Fitting Your Thule Roof Bars
Congratulations! Youve just bought yourself a pair of Thule roof bars for your car. Now youre looking at all the bits in the box and scratching your head, wondering how it all goes together and fits on to the car! Dont worry, the instructions are a lot clearer than they may appear at first glance.
Start off by finding the checklist on page two and check off the contents of your Thule roof bar kit against it to make sure you have everything you should have. You dont want to get to the final stage and then find somethings missing!
First clean the car in the areas where youll be working. Thats partly to make sure everything that attaches to the car is fitting to a clean, smooth surface for optimum grip and partly so you re not rubbing grit into the paintwork as you work and making scratches. Why not take the opportunity to clean the whole car while youre at it!
Next you assemble each of theThule roof bars off the vehicle. You should have four feet, those are the big, funny shaped things. On one side of each foot youll find a trigger. Lift each of those as far as it will go. Then take one of the long bars and, with the trigger side of each foot facing the bar, slide the fittings on the tops of the feet into the open ends of the bar. You cant get it wrong, theyll only fit one way up. Slide the feet on to the bar leaving some bar sticking out beyond each foot.
You should have four funny shaped block fittings with nothing sticking out of them. Push one of those into each end of the bar where it sticks out beyond the foot. Again itll only go in one way so you cant get it wrong. You push it in until you hear a click. Then repeat everything youve done so far on the other bar.
Next, using the tape measure provided, position each foot on its bar the correct distance in from the end for your vehicle. Youll find the measurement in the instructions and it may not be the same for the both bars. Once youve got the position right press down the triggers on the sides of the feet until theyre flush with the surface.
Now find the other four funny shaped things that have a rod sticking out of one side. Push one into each end of both bars with the rod poking into the bar until you hear it click into place. If you have the type of bars that are rounded at each side with a slot along the top youll have two flat pieces the same length as the bars. These just clip into the slot on the top of the bars when you press them into place. If you have the square section bars you dont have these pieces.
In the small square box youll have four clips marked "89" and four odd shaped oblong things marked, "17," The oblong pieces fit to the bottom of each foot and the clips push up into the feet from the underside on the outer side until they click into place leaving the curved part projecting downwards. Also in the same box you should find a small sheet of four black labels marked "FR" (Front Right), "FL" (Front Left), "RR" (Rear Right) and "RL" (Rear left) separate them from the backing sheet and stick each one on to the appropriate foot in the space provided on the inside face.
Now its time to fit your Thule roof bars to the vehicle. If you look at section 6 of your fitting instructions youll see that it shows you where to position your roof bars correctly for your vehicle. This is important for safety so do follow it.
Position eachThule roof bar in the right place and make sure its straight across the roof. Engage the curved part of the clip on each foot under the edge of the roof then, holding the clip in place with your thumb, pull out the knob on the end of the bar and, turning clockwise, partly screw up each one until the bars are fairly firmly fixed. Check and make sure theyre straight and in the right positions and then tighten each end alternately, i.e. FR, RL, RR then FL, until all are tight and secure.
If your cars equipped with roof rails youll have different feet fittings that attach to them. It will all be quite clear in the instructions of course. If you have any doubts at any stage dont be too proud to ask your supplier. Theyll be only too happy to explain things for you.
Author Biography:
Fasteronline - UK car accessories specialist stock a huge range of Thule roof bars , Thule roof racks, Thule and Karrite roof boxes and Thule bike carriers.
If you are looking for car accessories then visit www.fasteronline.co.uk.