Hey guys,

I'm new to transporting my kayaks on the roof of my vehicle and was having some issues with my Thule square bar rack. I will first point out that I was not using any bow and stern tie downs so I am hoping using them solves my problem. While driving the back roads last summer in moderate winds the bar on my rack was pushed almost all the way through the feet that are attached to my vehicle. If I hadn't pulled over because I noticed the kayaks moving they would have pulled all the way through. I have since tightened them down as much as possible but they weren't really loose in the first place. I am really afraid to put my yaks back up there for fear of this happening again. Do you think the bow and stern tie downs would correct this? While I feel it is safer to use them in general and will be using them from now on, I feel that it won't do much to prevent this. Maybe I am underestimating the importance of them. Has anyone else ever heard of this happening? I haven't been able to find anything remotely similar online. Anyways, thanks for any help that you can offer. If it matters I am transporting two 10'4" kayaks.

Pushed through the feet?
Like the bars had slid sideways enough to come out of the towers? We have had all Thule and never encounntered that level of movement, if I understand correctly. Over time they do need to be moved back into line with a rubber hammer but that is after multiple decent length drives to and from the launch. Never that kind of movement during a single trip.



But we also typically have had sea kayaks up there with neoprene cockpit covers, and occasional WW kayak tucked in. I wonder if thee is a different risk from wind with the boats like you are carrying.

correct
Yeah, they were sliding sideways through the feet/towers. The front bar only though, the back stayed in place. And all the parts are thule made specifically for my vehicle. It could be the design of the kayaks I suppose, they have a large opening and probably capture a lot of air while moving. Still, seems strange since many people transport similar boats.

not ever seen thi
I have not ever seen this before. My best guess was that the clamps of the towers around the bars were loose.



Bow and stern line would not prevent the bar from slipping, but would hopefully prevent a catastrophic problem by keeping the boats and rack on the roof if the bars did slip all the way out.



If it really is a concern, you could try locking the bar in place with a second means. Perhaps get a set of hose clamps (like http://www.delcity.net/images/photos/236802_primary.jpg) and install on the bars right next to the towers. These should keep them from being able to slip. In theory, you would only need one clamp for each tower, so long as you put them all in the same place (either inside or outside), but you could do one one each side.

good idea
That is a good idea Peter I hadn’t thought of doing something like that. I may have to end up doing that, but will probably be contacting Thule first since this should be unnecessary on an expensive rack system. Thanks for your advice.

Yeah, start with Thule
My idea about the larger cockpit of the boats was that it might aggravate the problem, but that is not a problem you should have had with such severity regardless. I agree with above, it doesn’t sound like things are being held together well to start with.

I second that guess

The feet can be a PITA to truly tighten down until you hear the reassuring "click" described in the instructions. I suspect this leads to the failure people describe when dismissing clamp-on racks out-of-hand.
My Thule feet/towers actually put small indentations on the thule bar material once they were tightened, that's how tight they were.

I can’t get the feet off my old bars.

hah! same here
Even after I swore at them!

thanks
Great information guys. I feel a little better knowing it’s probably user error rather than a faulty rack system. I will make sure to get them down tight and try again this year.

start with Thule…
They are an excellent company with very good customer relations. I’ve had Thule racks/bars and associated gear since "98 and have yet to experience a problem like you have addressed. Thule would probably want to know about this issue and I’m certain they can help.

I found this old thread, I have the same problem, it’s happened to me a few times in very strong cross winds. I had a canoe and kayak, well tied down.
In extreme gusts, the front bar slides enough through one tower to allow the other tower to deflect and pop off the rail, holy cow! It only has to slide an inch or so to come off the rail on the opposite side. Luckily, I was using front tie downs.
No matter how tightly I clamp them, the bar can still slide through one or both towers if the cross winds are strong enough.
The hose clamps on the bar seems like a good idea to halt the slippage.
But I think the way the tower clamps on the rail lip (Jeep rails) is not adequate, it allows the tower to pop off when deflected. And the plastic coating on the bar doesn’t have a positive grip inside the tower clamp, it seems worse when raining (grrrr!) Not a satisfied Thule customer.

Make/Model/Year of vehicle. Model of Thule foot pack, fit kit and bar length please.

I would need this background for an attempt at a diagnosis.

See you on the water,
Marshall Seddon
The River Connection, Inc.
9 W. Market St.
Hyde Park, NY
845-229-0595 main
845-242-4731 mobile
Main: www.the-river-connection.com
Store: www.the-river-connection.us
Facebook: fb.me/theriverconnection

In have the 480 feet and when you clamp down on the square bars it actually dents the bars it grabs them so hard. I wonder what type you have? I cant imagine those bars sliding sideways. At least not in the 480 ones I have .

Did you get this resolved? We are having the same problem. The front bar slides towards the driver’s side. We can move the bar without loosing the feet just by pushing it. We have a 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe, 460 Podium feet and square rails. Sent photos to Thule of all feet as they requested and it turned out one was broken. They sent us a replacement and we swapped the feet, but sadly we still have the same problem. The asked us to take it to a local dealer which we did this morning. At first the gentleman thought the screws might be stripped but determined they weren’t. He spent about an hour trying to determine the problem. He believes it’s because the width of the roof rail that the feet attach to is wider in the back than front by about 2cm and the front ones aren’t gripping. After a few attempts he came up with a temporary fix he thought would get us through the rest of the season, (we’re in New York), and told us to tell Thule it was a design issue. We drove from Goshen NY to Kingston NY (about 60 miles) and noticed the front bar had already slid towards the driver’s side as far as it can go. We haven’t had our kayaks on the car once the season because of the problem. Very frustrating…

Hi, Rjgould

Wow, this old thread notified me of your response. I ended up contacting Thule and they sent me new clamps that had a couple of raised bumps that was supposed to stop this from happening. The original ones were smooth inside.

It did not help unfortunately. I ended up selling everything i had off in parts except the feet and threw them away. I havent put them on a roof since. I use a trailer now.

It’s really unfortunate I see more people have had this issue. I thought I just got a bad unit, but I agree the local guy you worked with, it’s a design flaw. Thule really needs to do something about that before someone gets hurt.

Thank you for responding! I believe Thule is aware there is a design flaw since they changed both the bar and the feet. Of course the new system is not compatible with the old system so we would have to do the same as you, sell off what we can and toss the rest. Really frustrating as we have 2 of the hydraulic Hullavators as well as the rails and feet - almost $2000 of equipment we cannot use. I am going to contact Thule again with an update, but I honestly don’t expect any resolution. Again thank you for responding, any info is better than none slight_smile

The bars usually have plastic end caps. Those caps will not slide through the feet, but they will come off. Since I view those caps as a safety net to prevent straps from sliding off the end and the bars from sliding through the feet I have taken to putting a couple of pop rivets in each one so that I can trust them to stay in place.

Peter