[mdignan]

Hey guys, I've been lurking for about a year, the length of time I've owned an Element. The whole time, I've had a Thule rack on it attached to the fixed mount points. I carry 100-150 lbs of kayaks (whitewater, under 8') on it using stackers.

At any rate, I've started to notice that the driver side rear mount point is somewhat loose and squeaks from time to time. I can basically push up a bit on the tower and it has some give to it.

So I have a few questions. The first is how can that be fixed? I tried to get the dealership near me to look at the mount point itself. To make a long story short, they never investigated it due to what I would call a lack of communication skills on their part. The second is, I noticed my Thule bars have been shifting a bit. The system seems adequately tightened down, so I contacted them about it. However, could un-even bars cause added stress in one corner of the system and weaken a mount point in one corner?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[bildm]

Are you sure the tracker base is loose from the car body fixed mount points? Have you removed the feet/loadbar to test the tracker base for tightness? I carry three kayaks with a stacker system as well, and have noticed the rear foot on both sides rocks on the tracker base. Have made several adjustments with no luck. Not really an issue as rack is secure even though it rocks.
If your car body fixed mount points have come loose, this will require welding, wich can be done but entails at least partial headliner removal. Another thought is to use front and rear tiedowns for your boats. I know this is a pita, and a bit of overkill for small w/w boats but it really takes a lot of strain off of your rack system. Check out Thule quickdraw ratchet rope tie downs. Work great, quick and easy.

 

[mdignan]

Pardon my ignorance, but what's the tracker base? When I remove the Thule towers, the piece that it screws into appears to be loose. It kind of "rocks" backward and pulls off of the frame towards the front of it if that makes any sense. The driver side rear mount point appears to "rock" a lot more than the passenger side rear mount so I feel like it is slowly getting weaker and weaker.

I'd rather avoid front and back tie downs, I've never needed them on the Thule racks that just clip into the doors. I figured this fixed mount point system would be stronger but so far it has just caused me stress because it seems loose.

 

[GaryS]

When I remove the Thule towers, the piece that it screws into appears to be loose. It kind of "rocks" backward and pulls off of the frame towards the front of it if that makes any sense.

Yes, it makes sense if the welds have broken or the plates have cracked.

As bildm said:

If your car body fixed mount points have come loose, this will require welding, which can be done but entails at least partial headliner removal.

Although the boats may seem to be secure without front and rear tiedowns their side to side movement while transporting will cause strain on the mounts and that's how they break.