I just took my new 2013 Honda Fit home today and I want a roof rack for my Thule kayak carriers. I called a local dealer and he said the Thule catalog states not recommended for carrying kayaks or canoes on a Honda Fit. My Fit is a lease what should I buy now?

Also my old rack on my 1994 Saturn wagon allowed rain to seep in and rust the metal door jams. I see on the Fit there will also be a gap for rain to get in. What are you all doing to keep the Fit from rusting? Are you taking the racks off when not in use?

Thanks G

 

Go Yakima. I have Yakima 54" bar ,Q towers and clips made just for a Fit. Had rack on another car and just had to replace clips and change bar spread of Q towers. Yakima sends rack placement measurements for the Fit with the new clips I had to buy. I have hauled 2 canoes{27 & 58 lbs} probably well over 3000 miles on long distance trips without incident on my 2009 Fit Sport. Please use front tie downs as a safety measure in preventing wind lift related release failure of any rack system and you will be fine. If you want pictures of front tie down attachment points and straps made email canoerbill@live .com My Yakima rack pops on and off in seconds if you mark inside door where Yakima placement measurements are located when installed. I never let my rack on,it makes to much wind noise when not hauling boats. I used simple electrical tape as clip markings on inner door edge of door opening so I can replace in exact recommended spot every time when reinstalling.

PaFitter

 

yeah that seems strange. No such problem with the yakima whispbar. Obviously the Fit is a short car so I would keep the kayak length resonable and I would stay well within the stated limits of the bar. We carried two heavy bikes all the way to Canada without issues over crappy northern roads.

I would love to see pictures of front tie down straps for kayaks, this has me baffled. The front end is all plastic!

 

Well after the dealer looked the Thule for my fit it says it does fit. The kid on the phone got it wrong. I bought it. Fits well but wouldn't want to remove it.
Thanks

 

I thought that sounded a little silly. The bar spacing on the fit is pretty close together so properly securing the kayak front and rear would be a wise thing to do. Now how to do that on a plastic car is whole other topic!

 

Noooooooo, wait! I just received a message from Thule absolutly shocking.

"Unfortunately it is true, here is the reason.

WATERSPORT FITS REMOVED DUE TO THE POSSIBILITY OF DENTING.

Best Regards!"

Now I have to return it and it was a far drive and the dealer installed it and he took 3 hrs. It cost me $500.

Totally annoyed by the Honda dealer as well because he was just as misleading on this and other things.

I'll be writing Yakima is the whispbar the name of yours and can you post a photo of your mounts?

thanks

 

Check out this link on the whispbar recall too!

I'm so annoyed about this I'm ready to return the car itself not to mention it is very underpowered.

Customer Care | Whispbar

 

LOL wow a lot of doom and gloom here. The Whispbar recall above does not apply to the Honda Fit. Before spreading fear and doubt read the recall first. The Honda Fit fit kit is K446 and is not included in the recall. Even if it was they would just replace the fit kit with one that works properly.

Here is the link to the recall showing the fit kits included in the recall:
http://www.whispbar.com/download/Con...fit_kits_b.pdf

I pulled my front bar off today to make sure there was no damage to the car and there wasn't any. I have my bars loaded to the max weight specified most of the time. Our bikes are the heavy cruiser bikes and weigh a ton. Both bikes and the bike racks weigh 105lbs. I think the max weight for these bars on the Fit is 110lbs. Our last trip was 2200 miles on northern roads. Other than significant bug deaths there was no damage at all to the car.

There not perfect. They are open in the rear and you can see the lock mechanism. I think that is pretty cheesy. These are not cheap you would think they would have a plastic cover like the Thules.

But they do what they are advertised to do. There is absolutely no wind noise you can not hear them at all even with the windows down. And no damage to the car at all after several months of daily use.

I have to say the metal on the Fit is extremely thin and dents easily. I dented the top edge of the car simply by dropping an empty plastic storage container on it. So if this kit was going to dent the car in any way I am pretty sure it would have already done so especially after the 2200 mile trip to Canada.

Good luck with the Kayaks. Can someone point me to the thread that discusses tying the kayaks down to the front? I can't find it any where.

 

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/gene...-kayaks-2.html

 

Please look at this list from Yakima and let me know which setup I need.
Yakima Racks & Carriers

Yakima said I need the QTowers, I see 3 other kits. Which one and why? Also whill my Thule Kayak scoops fit the Whisper?
Thanks again, getting frustrated that I should have bought a Civic.....ugh.

 

If you are creative, there is a way around almost any problem......

http://imageshack.us/a/img832/4532/imgp1354a.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img715/7746/imgp1373.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img842/9849/imgp1372m.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img838/3854/imgp1357.jpg

 

Not sure what Thule Kayak carrier you have but it would seem that it would work with other roof rack systems. Try contacting these people to see what is the best set up.

