Thule Traverse AreoBlade Roof Rack System

[HotLap]

All, about ready to order my Thule roof rack system.  I'm getting the 480R Rapid Traverse Feet kit, with the ARB53 53" AeroBlade aluminum load bars, and the four piece Fit Kit1692 for the Fusion.  Load capacity is 110 lbs.  I've fund these parts bundled at Cargogear.com for $409.00 which is about $45.00 less than purchasing the various components separately.  I'll also have to pick up the locs for an additional $60.00 then the base rack will be complete.  Will add a couple of stand up bike mounts and a kayak/paddle board mount down the road.

 

Just running this by you to see if anyone had feedback on this system or other systems out there.  Thule is pricy but they (along with Yakima) are quality components for years of trouble free use.  I was temped by the "Rhino Mount" line of roof racks as they would be about $150 less (inc. locks) but I don't know anything about the Rhino Racks...the pics look very close to the Thule system...

[Rexracer]

I want to see pictures when you get it all together.

I almost got a Rhino Rack box for wife's SUV, but after a friend got some of their stuff, he reported that it definitely was not as nice as the Yakima stuff. Also found a review that said basically the same thing. They look good, but they don't work quite as well.

We ended up with a Yakima Skybox 16 in Carbonite, it looks and works great, highly recommended.

[CapnBry]

I purchased pretty much the exact same thing back in May.

-- ARB53 53" AeroBlade Load Bars

-- 480R Rapid Traverse

-- Fit Kit 1692

-- 881 Top Deck Kayak Carrier

-- $455.80 shipped

 

They fit great, look slick, and go on and off in about 3 minutes thanks to the twisty latches. I have no complaints other than the cost. I did complain about the fit initially but then I realized I had put one of the fit kit rubber pieces on backwards. I put a small piece of pinstripe sticker inside of the door frame to indicate where they should be so I won't have to measure every time I want to install them.

 

With the sunroof open and the racks installed, the wind noise is significantly increased because I think the bar directs air right into the sunroof. However with the car all closed up I can't tell the difference.

 

If I had to do it again, I'd buy the same thing-- paying extra for the aeroblades vs the standard square tubular steel.

[Rexracer]

Pictures!

[HotLap]

Rex, will do, got distracted with work and finally ordered the base kit this past weekend.  Good news is that the price had dropped so I ended up getting the complete base kit with locks for $422.95 out the door shipped!

 

Capnbry, would like to see pics and run a few thinks about kayaking by you.  I'm looking for a sit on (vs sit in) for fitness on relatively calm water and light surf duty.  There are a million brands out there (or so it seems) and it's a bit overwhelming at first).  I'm also looking into SUP (stand up paddleboarding) and there are a lot of choices there as well.  Looks like for a SUP, I'm going to need to go around 10.5' or longer and was wondering if any problem with length on the FFE?  The weight is not an issue as the ones I'm looking at run from 35lbs - 45lbs, so not too worried about weight!

 

You guys are right about quality vs lower price.  I've had Yakima and Hollywood racks in the past and for something that you will likely keep many years and want trouble free operation from, I'd recommend paying the extra price.

 

Cheers!

[HotLap]

CaptnBry, that's actually a great deal you got, I still have to order the Kayak mount and that's probably going to put my total cost into the $550 range...assuming you did get the locks?  Would you mind sharing where you purchased your Thule gear?  I'll check them out - always great to save a few $$'s...thx!

[CapnBry]

Oops sorry I disappeared for a bit. My racks didn't include the locks. $60 for 4 lock cores seemed a bit steep considering they're probably still able to be defeated by thieves. I just take the racks off when they're not in use. Granted, they are probably most likely to be stolen while I am out kayaking!

 

I only have this one picture, but my kayak is a sit in 14'6" model that weighs 55lbs.The length isn't a problem. In fact I almost forget it is up there because I can't see it through the windshield unless I lean forward.

 

Everything was purchased during a thule sale from rackattack.com

 

[Rexracer]

looks good, how easy to the mounts go on/off the car. Is anything left on the car or do the mounts come completely off?

 A side and rear shot would be nice to see!

