Whispbar Vehicle-Specific SmartFoot Fitting Kit - K448

I bought a Whispbar rack for my 2010 Jetta sedan, and liked it, but didn't like the marks that it (and any roof rack would) it left behind on the paint- subtle as they may be. later I got a Jetta wagon, and it has rails, so I could mount a roof rack on those and not worry about the paint finish in the body. (Best part here is that there are no clamps that bother the door seal.) I forgot about the Smartfoot feature after having the Whispbar in storage, then thought that I'd try to use the Whispbar bars on the wagon.To my delight, I found these foot adapters and in about 20 minutes had my sedan feet off and the K328 feet on, and onto the rails. For some reason, the slides for the left were stiffer than the right, but worked out ok anyway. The rubber on the new feet just mooshed around the rails, making a nice fit. Now I can carry lumber and plywood on top and no worries.I converted my Thule box over with x-adapters, made for the Thule aero rack, and have ladder supports that go in the track as well. So I am ready for work.FYI- the Whispbar track does take any Thule aero accessory, but you have to push the track sealing rubber down to get anything started- the ladder rack needs a feeler guage to push the rubber down for the tightening knob's t-bolt. A bit tricky. The Whisbars are very quiet compared to any roof rack I have ever had, Thule square or Yakima round bars.

For those that want to know, the K368 is the correct fit for a 2011-2014 Subaru WRX. Works great, however they should have came with the Yakima Whispbar Through-bar crossbars that I ordered instead of making us (the consumer) buy an essential part of the roof rack system separately.I've read that the rubber on the bottom of the mounting legs can damage the roof paint, so I decided to cut out pieces of vinyl the shape of the legs to place between the paint and the legs. I hope this will hold up/work. Also, I wish the mounting legs sat more flush against the roof. Right now, there is some air-gaps between the roof and the legs so i'm worried this will cause some wind-noise (whistling) when i'm driving at higher speeds.Overall, this is a well-made product that is essential for your crossbar setup.

So, the fitting kit worked as expected. The fit was prety good. Connections are snug into the factory rails. The rubber boots that fit around the locking mechanism isn't as perfect as I would have liked but it seems as though the boots are pretty universal to fit a lot of different vehicles. The rails on my Traverse curve slightly so the boots will, for example run at a very slight angle so the front edge of one will fit in the grove of the rail and the back will fit over the edge. It's nothing but cosmetic and the rubber boot provides good protection from harder parts all around. I'm very please with how easy the install was and the directions were clear.

I fitted them on my 2011 VW GTI. This kit works great but 2 things that have room for improvement.1. Rubber strips to seal the door needs to be thicker. There are still some water leaking occasionally.2. The protective plastic wrap on the metal parts will come apart because the glue is not water resistant. They will look ugly after the car gets dirty.

Good quality. I guess it is individual fitment with individual cars, but the rubber feet that contour to the rails have some gaps in them. After it has been in the sun it has softened up a bit, and got better. Still the best quality racks and bars on the market in my opinion.

I installed this yesterday on a 2006 Toyota matrix. Fits and looks beautiful. Because the kit comes with all the parts you need including the drill bit all I had to buy was a tube of silicon and a pop rivet (about $25 total). I was afraid to drill into the roof, but it went well. The drill bit does drive hard, so once you feel you are about to drill through start pulling back because the drill bit pulls through quickly. With this installed it takes literally seconds to remove the entire roof rack system on and off my car. Great product and actually doens't require a roof rack fitter to install.

I would have happily given this a five star but the screws to fit it to my 2010 WRX (subaru impreza) seemed to be about 2 or 3 mm too short. Other than that, they were very nice. They fit the rack perfectly and mounting with them was quite easy. There was one weird bit of the installation where I thought I had the wrong part and I had to make sure but other than that, putting this on the rack and then on the car was simple and quick.

I used the Yakima site to make sure I ordered the correct fit kit for my Whispbar setup. This K328 is what I needed for my 2013 Highlander. I am giving the parts themselves five stars because they are well made. I would give the directions to install them three stars though. The small black and white photocopied photos made installation harder than it needed to be.Once I finally figured out how they fit onto the bars themselves, I am very pleased with the quality of the materials and the fit to the car. I am very pleased with this purchase.

Exactly what it takes, at a decent price.