Originally Posted by bwb
I am relocating soon, and needed to get a rack for my bike and to carry extra stuff (only want to take one car). For the roof rack towers/crossbars, much of the choice was between Yakima and Thule. Below is a synopsis of which is better for the Fit (spoiler: Thule).
I started by picking up the Yakima Q Towers, 48" round crossbars, and Q5 fit kit from REI. The front crossbar was fairly easy to setup (~1 hour, this was my first time, and I was going slow). It fit fairly close to the door frame, and did not bend the weather stripping much. The rear bar was different - I spent about 5 hours going between readjusting the length between towers and re-tensioning, and could not get a snug fit. I tried shortening crossbar length, so that clips would be tilted more, but with no luck. It was close, but it still pushed the weatherstripping more than I'd like - usually inverting the weatherstripping on one side. The Q Towers is that they could still move a little when fully tensioned (squeaks), and while tensioning it scratched and dented the inner door frame. The clips don't seem to engage the door frame much.
After spending much time fiddling with the Q Towers, I decided to pickup the Thule roof rack from REI (2180 Fit Kit, 400XT Aero Towers, 50" square crossbars). The 2180 Fit Kit is specifically for the Honda Fit, whereas Yakima's Q5 fit kit is for a range of vehicles. The 2180's pads are specially molded for the Fit, and the clips fit at a perfect angle (and engage a good portion of the door frame), no dents or scratching of the door frame yet. I setup the Thule rack in about a half of the time as the Yakima, and it fits like a glove without any movement/squeaking/etc... It is much much much tighter and secure to the Fit. It bends the outer weatherstripping less than the front bar of the Yakima. Since the Fit has two layers of weatherstripping around the door frame (plus an inner dust weatherstripping), I doubt leaving the rack on will let rain inside. The Yakima is going back to REI...
I did note some cons of the Thule:
* 24" crossbar spread instead the Yakima's 32" (some accessories require minimum 28" spread I think, but it isn't a problem for me)
* No quick, easy, on/off cam like the Yakima's... the Thule's cam needs to be unscrewed, and so takes more time. Since the Thule doesn't bend the weatherstripping nearly as much, and is more secure, I don't have a problem with leaving it attached semi-permanently.
* Rides slightly higher than the Yakima (~1" to 2" inches)
Noise without the fairing hasn't been bad, though I just got it installed and haven't driven it much. I'll skip the fairing, and save some MPG's. FWIW the Yakima was louder (though admittedly, I hadn't installed the endcaps when testing that).
Summary: Thule's 400XT/2180 Fit Kit roof rack attached more securely and with less weatherstrip bending than Yakima's Q Towers/Q5 clips. I recommend choosing Thule's rack over Yakima's, if you are adding a roof rack to your Fit.
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