 

Thanks for posting

[CapnBry]

They go on and off really easily. I have a tape mark inside the door frame that tells me where they mount so I just open the doors, lift the bar onto the car, and crank it down. There are little toggles inside the racks that pop out that you just screw down to lock them in place. Takes 1-2 minutes per bar and leaves nothing behind when they come off. I'll put it on and get some better pictures this weekend.

[Rexracer]

awesome thanks!

[HotLap]

Capnbry, thakns for sharing the pics and your source.  Mine just arrived yesterday and I installed the base racks last night.  I have the same (base rack) components as you (see in above post) and did get them to mount up just fine.  However, I did have a few questions/thoughts I'd like to run by you:

 

1) The instructions could be better, not much in the way of explanation but I took my time and all seemed to come together OK.

2) The Rapid Traverse Feet, tightening sequence was a bit unclear as they don't mention the tension latches on the back of the Foot?  I had mine open when tightening and tightened up to the point where I could just get them latched (so it would be a solid fit).  Also, for removal I thought the whole point was to be able to just unlatch the levers and not have to loosen the anchor bolts (inside the Feet housings) and re-tension every time you remount to the vehicle?  This was confusing as the instructions clearly state to leave the tools on the bolts for rack removal which shouldn't be necessary if you are just popping the latch on the rear side of the foot??

3) The anchor bolts (inside the Feet when tightened) look like they barely catch the lip of the slot, thought they'd have a bit larger contact area...this sound similar to your installation or perhaps I didn't get something right? 

4) Just an observation, once I had the base rack installed I noticed the Foot "doors" didn't align as well (when closed) and the plastic snaps no longer held the doors snugly to the Foot.   However, once installed the locks they stay in place much better.

 

Apologies for the "Tome" above but appreciate any insight you may have. All in all a quality rack system and they look/feel very solid on the FFE.

[CapnBry]

I will agree the instructions are worse than IKEA instructions. It has a line drawing of a something with an arrow pointing to another something. Sometimes there will be a number there too. I think I watched a youtube video that made it a bit more clear about what you're supposed to do and still I was a bit skeptical.

 

2) You need to undo the bolt to add/remove the racks from the car. There isn't any sort of one-motion pop on latch, but with the tool right in the bolt all the time you can just lift the lid, pull out the tool and remove the bolt in no time. The latches (I assume that means the large part that comes up from under) flap all the way down to install then use the bolt to pull them up to the car.

 

3) I had the same issue when I first put it together. The instructions aren't clear about this but you have to do something to the them to slip up and over and they sit completely under a second tab lip when assembled correctly. When I first tried it I had them sitting on the darker gray flanged piece but they actually snap up to the lighter gray piece that has more contact area with it. It is hard to take a picture of but here is one of mine.

 

4) My snaps stay in place just fine so far, maybe I just got lucky. It doesn't take much force for them to pop open though,

[HotLap]

Ah ha!!   Capnbry, you ARE the man!!   Somehow I missed the light gray tab and my bolts are riding up against just the black metal slot!!  No wonder it seemed off!!   I'll fix then tonight.  Still curious what the levers on the rear side of the Feet are for?  I still think you are supposed to be able just "snap" the rack off/on the car...they are called "Rapid Traverse Foot Pack" and the website description seemed to infer this...but perhaps not and as you say the bolts loosen very easily anyway.  Have you tried popping the latches on the rear of the Foot housing to see if it releases the Foot?  I'll try it tonight after I get it worked out...thanks again, even though they seem very securely mounted at this point you probably just saved someone from having a paddle board through their grill :)

 

Again, great forum for sure!!

 

PS I really enjoyed the way they refer you back and forth between the individual component instruction sheets...should be one set of (clear/well illustrated)  instructions so you are not confused jumping between the Foot Pack, Aero Blade and Fit Kit instructions...definitely a solid product though!

Edited December 19, 2014 at 10:28 PM by HotLap

[CapnBry]

Excellent! I agree, I couldn't figure out which set of instructions to follow. There was a lot of overlap but details from one weren't in the other. When you get down to it though, they're not very complicated so once you figure it out it is easy (unless you put one of the feet on backward like I did).

 

I had to go look at my racks to see if I could figure out what latch you were talking about. Do you mean the latch on the back, as in the inboard side? Isn't that the latch that locks the bar to the foot? I think the "rapid" part is the screw toggle tools.

