Thule Glide-and-Set - improvement?

Advice
#1

I recently bought Thule Glide-and-Set (model # : 883). After the very first trip home from the store with a kayak on top, I noticed that the bolts were rather loose. These are the bolts that hold the plate down (up) against the cross bars, and I remember making them fairly tight.



They didn’t come loose enough for anything bad to happen, but I’m thinking there’s gotta be a way to make it more secure. Has this happened to you, and know of a good and cheap way to make sure the bolts don’t come loose? Another bolt with a washer in between? Tie a thin string around the excess screw and loop it around the top part?



I had bow/stern tie-downs, and this isn’t a question about that.

#2

Loctite

– Last Updated: Jul-10-07 10:16 PM EST –

That should take care of the nuts loosening up. Blue not red...

#3

Forgot to mention…
…that I plan to take them off when the car is unattended in a remote location since there is no lock on Glide-and-Set. Just in case I get them stolen. It’d hurt to buy another set, and I wouldn’t know how to bring the boat back w/o them.



Locktite would keep the bolts on, but hard for me to take them off?

#4

chewing gum

#5

Blue Loctite

– Last Updated: Jul-11-07 12:48 PM EST –

Blue loctite allows you take things apart with hand tools. The red stuff requires heat and tools so don't use it. Get some locks so you don't have to remove them as often.

#6

Give them a chance
as a new installation, the need for some retightening is not surprising. Make sure you tighten them with no boat on the cradles, or lift the boat slightly, so it’s weight is not on the units - that can give you a “false-tight”.



These units have so much flex in them, that I recheck the tightness once in a while - it’s hard to tell when to stop cranking them down.



By the way, if you have Thule bars, I like to older H2Go saddles and the related slides much better then the current units - they fit only Thule bars, but they fit right! I’m replacing my new units with older ones off eBay.



Alan

#7

which locks?
Does Thule have locks for Glide-and-Set? I’d prefer leaving the setup (not the boat) on the car, if they got locks. Don’t remember seeing on their website.

#8

Snaped wing nut
I always try to check mine on a regular basis to make sure they are nice and secure. I was having trouble with the saddles staying at the angle I placed them at so I kept resetting and cranking down on the wing nuts in hopes that each time it would stop the saddle from collapsing down. Each time there was enough give that I thought I was doing the right thing by tighting them until tight. That is until the wing nut snaped last week. Has this happened to anyone else?