Thule Kayak Racks & Canoe Racks - Car Roof Carriers

 

Also try this vendor......

Car Racks | Yakima & Thule | Car Roof & Cargo Accessories

 

AWESOME! , WOULD IT BE more stable if you had the bottom bar a little higher up? either way thats pretty cooooooooool

 

It's interesting that Thule has pulled their fit kits for the GE Honda Fit. I needed a new rack for a second '09 Fit and decided to go with Thule. I already have an Inno rack - somebody posted a link to one of my previous photos/posts about it - thank you. I went with Thule because I liked the way the feet engaged the roof and the bars are interchangeable with my Inno rack.

Anyway, the Thule system is really working well. There's no sign of any denting or other issues, and the rack has been used to haul around 80 lbs of gear over 1600 miles. I wonder if there's an issue if people don't get the installation position quite right? I feel confident with the Thule rack, but Thule no longer lists the USA '09 Fit and later in it's fitting guide, so Thule is no longer an option for purchase in any event. And they wouldn't stop offering it if there wasn't some real issue.

One reason that the Thule might be working for me is that I don't torque the clamps down as tight as they specify. It feels like the clamps are really snug before the recommended torque is reached. I basically push and pull on each foot, and if nothing moves or flexes, I consider that tight enough. I do the same with the Inno rack.

That Whispbar system looks really nice.

Grunthaner - sorry you're having to go through such a hassle. Why did it take the dealer 3 hours to install the rack? It should only take a few minutes.

 

I made the hitch by welding a cut down Class II 2" tube to the top of a Class I 1-1/4" tube receiver. That raises the height of any Class II hardware, like the truck load extender bar or a receiver hitch carrier platform, that I mount to the rear of the car.

I used the tall configuration of the load extender bar and the Thule roof rack to carry home two steel entry doors with steel frames (150 pounds each), two home type steel security doors, three 4' X 8' sheets of 3/4" plywood, twenty 96" 2X4 studs (not all at the same time but in individual loads) all using this system.

One day in the future I intend to carry one or two kayaks exactly this way. If I really get hooked on kayaking, I will switch the load to a small trailer to reduce wind drag.

The advantage of the load extender bar is, that assembly puts 1/2 of the load on the bumper, not on the roof. I also have Monroe Air Shocks on the rear, which further reduce weight problems on the rear suspension.

I carry a lot of roof loads and find that the truck load extender bar greatly expands the load carrying abilities of a Fit.

Thanks for your comment!

 

I would gladly make something in my shop (I teach engineering design) but I am leasing therefore I need it to be approved installation nothing homemade.

That being said who has a trailer hitch on their Fit without drilling into the body? And when you say GE Honda Fit where does the GE come from?

 

GE is the frame designation of your car by Honda, and you will find it in the VIN sticker on your door frame. You can buy a trailer hitch for your car on dozens of web sites, and any U-Haul store. My favorite trailer equipment web site is: Trailer hitch, hitches and bike rack (800)298-8924. All of the equipment that I used for my long load roof rack system is available on commercial web sites, including the hitch parts that I put together for this system. It does not matter that you lease your Fit. No one is going to arrest you for using a system like mine on an as-needed basis. Certainly you can damage the leased car by foolish behavior such as overloading a roof rack. But if you teach engineering design, such foolish behavior would be unlikely- would it not?

The answers to your questions have appeared hundreds of times on these forums. I suggest that you do a little more research and use the forums "search" function a little more.

As you will see on the etrailer web site, there are three companies who make trailer hitches for the Fit- Curt, Draw Tite, and Hidden Hitch. All are Class I hitches, with 1-1/4" tube receivers. The only hitch that requires drilling is the Curt, and it does not offer any performance advantage over the other two brands that do not require drilling. Don't buy the Curt hitch.

Honda does not recommend trailer pulling with the Fit. But just because you "temporarily" use a trailer hitch does not mean that you ever pull a trailer with the car. Most bike riders with Fits use the trailer hitch solely to hold a bike rack to keep the bike off the roof to reduce wind drag and bugs getting stuck on the bikes.

Again, if you are creative, you can get around almost any problem.

 

I would recommend a trailer hitch and small trailer.
I installed a hitch on my Fit, to tow a 4 x 7 trailer, with a rototiller on it. It's not a light built trailer, and the tiller weighs just under 400#.
The fit tows it with no problem. Almost like it's not there.

A big advantage, if you are a person, who is a person who is into diy, is you have a trailer, for hauling stuff.
Hitch and light hookup. $175. Cheap new light weight trailer $3-400.
Then you can also get a receiver bike rack for $100.
Or in my case, a used hitch for $50, used trailer for $50, and a bike rack at a yard sale for $10.
Or you can get a designer Thule trailer for $1200 +, and then get the hitch.