[HotLap]

Capnbry, just finished "reinstalling" my racks and you are correct, the "latch on the back" is just to lock the Foot to the bar!  Once I had the "light grey" bracket in place (ala your pic) the fit is PERFECT!  The Foot doors close and stay latched perfectly now!  I did notice that the front bar distance is not accurate per the instructions so I adjusted and the fit is great!  Removing and reinstalling this rack is gong to be easy since the Feet are locked to the bars, just back out the bolts a bit!   Although, I'm not going to b leaving the tool in the bolts (per the instructions) as that would make it too easy for someone to steal the rack!

 

Good stuff and thank you!!

[HotLap]

Update on my Thule AeroBlade rack installation progress.  Once the load bars were <correctly> installed (thx again Capnbry) I ordered the Thule Criterium 598 upright bike carriers (x2).  One of the kits was so beat up by UPS, (looked like it had been dropped down the side of the Grand Canyon), that is was completely wrapped in shrink wrap...learned my lesson, not to accept packages in this condition in the future.  Still dealing with the vendor to give me an RMA but that's another story. 

 

I was able to pick up a 2nd Criterium 598 kit locally.  Now the fun begins as the racks are orientated to mount on the passenger side, and while they CLAIM to be reversible but aren't totally reversible.  The base will not come off the pivoting handle so even though you can reverse the tray, the base is the wrong direction.  Only one side of the base fits into the Aero Blade slot so you have to mount the rear side of the base to the AeroBlade which results in most of the base hanging over the front of the Aero Blade, which is a very inelegant/clunky solution...I would have thought a rack system this expensive would be better than that.  I couldn't stand the way it looked so I ended up reversing it back to a passenger mount alignment and will have to operate the lock and tension handle through my sunroof!  Should mention that with the Criterium 598 rack system, you do have to get the XAdapter 8 kit (which I did) as it comes with the "T Bolts" that slide into the top slot on the AeroBlade load bar.  Nice solution and much cleaner than having a bracket and bolts going from underneath the AeroBlade load bar into the base.

 

Also, due to the angle of the front AeroBlade load bars and the Fusion roof profile, the Criterium rack (when the Criterium base is mounted properly to the front AeroBlade) there was a 3" gap between the top of the rear AeroBlade load bar and the underside of the tray!  I double checked all of the "W" and "Z" measurements (for foot placement on the roof) and they were correct.  Even tried changing positions of the Feet to see it that would help, but only marginally so.  Given that the AeroBlades are just as noisy as my old square bar Yakima rack, I'd not go with them next time, but with a round bar...that way there would be no "mounting angle" to worry about.  The AeroBlades look nice, but not worth this much work (IMO). SEE UPDATE TO THIS PARAGRAPH IN NEXT POST BELOW!

 

To mount the Criterium rack on the rear AeroBlade load bar I ended up drilling a hole through the center of the tray and ran the T Bolt through a 1" thick hard rubber pad trimmed to the size of the tray bottom and used a nut to secure the tray to the rear AeroBlade load bar.  The Criterium comes with a "slide on flange" for mounting on the AeroBlade with the T Bolt, but the mounting hole is so far to the side of the tray and given the tray needed to be held down due to the 3" gap it didn't hold it "square" to the AeroBlade load bar (hope that makes sense).

 

Now on to the SUP/Kayak mounts, I'll report back how that install goes with the AeroBlades, hopefully much easier than the Criterium 598 bike rack system!

Edited January 7, 2015 at 04:21 PM by HotLap

[HotLap]

Quick update, I worked with the Criterium mounting position last night and was able to get the tray to fit flush with the rear Aero Blade load bar.  Turns out the "base angle" can be adjusted by changing the base mounting bolts to the tray from holes "1 & 2" to holes "3 & 4".  There is a picture of this in the intstructions, but it is combined with several other steps and not very clear.  I also Googled the issue with the Criterium not really being reversible (the base anyways) and many other Criterium owners have noted the same issue.  In conclusion, I'll just run the driver's side rack with the passenger side orientation and operate the rack via the sunroof.  Not a big issue but just saying....  :)