Thule Base Roof Racks For Vehicles With Pre-Drilled Fix Points

    Many vehicles today are equipped with factory installed roof rack "fix points." These pre-installed mounting points make it much easier for "factory racks" to be installed on a vehicle's roofline, providing a very stable mounting base with a sleek look. But sometimes factory crossbars aren't long enough to hold all your gear. Sometimes they can't take the weight of two kayaks at the same time. And sometimes the price of the "factory rack option" for your vehicle (if there even IS one) gives you a case of sticker shock! For times like these, Thule designed the new Podium Foot rack. Thule's Podium Foot racks allow you take full advantage of your factory installed fixpoints, combining your vehicle's sleek, solid roofline with the highly versatile, durable roof racks you've come to expect from Thule.

Installation Instructions/Tips

    Installing the Thule 460 and 460R Podium racks isn't really that difficult of an installation. The Thule 460 Podium Fixpoint Foot Pack is used with the Thule rectangular bars. The Thule 460R Podium Rapid Aero Foot Pack is used with the Thule aluminum oval shaped bars. The way Thule designed these racks to be mounted is by using preexisting drilled installation points on your vehicles roofline. This is Thule’s new style of mounting roof racks to “newer” vehicles. Older vehicles do not have these “pre-drilled Fixpoints” on their rooftops, although they’re a few exceptions. When mounting the Thule 460 / 460R base rack to your vehicle start off by sliding the towers onto the crossbars and install the crossbar end caps. Installing the end caps will prevent the towers from sliding off the crossbars. Not all vehicles with pre-drilled fixpoints have the same style roofline, so Thule has designed multiple Podium Fit Kits to allow their 460 / 460R Foot Packs to fit a variety of different vehicles. You'll need to check your Podium Fit Kit for specific installation instructions for your vehicle, but installation generally consists of  threading 1 or 2 specialized bolts to each fix point, and then attaching mounting plates to those bolts. Your unique Thule Podium Fit Kit will connect to the 460 / 460R foot with two M6 x 16mm hex bolts (included with foot pack). Attach the Thule Podium Fit Kit to your vehicle loosely and center the load bars. (If you're using Thule's "square" bars, you can have them off-center. Just make sure to leave at least an inch of bar on the outside of each foot for maximum stability.) The best way to make sure your bars are centered is to measure how much bar sticks out from the end of the foot and to slide the bar over until those measurements are equal.  Finally, tighten the two M6 x 16mm hex bolts connecting the fit kit to each Podium Foot. You should alternate between the two hex bolts on each tower every turn or so. This will tighten the Podium Fit Kit to the foot and simultaneously lock the crossbar in place. Take care to match the supplied rubber spacers, mounting plates, etc. to the fix point specified in your Fit Kit instructions, because many vehicles require different parts for the front and rear bars (or even the left and right sides of the vehicle.) Nearly all such parts are numbered, and those that aren't numbered are well described (with pictures) in the instructions, so your installation should be a breeze. The last step is to place the covers over each foot, keeping them in place with either the included non-locking plugs or Thule Lock Cores. We do recommend the use of Lock Cores with Thule's Podium Feet, as we have found the non-locking plugs hold the Podium Foot Covers in place poorly on some vehicles. Plus, installing Thule Lock Cores in your roof rack is an easy way to safeguard your investment.

Test The Installation

    Push up on the end of bar to test the installation.  Also, grab the bar near the towers and pull back and forth.  If the tower or crossbar slides, check tower for tightness and re-tighten.

    The Thule 460c Complete Podium Fixpoint Foot Rack is the answer to attaching a sport rack to a vehicle which has pre-installed mounting points. The 460c Complete Rack includes 4 components: 4 of the 460 Podium Foot Pack Towers, 1 Pair of Thule Crossbars, 4 Crossbar End Caps, and Thule Podium Fit Kit. The height of the Thule 460 tower when mounted on your rooftop is about 4” to the top portion of the Thule crossbar. The Thule 460c sits on a rubber pad, which rests on the roof of your vehicle and is designed exclusively for use with the Thule Square Load Bars. When Thule's Podium Fit Kit attaches the Thule Podium Foot to you roofline it tightens the Load Bars to the Podium Feet at the same time. We always ship Thule's recommended load bar length unless otherwise specified. Lock cores (sold separately) are highly recommended.

    The Thule 460rc Complete Rapid Podium Rapid Aero Foot Rack is the answer to attaching a sport rack to a vehicle which has pre-installed mounting points. The 460rc Complete Rack includes 4 components: 4 of the 460r Rapid Podium Foot Pack Towers, 1 Pair of Thule Aluminum Crossbars, 4 Rapid Crossbar End Caps, and a Thule Fit Kit for Podium Foot Packs. The height of the Thule 460r tower when mounted on your rooftop is about 4” to the top portion of the Thule crossbar. The Thule 460rc sits on a rubber pad, which rests on the roof of your vehicle and is designed exclusively for use with the Thule Aluminum Load Bars. When Thule's Podium Fit Kit attaches the Thule Rapid Podium Foot to you roofline it tightens the Load Bars to the Thule Rapid Podium Feet at the same time. Thule's Rapid Bars require very precise fits, so we always ship Thule's recommended bar length unless you specify otherwise. Lock cores (sold separately) are highly recommended for use with Thule's Rapid Podium Feet.