on my 2017 Honda CR-V roof rails. They were perfect. Then I sat at my kitchen table and test fit all the parts from the Fit Kit and Podium Foot Pack together first, to make sure I understood how they went together before putting anything on my car. While fitting the plastic plug and the plastic cover (with Thule printed on it) I could see that the small "bump" on the plug must face down when you push it in, so it snaps into place. Then when you turn the plug clockwise, it snaps again into place and the inside tip of the plug hooks into a notch on the Foot. Yeah I think Thule is overpriced but over the years their stuff has held up. Its also nice that I've been able to use the square load bars I bought back in 1982 for a Mazda GLC Sport, with five other vehicles since then just buying the appropriate Fit Kit and/or Foot Pack.

Wouldn't recommend ordering this item right now (3/29/18) as the model# inventory mappings are incorrect. I've ordered and had to return the wrong item 3 times now. Very frustrating, and now we've got to make the road trip without the cargo carrier that we need.

The price for a Thule setup is quite the pill to swallow when searching for roof racks. I tried out a few other brands that were significantly cheaper, and they were terrible!!!! Thule is worth every cent.Our rack is installed on a 2016 Nissan Versa Note Hatchback. We are driving from Columbus, OH to Seattle, WA and after 1200 miles it has not budged.The only critique that I have is the installation dimensions. I had to change X and Y distance slightly for a more secure fit. The W and Z dimensions I did not change.

I'm not sure where to complain, but the feet did not line up with my cars hood perfectly. While the front end width was correct the back end I had to readjust to fit my car. I was lucky I guessed right the first time. The bars seem to fit snug against the car. My complaint is the the feet can't angle and therefore can't rest against the edge of the rood itself. This has more to do with with the traverse foot pack than the feet. The front end is snug while the back end sticks out of vice versa.I own a 2016 Corolla. Overall these were easy to put together and install on the car. Took me about a half hour. Because the parts are all sold separate the hard part is gathering all the instructions together and making sure you're doing everything right. Once they are put together installing them on the car is a very simple project.I got the 480R foot packs and the aeroblade package. They are a lot more sturdy than they appear, they are also light weight considering how solid they feel. I have no doubt they will hold on my car roof.You can go to the Thule website and they will tell you what you need for your vehicle. I bought all my parts from various places to save money as they are expensive. I like the fact that all I need for the most part are a new foot system should I ever want to install this on a different car.

Excellent and worked very well so I was able to use bars I bought for me BMW and are now used on my Volvo...Thule have always been a good options for me.

The great thing about Thule is their plug-and-play system where you can buy mounting kits for your specific make and model.Installation instructions may not be the best but it is really easy to replace one mounting kit with another.

Very Good Quality

Good enough value. Kit works well with our XC60. Had no problems understanding the instructions and fitting them to our car.

Did the job.

Thule, it just works very well. Add on kit for roof bars, easy to attach and fit the roof rails perfectly (Volvo XC60)

Easy to fit and worķs well

Product as described. Thule was recommended to us and very happy with the product.

.... if they'd just sort the instructions out. Word of advice; search YouTube for How To videos, they'll explain it a lot better.

Easy to fit with my existing aero bars, great delivery from Amazon

V good. Costly.

Works extremley well

As described. Thanks a lot

Typical athule overpriced item.It's a metal brackets and a rubber foot.The Thule pricing is rediculous. If we weren't seperate, we would never support this marketing model.The required 480 feet and the square bars are also worth $50 at best, but Thule prices them well beyond acceptable.When there are only two or three companies doing this, there's not enough competition to force the prices down.

Looks like Thule dropped the ball on this one. Check out some of the Passat TDI forums for more info, but the long and short of it is that the "custom" rubber pad does not follow the roofline of the NMS (US and Canada) Passat. I'm guessing that the profile is probably that of the B7 (Rest of the world) Passat. If you have an existing fit kit that will work but does not fit properly, just use it as is rather than buying this one that works but does not fit properly. It leaves about a 1/8" gap under the part that is supposed to sit flat on the roof inside the rain gutter edge on the roof.I am using it as is since I only carry a single bike on there, but if you need a little better fit, I have read that Whisperbar makes a nice bar setup that fits perfectly and is much quieter while driving.