Problems fitting Thule bike rack to Evo wingbars

[DJBlobby]

Hi all, I recently fitted some evo wingbars (7112) to my octy mk3 estate and have since bought a used bike rack (591), which i am having problems fitting to the bars.
 

The bike rack uses 3 t track bolts (two 60mm at front and one 35mm at rear) which have levers on that are supposed to tighten and clamp the rack to the bars. However, I seem unable to tighten and lock the two front levers (back one is fine).

 

Any ideas what could be causing this? I have the levers as high up the bolt threads as possible so do I need to find some longer bolts?

[TheClient]

17 hours ago, DJBlobby said:

Hi all, I recently fitted some evo wingbars (7112) to my octy mk3 estate and have since bought a used bike rack (591), which i am having problems fitting to the bars.
 

The bike rack uses 3 t track bolts (two 60mm at front and one 35mm at rear) which have levers on that are supposed to tighten and clamp the rack to the bars. However, I seem unable to tighten and lock the two front levers (back one is fine).

 

Any ideas what could be causing this? I have the levers as high up the bolt threads as possible so do I need to find some longer bolts?

Have you adjusted the lever clamp by turning. Clockwise to tighten, anti to loosen. They need to be set up when first installing and then a pretty much set.

[DJBlobby]

7 hours ago, TheClient said:

Have you adjusted the lever clamp by turning. Clockwise to tighten, anti to loosen. They need to be set up when first installing and then a pretty much set.

 

Hi, thanks for your message. I have loosened the t track bolts as much as I can without the levers falling off the threads. But this still isn’t enough to allow me to clamp/lock the levers onto the bars.

[TheClient]

58 minutes ago, DJBlobby said:

 

Hi, thanks for your message. I have loosened the t track bolts as much as I can without the levers falling off the threads. But this still isn’t enough to allow me to clamp/lock the levers onto the bars.

Are the springs fouling it? Take some side profiles of the t track bolt. Have you consulted thule instructions. There may be two length clamp bolts but I don't remember there definitely is. The t track would be a standard depth i would have thought. I've got a set but may take a few days to check. 

[TheClient]

Those are the right dimensions of t bolt for thule wing bars. 2x61mm + 1 x 35mm. There are sone longer different styles bolts for the square profile bars... 

 

https://www.thule.com/en-gb/bike-rack/roof-bike-racks/thule-proride-591-_-591018

 

 

[TheClient]

Have you lifted the end of the wing bar for access to the t profile track? 

[DJBlobby]

47 minutes ago, TheClient said:

Have you lifted the end of the wing bar for access to the t profile track? 

Yes I have

[TheClient]

39 minutes ago, DJBlobby said:

Yes I have

Need some photos I think of your bike carrier and maybe bar ends. With the lever cam fully open. How much t bolt is left under? 

[DJBlobby]

Hi sorry for late reply. I had a thought. I didn’t mention before that the three t track square feet on the bike rack don’t  slide loosely/smoothly into the roof bar slots, presumably because the two bars are not 100% parallel. Maybe this is preventing me from clamping the two front levers?

[TheClient]

On 20/04/2024 at 20:09, DJBlobby said:

Hi sorry for late reply. I had a thought. I didn’t mention before that the three t track square feet on the bike rack don’t  slide loosely/smoothly into the roof bar slots, presumably because the two bars are not 100% parallel. Maybe this is preventing me from clamping the two front levers?

Well, yes they need to be fairly parallel. Easiest way to do that is to align the bar feet with something on the car both sides. Or measure distance between two bars from both sides of roof.  But doubt it would cause your lack of being able to secure the lock cams.   Is there something caught up on the lever / cam of the bike racks.  Need a photo of the racks t bolts when cam is released. Can you pull the bolt fully down with the cam open. what distance does it extend beyond bottom of rack. I could then compare to my rack for you. Something simple seems to be the most likely scenario but it is a bit perplexing.... 

[paulski]

very odd problem this, I have the Wingbar with two 591 bike racks, but I will add that I do find that the two bolts on the carrier won't clamp down fully,  unless I find the sweet spot on the threads by winding them up or down which you have clearly tried already. I usually have to be up over them to clamp them down, they do take some force for sure. 

 

Its certainly worth measuring the distances between the bars on both sides to ensure they are parallel, I got well fussy with at tape measure then I put my bars on. 

