Took a chance and installed my Thule roof rack. Props to BlackUp for the part numbers and advice. So far I have about $130 in it after buying used parts off eBay. All I have left to buy are some saddles, and well I need a new kayak since I sold mine when I sold my truck. Looking at a two person fishing kayak on Craigslist now . I'll check my mpg and report back. If it drops too much I'll just remove it and install as needed. Now on to the pics!

 

Personally I would not sweat the mileage too much, if that is the configuration that works with your lifestyle and is what's required to make the Fit work for you..just go with it
EDIT: Unless of course it slags your Mpg really hard, if the rack comes off quickly..win,win!

 

Hey Clemsonteg, could you post a picture showing a close-up of the feet and how they sit on the car's roof? I know the Thule rack straddles the rain gutter, but I'd like to see exactly how the feet are configured. Thanks!

By the way, I'm usually not much for red cars, but that color really looks nice in your photos.

 

Looks nice, Clemson. After years with the same rack, I'd recommend the fairing, too, if you can swing it. It cuts down the wind noise from the crossbars tremendously.

If/when you decide to take it off, (and you should when you're not using it; it can damage your paint), you can leave it assembled and it will be lined up and ready the next time you put it on only needing minor adjustments. When you put it back on, though, it really helps to have 2 people. If you do it by yourself, make sure to put down towels on the roof in those areas where the clips attach. I put a nasty scrape/dent in one of my older cars where the rack made contact a little too heavily.

 

Looks great bro!!

After you buy the kayak, post a pic with it up there!

 

Man... in that light your car is almost the color of


Nice job piecing the rack together on the cheap. I'd let you borrow my fairing to try it out but its a major PITA to put on the bars properly.

 

Awesome you got that rack for so cheap! I got a Thule rack for mine as well, but since I take it off and put it back on pretty often, I lined the car with a polyurethane strip wherever the rack would touch my car. Just so that it doesn't start scratching at the paint if lets say there's a little bit of dirt caught between the feet and the top of my car or at the clip. I would recommend getting Xpel door sill guard and applying that if you're interested. They come cheap on amazon, are very durable, and leave me with a sigh of relief knowing my rack won't damage my paint. And they're nearly invisible.

 

ShadowMoses: so far the wind noise isn't that bad. The only time I notice anything is over 45 mph, and most of my drive to work is under that so its not too bad. I was actually considering some of those round foam pads that zip over bars like that. Not sure if it would help, I may need to experiment with some foam pipe insulation first.

2012FitFan: thanks man I'm actually buying arouse right now, but as soon as that is done I'm going to do some serious shopping

BlackUp: I don't own anything that color! I bleed orange

fifty6inches: thanks for the tip! That would be great not only as a protector but as a locator as well!

Ultrawolf: here is the picture you asked for

 

What visors do you have installed? Looks good!

 

It looks like the rubber pad on the Thule feet are curved to match the contour of the roof - I like that. Thanks for the photo

 

My thule rack is still in the garage waiting for winter to get here so I can actually go skiing.

 

Could you pm me those parts numbers please?

 

Oem I read a few reviews about the difficulty of install then pulled the trigger. Pretty easy install

No need to pm, the feet are thule 400xt, the fit kit is the bracket and rubber pads that's 2199. I had a hard time finding them I ended up getting a used set on eBay, the bars are 50". I found the feet and bars together on eBay which is why I got such a good deal. It actually had a fit kit attached to it which I could probably sell back on eBay, butim not sure what it fits.

 

Can anyone reccomend a carrier for a kayak? I'm used to putting it in the back of a truck so I'm not sure what to get for the rack. The kayak I am looking at is 12 foot long and 34 inches wide. Thule seems to have 2 styles, j hooks or just saddles

 

I prefer to use nothing but the bars for one boat. Here is a pic of my 14.5" kayak mounted with that method:

An upside-down mount is very stable and more aerodynamic. I put the tow loop into the bumper and tie the stern to it in order to stabilize the load. I always meant to install the strut-tower tie-off points for extra stability up front, but never did:
DIY: Handy Tie-down Loops | How To Articles – GuideLines: Paddling.net
I never had any issues with this at 75 mph but I still would have felt better with some sort of frint tie-down like shown above.

A product like the Yakima Stacker worked pretty good with 2 boats:

The Stacker allows one or both boats to be loaded on their side.... otherwise the bars are too narrow for 2 big boats to lay face-down, side by side. I still have my old stackers but they don't work well with the Thule square bars (they are the old style and won't fold down) so I might spring for these:
Amazon.com: Thule Stacker Carrier: Sports & Outdoors

 

Small update, filled up after the first full tank with the rack on, I averaged 40.2 mpg, looks like the rack isn't causing any reduction in mileage.