Does anyone have a Thule bed cover rack other than Bonedog?

[steven1955]

FLASH!!!! I figured out a way to use currently available Thule parts to mount Thule 400 feet on the bed cover. See this thread for details and pictures:

http://www.chevyavalanchefanclub.com/cafcna/index.php?board=19;action=display;threadid=30100;start=msg473582#msg473582

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Does anyone have a Thule bed cover rack other than Bonedog?

Bonedog bought his used, got Thule 400 Aero feet, 50 inch load bars, and an unknown fit kit. The fit kit includes clips that would go under the bed cover, and rubber pads that go under the actual feet.

I have sent Bonedog's pics to Thule customer service, and they can't identify the fit kit, and that don't want sell parts for an "untested" application anyway.

Here's Bonedog's installation: (Bonedog, I have brightened up your pictures to make the rack a llittle more visible.)

So if you have done the Thule rack thing, and know the part numbers of the rack parts that worked for you, let us all know what you used.

 

[steven1955]

Here's Bonedog's rack from underneath the bed cover. It would be nice to have a clip that has a little more grip on the bedcover, but it works pretty well the way it is.

 

[steven1955]

Now what Thule customer service has said is that if I can give them the number stamped on the clip they "may" be able to identify a few fit kits that use that particular clip.

If you have done the Thule rack and use a different clip than Bonedog, let's get that number as well.

The number is stamped on the back of the clip, is usually a 2 or 3 digit number followed by an X. Here is a picture of the backside of a clip that won't work.

 

[bikerchic1977]

another option is a yakima rack.. i know a few have had success with that.. u can find the specifics in this post

 

[steven1955]

Also, if you can get the number off the rubber pad, that number combined with the number off the clip may be enough for Thule to give the exact part number of the fit kit. Remember that a fit kit includes 4 clips and 4 rubber pads.

Here's a pic of the bottom of a rubber pad. (This rubber pad is actually a better choice than the one on Bonedog's rack set up because it is flat on the bottom where Bonedog's is concave.)

 

[steven1955]

Bikerchic1977,

I am actually considering the Yakima stuff, but only if I can't find out how to make the Thule stuff work safely first. I actually like the Thule stuff somewhat better than the Yakima, but they both make good stuff.

We already own a bunch of Thule stuff. My Avatar shows my kayak on a Thule rack using Thule 430 Tracker II Feet, TK1 Tracker Kit, and LB58 Load Bars. We have one set of Yakima Land Shark kayak saddles and two sets of Thule Hull-a-Ports cradles.

Here's our Av with one kayak on it, but we are equipped to carry three.

 

[N1NCZ]

I have the Thule Rack & extension , but have used TXAVy's bed rack for mounting, I just had to go with longer & slightly bigger carriage bolts & wing nuts to use Thule's mounting hardware to TXAVy's Bed Racks - I wen this way because I wanted to use the basket & also use the bike mounts.

Rich / N1NCZ

 

[steven1955]

Well, with Bonedog's help, I was finally able to find out what fit kit will allow a set of Thule 400 or 400XT feet to clamp to an Avalanche bed cover. They key was getting the Thule number off the clip that goes under the bed cover. That clip number was 64.

That was the good news. Now the bad news.

It turns out, according to Thule customer service, that only one fit kit ever had the 64 clip, a fit kit number 71, or 071. That kit is now discontinued, none of my local dealers have any new old stock, and even the Thule US factory has none in their obsolete parts closet.

Looks like its back to finding dealers with open fit kits that they'll let me measure. I know, I could cut and weld a clip, but I'd rather find a kit that fits with at most minor rebending so that any CAFCNA member could make a Thule rack fit. Not everyone here has a machine shop available to them.

So once again, if you have made a Thule rack with 400 or 400XT feet fit an Avalanche bed cover, and your name is not Bonedog, please post what fit kit you used, or what the part numbers on the clips and rubber pads are.