 

@DJBlobbyJust to add without being too patronizing, you are trying to clamp them down without the rubber insert in the bar aren't you, as you need to cut the rubbers from around the clamping points, you can then slide some bits back in around them to prevent wind noise.  

Edited 22 April by paulski

[MarkyG82]

Sounds to me that you are undoing the levers too much on the T bolt.  Assuming you have bikes so know how a quick release works for wheels, it's the same.  Screw the lever down so most of the thread is taken up then push it down to it's flat.  the cam action should take up the rest and tighten the bolt.  If it's not tight, then you either need to have the lever screwed down more or there is something in the track that is allowing it to compress more without getting tight.

[DJBlobby]

On 22/04/2024 at 21:15, paulski said:

very odd problem this, I have the Wingbar with two 591 bike racks, but I will add that I do find that the two bolts on the carrier won't clamp down fully,  unless I find the sweet spot on the threads by winding them up or down which you have clearly tried already. I usually have to be up over them to clamp them down, they do take some force for sure. 

 

Its certainly worth measuring the distances between the bars on both sides to ensure they are parallel, I got well fussy with at tape measure then I put my bars on. 

 

@DJBlobbyJust to add without being too patronizing, you are trying to clamp them down without the rubber insert in the bar aren't you, as you need to cut the rubbers from around the clamping points, you can then slide some bits back in around them to prevent wind noise.  

Hi I think that might be my problem….I haven’t removed any of the rubber strip so am trying to clamp down on that! I’ll remove a bit to see if that helps. Thank you 

[DJBlobby]

On 23/04/2024 at 08:54, MarkyG82 said:

Sounds to me that you are undoing the levers too much on the T bolt.  Assuming you have bikes so know how a quick release works for wheels, it's the same.  Screw the lever down so most of the thread is taken up then push it down to it's flat.  the cam action should take up the rest and tighten the bolt.  If it's not tight, then you either need to have the lever screwed down more or there is something in the track that is allowing it to compress more without getting tight.

Hi someone else just commented that I need to remove some of the rubber strip where I am going to clamp the carrier to the bars. I haven’t done that so hopefully that will work. But I also note your point about the levers being too loose. I made them as loose as possible so I could slide the t tracks onto the bars (with the rubber still in place!) but I guess I can have the levers tighter if the rubber strip isn’t there in the first place! Thank you 

[paulski]

Take the rubbers completely out, then slide the carriers on and clamp them up, then cut the rubbers to fit in around the carriers mounting plates/points. 

 

Don't throw away the bits of rubber left over though, as then you can pop those bits back in to make a complete length,  if removing the carriers and leaving the bars on the roof. 

[DJBlobby]

11 hours ago, paulski said:

Take the rubbers completely out, then slide the carriers on and clamp them up, then cut the rubbers to fit in around the carriers mounting plates/points. 

 

Don't throw away the bits of rubber left over though, as then you can pop those bits back in to make a complete length,  if removing the carriers and leaving the bars on the roof. 

Thanks again Paulski. If you have some free logic/common sense going too, I’d happily take some off you!

[TheClient]

6 hours ago, DJBlobby said:

Thanks again Paulski. If you have some free logic/common sense going too, I’d happily take some off you!

Oh. So you were trying to mount the carriers on the bars with the rubber installed in the track?

 

Oh dear. A photo as asked for would of helped, they tell 1000 words, but the thule wing bar instructions also show cutting the rubber around  anything mounted!!  But glad you are up and running. 

[DJBlobby]

48 minutes ago, TheClient said:

Oh. So you were trying to mount the carriers on the bars with the rubber installed in the track?

 

Oh dear. A photo as asked for would of helped, they tell 1000 words, but the thule wing bar instructions also show cutting the rubber around  anything mounted!!  But glad you are up and running. 

Hi Client, yeah, I should have pointed out that the words common sense and me are not known for being used in the same sentence! Having said that, my instruction manual doesn’t show that the rubber strips need to be removed, although I have seen an online manual that does, so could it be that my carriers are older spec?

[TheClient]

3 hours ago, DJBlobby said:

Hi Client, yeah, I should have pointed out that the words common sense and me are not known for being used in the same sentence! Having said that, my instruction manual doesn’t show that the rubber strips need to be removed, although I have seen an online manual that does, so could it be that my carriers are older spec?

Yeah ok. No harm done and eventually sorted. It's all so easy once you've successfully done it once. But it's tricky when it doesn't quite work and you can't understand why..   well done.