[manxman]

Originally Posted by bwb

The directions were tricky to follow - but after doing it once, it is pretty easy (less finicky than the yakima). No adhesive is used, the rack towers have rubber pads. I haven't see it ruin anything yet - I'm going to take it off again tomorrow to see if it did anything.

Side note: Yakima might fit better with two people, since you could apply tension to both sides simultaneously. I agree with Slovenian that it is all about the angle of approach with the Yakimas. In my case, the approach angle was too steep and bent the inner line of the door. This was partially due to tensioning one side caused the whole crossbar to shift, so that the other side was off.

The Thule you screw a bolt to tension, which takes more time. But, if you walk back and forth between sides, you can get a pretty even fit.

Btw, does anyone with a Thule rack know how tight you were suppose to screw? The instructions say when the "cam is locked in position", but I'm not sure how to tell if it's locked.

bwb-
Tightening the cam/clamp bolts is a matter of personal feel- no recommendations from me, but you will know when it is tight enough to be safe. Suggestion- don't leave the rack on the roof any longer than necessary. The rubber strips than run along the sides of the roof ARE seals for the weld seam underneath. Summer heat and tight clamping force will make the bottoms of the towers leave an impression in the roof seals that is visible when the rack is off the car, and the paint on the seals will begin to fracture and peel with enough flexing of the tower footprints. Again, this is brought about by leaving the rack semi-permanently on the car in temperature extremes.