hullivator. one on my thule hulli arms will try to fly up when unloading my kayak, it’ s annoying to say the least. (haven’t found my receipt yet…but it will go back when i do!)
well this is dangerous and it also pivots the yak right into the side of my car ! yikes! so i took a smallish bungee cord and wrap the bar right above the top padded piece. it keeps the arm from unlocking and flying up. hope that helps anyone w/ this sucky thule issue.
if i don’t find my receipt does anyone know if i still have any recourse? i bought them new online from a conn. retailer, but don’t remember the name.
Have you contacted Thule? They are
usually pretty good about customer service. My Hullavator has worked flawlessly for 2.5 straight years. I hope you have already contacted them before you started slamming them and their designs on pnet. Are you pressing and releasing the grip switch for the tilt and then again for the drop. Are you taking the boat directly down to the lowest position with a continuous motion that has a final push at the end of the travel? Make sure you have it mounted correctly as well, it may not work properly if it is not mounted far enough towards the end of the bar, and possibly if out too far. You will either discover that your are doing something wrong, or Thule will make it right. You have contacted them right? If you bought your unit from a Thule dealer, this is a slam dunk if it is Thule’s fault. Good luck. Bill
i have had this hulli
for 2 yrs. and it’s just started acting up about 2 months ago maybe. it’s mounted in the same position as last yr. as i take measurements and place in the same location as previous yr. etc… . this one arm won’t stay down unless you catch it just right. i try and get it locked in of course before i start to remove the kayak and you think it’s in and wham ! i didn’t have luck getting any info. about usa customer service. only to call your dealer you bought it from. hmmm!!! any tips? i have others that have the hulli look at it and they something isn’t right w/ it either.so i don’t think it’s that i’m just missing something.
thule will help you
You might have to go to a real thule dealer- an actual brick and mortar shop where you can talk to someone.
Often times even if you didn’t buy the product there, they will help you in order to make a new customer.
The hullivator is a great product, but like everything it has its limitations and mechanical breakdowns can happen.
So we are clear, you called Thule
customer service, described your problem, and they refused to help you while telling you to contact your dealer? Is this correct? Bill
This is a known issue
You are experiencing a problem that affects almost all Thule 897 Hullavators. Thule fixed this issue with the updated 897XT version. Thule, to my knowledge, has replaced every defective 897 with an 897xt at no cost. Find a good dealer and they’ll make it right with you.
i sent an email
and that was what the person wrote back to me and i just left it at that…but i will try a local shop and see if i can do better.
i’m going
to try calling a local shop and see if they will be willing to help. and i’ll try searching on line again for another no. if that doesn’t work. thanks.
"customer service"
At the Thule website… with an 800 #
http://thule.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/thule.cfg/php/enduser/home.php
i called them
and after almost 2 hours got a little somewhere. i need to send photos and then they will decide and get back to me sometime next week. they said thule doesn’t reconize this as a problem or they would have a recall. no recall on this item apparently,but will try and put it through under the lifetime warranty. i’ll post my results sometime next week after hearing from them.
Sounds like the person you finally
talked to just ASSUMED that because s/he hadn’t heard of the problem, nobody at Thule had heard about the problem. A more honest and useful response would have been, “I haven’t heard of a recall or problem, but I’ll check into it because it sounds like you are due some relief.”
yes i agree
the first gentleman to take my call wasn’t as polite as someone in customer service should be. he even said he would call right back and i waited over an hr. so after a very long hold i ended up w/ a very nice women and she was much more helpful. i guess they get people trying to rip them off and i think he just blew me off maybe.hopefully i will get it resolved.i don’t mean to bash thule…but i even bitch about my volvo and sometimes some things about them just plain suck!(vovlvo that is)even the volvo mechanic agrees! just the way it is! but now i have a couple lil’ dings in my new car because of this thule bar, it starts to fly up as soon as you take the weight off it and unless i bungee it down ( learned this after 2 dings) it pitches/pivots the opposite end of the yak toward the car…it’s just frustrating that’s all and i’m just venting…sorry.