Thule Complete Crossroad System

I have no issue with the product itself as it seems to be great. The issue and WARNING that I have is with Thule itself, and their online fit guide. I used the fit guide to determine which Thule products were required, and then I purchased them here on Amazon. Only after receiving and installing the 45050 did I then learn that it won't work with the Thule Hullavator 897XT.Specifically, I have a Toyota 2010 Highlander with factory rails (but not crossbars). I needed to install a Thule Hullavator 897XT. The Thule online fit guide has you indicate what make, model and year vehicle you own. And for the Highlander, it even narrows the year selection choices down to 2008-2010 for a specific fit, and that then indicates which base rack is needed to mount the Hullavator 897XT.According to the Thule online fit guide, I needed to install this 45050 base rack with feet to fit the Hullavator to my Highlander. So I ordered both the 45050 and the Hullavator 897XT here on Amazon. I received the 45050 roof rack first and installed it. The next day I received the Hullavator and was reading over the installation instructions for that and discovered this note tucked away on the instructions indicating that the Thule crossbars must extend "equally between 4" and 8" beyond foot" (meaning beyond the foot of the Thule base rack's foot) and that in "rare instances, longer load bars then those recommended in the Thule fit guide may be required." Apparently anyone owning a Toyota Highlander or anyone else that needs a 50" crossbar on a vehicle with similar roof rack separation distance and wanting to install a Hullavator would be one of those "rare instances." There is no notice inside the fit guide that indicates that the fit guide might not be correct. And of course the 45050 box itself even lists my Highlander as a model to use the 45050, with no note about the need for longer crossbars to use some Thule products. And the Thule product image used here even shows the rack as the crossbar would need to be -- extending beyond the foot.I filed an online customer service request with Thule who is located in Sweden. They have no U.S. customer service contact information. I have received no reply. So apparently I'm stuck with 50" crossbars that will not work (or the other option is to fully remove the rack that I installed, and ship the entire thing back to Amazon for a refund...the problem being that the rack feet are just fine, installed and I only have incorrect crossbars, and I haven't seen a rack base system that comes with the right size bars -- see below about that).And the Thule fit guide makes no provision for then trying to determine WHICH crossbars would be the right ones (of course not, because it indicates that what I have are the right ones!). So I had to "guess" my way to that and figured it out by looking at all of the Thule products here and found crossbars that would probably work -- the Thule LB58 crossbars are 58" long and should provide the extra length that is required.So I caution you when using the Thule fit guide. Amazon has a great price on the Thule products but Amazon customers are completely at the mercy of the Thule fit guide in determining which products to select, and that guide is apparently not always correct.

Thule is the brand when it comes to attaching things to your vehicle. I purchased this product in order to carry a cargo box for a long road trip.It was easily to install. The rubberized straps tighten about the roof rails with the help of the attached hex tool.It's solid and the cargo box attached easily and securely to the crossbars. There were absolutely no problems during an 8-day, 2,000 road trip.I cannot comment on: 1.) how it will hold up being rained on, snowed on, beat upon by the merciless sun (especially the locks) 2.) any degradation to fuel efficiency (I don't use the cargo box regularly so I will probably removed the crossbars when I don't need the cargo box) 3.) if Thule quality makes these crossbars better than less expensive crossbars (e.g.,  2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Honda Odyssey Cross Bars OE Style Fast Shipping )I took 1-star off because: 1.) The locks will difficult to push into the mounts. Not impossible and not time-consuming, but not elegant. 2.) Wind noise - you do notice a sound of the wind as the crossbars cut through the air. An easy solution is to wrap each crossbar with cord (start from one each and go to the other using a 1-inch spacing).

After 6 months of using the Thule 45050, I can say that it has excellent build quality. It is very easy to install and remove on my Honda minivan roof rack. I use it to carry my Thule cargo box. The big negative is the wind noise generated by the crossbars and mounts, even when driving at city limit speeds...louder on the freeways. Also, the end caps on the crossbars tends to slip off, I use black electric tape to keep them in place. Overall, I feel very safe when using the Thule system. It's the Honda roof rack that I worry about, since it is just held in place with screws. Therefore, be careful not to exceed the weigh limit of the racks.

I would highly recommend this setup to anyone with factory siderails who needs crossbars for carrying bikes/kayaks/ladders/cargo/etc for several reasons:1) Ease of install/uninstall - can be installed or removed in under 10 minutes easily. Couldn't be engineered any better for ease of installation. Probably can fit any siderail, even body-color rails as the mount is all rubberized.2) Thule warranty - lifetime3) Strength of mount - once on, this thing feels like it's part of the car; solid as a rock4) "Flexibility" of bars - any and everything will mount to these bars; the same cannot be said of the newer "aero" bars5) What you get for the price - mounts, crossbars, and 4 locking cores; all this retails for about $310 on Amazon separately. And believe me, you'll need the locks - this rack could be taken off in no time flat.Ultimately, if you're looking for a crossbar setup for a car with factory siderails it will come down to this, Yakima's option, or some of the more expensive "aero" bars. The aero bars look great (more so on some cars than others, IMO) but are more expensive and require adapters for certain rack accessories (bike mounts, etc.).The only possible negative for some is the wind noise that is inevitable with any non-aero bar (and even some aero-style). If this gets to you, you'll need a fairing or try the rope-wrap technique mentioned in other reviews.In a nutshell, if you value function over form, then this is the rack for you.

Thule products are of very good quality and this is no exception. It works as advertised. The only slight issue I had is that the straps that wrap around the existing rack are seemingly not long enough to wrap around thicker roof rack bars (like my Pathfinder). I was able to get it to work however by sliding the cross bar out of the attaching feet, extending the straps as far as they would possibly go, installing the feet and then sliding the cross bar back through. Also, without any roof carrier attached, the bars do cause some wind noise at higher speeds.

I bought these for a long roadtrip we were taking in my wife's SUV. They mounted on easily and were very secure. I thought about upgrading to the winged shaped bars (more aerodynamic) , for less noise, but these were very quiet. In fact if you have the Thule cargo carrier mounted properly (centered and weight evenly distributed throughout the box and not overfilled) You will probably forget its even on the vehicle. On a long 4,500km trip we barley noticed that the Thule cargo carrier was there, and it barely made a difference in gas mileage. I was very happy and impressed with it. I recommend these and would not pay more for "more aerodynamic ones" as I doubt you would notice any difference (besides price).