This is my first post to the site so forgive me if I get it wrong. I just mounted custom roof rack mounts on my 2009 Fit. These mounts are made out of the same material as the Thule bases and mount on the roof in the gutter track. They look super clean on the car and you don't have to use the bulky Thule or Yakima base with the clamps that damage the paint. Below are a couple of pics.

Close up of H09 roof rack mount



HF09 Mounts...this is how I usually drive around when I am not hauling gear

On the left is the recommended Thule base..on the right is the HF09 with the Thule TrackerII-no 430 , and the Thule Tracker Kit-TK1.



Close up of the whole system

Front rack with wind deflector

 

Looks really clean! I guess we all want to know if this required drilling, or any other irrevocable custom work to roof. Are they stock parts? Thanks

 

You have to drill through the roof in the channel beneath the rubber strip to mount the roof rack adapters. You drill below the rubber strip. This is a great place to install the adaptors because it is a very strong part of the roof. The channel is where Honda joins the roof section and the side sections of the car. There are overlapping sheets of sheetmetal in the bottom of the channel and the roof is quite thick where you drill. You can use rivnuts/nutserts or you can actually thread the hole with a tap. A gasket is provided to seal the holes. Rivnuts or nutserts will give you the strongest connection. You cut the rubber strip to make room for the roof rack adapters to drop in. Drilling in the channel is no big deal. Install time was about 45 minutes. Most of the time was spent measuring and marking hole locations. The best part about these mount adapters is that with the Thule Tracker II foot pack and the Thule Tracker II kit(no TK1) the car is so quiet and you are not damaging your paint with the Thule foot pad and clamp kit that is recommended by Thule. I remove my racks when I am not using them so these adapers are perfect. The adapters are made by a company called Make It Manufacturing located in California. Well worth the $89 a set.

 

Can you provide parts # etc or contact information?

 

nice.. i like. any pics of the actual install, pic below the molding and the rivnuts?

 

Farther, the part number is HF09 and you can get it from Make It Manufacturing.. www.make-it.com. The adapter is new and it is not even on their web site. Email Greg Powell at Make It. He'll get you a set.

 

AtticusFit...I will try to get you some pics tomorrow of the install below the molding. I drilled and tapped 4mm holes for my install. There are 3 mounting holes per adapter for mounting to the car. Since the roof in the gutter is pretty thick, drilling and tapping was the cleanest and easiest way for me to install the adapters. I don't have a rivnut tool so I opted for tapping new threads.

 

cool thanks looking forward to seeing pics

 

How did you decide on the placement of the adaptors? Did you have a diagram of the "guts" of the roof like some other roof racks require? Or did you kinda just place them where you thought was good?

Also, can you list the Model #'s of your Thule components? I like your setup, but I'll likely buy a bike attachment as well.

Thanks in advance!

 

I mounted the adapters at the location where thule recommends mounting their towers. the front adapter is 12.5 inches from the front windshield and the back mounts are 41 inches from the front windshild. I just drilled and tapped into the roof in the gutter channel. You can use rivnuts/nutserts if you wish. i used the 50 inch thule bar(LB50-$62.00), the thule tracker II foot pack (no. 430- $125) and the thule tracker kit(no TK1, $59.00). its not cheap, but it looks and works great. I don't know the part number for the bike attachment. My bike rides inside with me. I am 6'4" and race triathlons and my bike is tall but still fits in the car vertically. That was a huge reason why I bought the Fit. I fold the rear seats down and I have a bike mount mounted on the back of the passenger seat on an aluminum plate whic is simply screwed to the back of the seat ribs. I take my front wheel off and lock my forks into the block and off I go. I can transport two bikes in the back while fully utilising the two front seats. Good luck to you!!

 

+rep to you - a sensible biker who takes full advantage of the Fit's spacious interior - well done my friend.

K_C

 

Great! Thanks for the quick reply.

Un fortunately, I got rear-ended by an un-insured driver on Thursday night, so my Fit will be in the shop for at least one week. To add insult to injury, my regular "tailgate" bike rack was on the car and got pretty effed as well... so it'll likely be a while until I have the proper cash-flow to buy all the necessary parts.



I did find a tutuorial about how to make your own riv-nut tool. Seemed pretty simple. I wouldn't want to do hundreds of installs, but for the 8 necessary, I'm sure it would be fine. Here is the site: Make Your Own RivNut Tool

 

What a bummer. sorry to see the damage. ..my bikes always ride inside with me. They are carbon fiber and aren't happy on an outside racks..Plus I am always worried about a rear ender.

 

I'm pretty technically challenged. Can REI install these?

 

Thanks for thaking the time and effort to share this. I need to add some roof racks to the car and did not care for any of the available options. But these look perfect.

I do not understand how the "towers/base" attach to the mounts? Could someone explain?

My intention is also to add a trailer hitch and make a T that would mount in the hitch and rise to the height of the roof rack for longer items.

JIm 0311

 

These are permanent mounts that require drilling into the roof/frame of the vehicle.

Personally, i'm happy with the roof mount of my Yakima and they are rock solid although they do require clamping to the vehicle.

~SB

 

I see that the mounts are permanently attached to the roof. The rack is removable, how does the rack attach to the roof mounts?
JIm 0311

 

Thule's website shows an "exploded" view but doesn't have install instructions. I'm guessing it screws down into the RivNuts.

Thule - Thule Racks - Rack Accessories

~SB