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Hey, I installed my thule rack, and the rubber foot plates do not touch the
roof of the car completely, they are angeled a bit, and if I tighten it
anymore, it will be way too tight.  Does anyone have an idea?  Thanks.

MK3 GTI VR6

I have the same symptom.  I just tighten it appropriately and it works fine
(and the feet still do not sit completely on the roof)

I've used my rack for several years now in this manner and have had no
problems.....and this includes over weighting it some times(I have a ski
carrier box that has doubled as extra cargo space which had been pushed
passed its 100lb carrying limit on several camping occasions).

Way back when I did speak with a factory rep and an authorized dealer and
they said this is typical and they haven't seen any problems....they
mentioned you can try your own bending magic to get them to completely be
seated but it is not required.

What is important is that the angle is not sooooo radical to cause the
clipping lip that hooks to the car not to be seated correctly.  If you can
tighten it and then shake the car in all directions via the rack I'd say you
are set.

BTW....I recently ordered some new rubber feet for the rack.....I only
needed one ordered 4.  It was a little bit of a pain to get a hold of them
but if you find yourself needing one let me know.  Also, I do not have the
VW issued rack (like on the Trek version Jettas)...mine is a Thule ordered
rack with the VW specific feet.

Dan

Mk3 97 DE

P.S.  Be careful getting in and out....having the bar mounted right above
the door lends itself well to whacking yourself (or your passenger) in the
head...it hurts! :)   Girlfriend is always cursing at me for it.

[...] 15 lines deleted

Hey, thanks for the information, I thought it was weird how it stuck up a
bit, but I pushed the rubber down to keep dirt and stuff out of that crease.
I shuck them, a they are on there pretty strong, I hear you on the head
banging, came close already a few times!

Do you have the faring?  Not sure how tight to make those bolts that hold
the bracket to the faring, don't want to break the plastic.  Thanks!

Max

Your fairing should have come with small foam pads that go between the
plastic and the metal washers. Just tighten the nuts enough so that the foam
pads are compressed.

Also, you will not be able to get the fairing brackets totally tight. Even
if you tighten all the nuts and bolts, the fairing will still move from side
to side if you push on it with your hand. This is OK. It won't move while
you are driving. Just make sure everything is snug and you'll be fine.

One more thing: If you have to take the rack off the car, leave the fairing
attached to the front cross bar. This way, when you put the rack back on,
all you have to do is align the fairing and make sure it's tight. This is
much easier than reinstalling the whole thing.

Good luck,
Jason
'98 Silver Arrow

On Mon, 14 May 2001, Daniel French wrote:

> BTW....I recently ordered some new rubber feet for the rack.....I only
> needed one ordered 4.  It was a little bit of a pain to get a hold of them
> but if you find yourself needing one let me know.  Also, I do not have the
> VW issued rack (like on the Trek version Jettas)...mine is a Thule ordered
> rack with the VW specific feet.
...
> P.S.  Be careful getting in and out....having the bar mounted right above
> the door lends itself well to whacking yourself (or your passenger) in the
> head...it hurts! :)   Girlfriend is always cursing at me for it.

For those shopping racks, the VW rack is a perfect fit against the
roofline and doesn't stick out enough to whack your head. If you are
carrying bikes only I'd suggest it vs. Thule, as they are same quality,
same price. The VW rack has a different bar profile, and while some
accessories are interchangable, many are not.

Josh