frog8fly wrote: ↑Thu Apr 14, 2022 3:18 pm
Please post a Pic of your install. Would like to see the results. Best of luck.
Thanks mate - I'll take a snap tomorrow; it's dark now.
But basically, reporting back... Installed them today, and it couldn't be any easier. Took me between an hour and two - hard to be precise, since I was on and off at it.
Removing the mouldings took about 5 mins, of which 4.5 mins went into washing the channels under them - there was a lot of dirt there. Other than that, there are three clips per side - a T-stud at either end, and a clip somewhere towards the middle.
Here there are some instructions for moulding removal on Mazda 3, and on my CX-3 it was exactly like this. NB: installation is different - on CX-3 it's a lot simpler; the mouldings just clip back in.
https://mazdashop.ca/blogs/news/how-to- ... zda3-sport
As an aside, I can't see why one couldn't just drill holes in the old moulding to save £25. You'd need some sort of a bung for the holes for when the bars aren't installed, but that could be resolved, too. Other than that, there's nothing different about the replacement mouldings.
The rest of it is about as complicated as building a Meccano set, or a piece of IKEA furniture. The instructions are very similar, too - all pictures, but very clear. At any rate, it's the same as any other modern Thule similar footpack. Takes a while simply because there are quite a few parts to put together, but you only need to do it once. I sort of see why the dealers wanted to charge me £55 (although I did ask them for mouldings only, which would take, as I said, 5 mins, but I suspect they meant the whole thing). I reckon if you have done it before and don't need to check the instructions at every step, it could all be done in half an hour tops, but that's dealers for you - always liberal with how much time they bill for, and how much per hour it is. Anyway.
Three things about the installation process... The sliding covers in the new mouldings - the bits of plastic that need to be removed to reveal the holes - are very stiff. I ended up pushing them off with a taped up screwdriver which slipped a couple of times and would have scratched them. No big deal, but I was glad it was taped up; and I don't think you could do it with just the fingers - I've tried. May be worth removing them before installing the mouldings, but you'll have to do it every time the bars come on and off, anyway.
The other one is about the rubber strip that goes into the channels in the bars. The instructions say to slide them in from the side, but I found it too tedious - they don't want to go in, even if you moisten them. It's a lot easier to push them in from the top.
And the threaded bars that screw into the attachment points on the roof are really begging for some grease/loctite. I seem to remember that they used to have a hex sot at the end, but not any more, so if they seize in there, you'll have some fun times getting them out.
Other than that... Really pleased with it. As I said, I'll post a picture tomorrow, but for £190 you get a full set of Thule aero bars that attach to the proper points and not over the sides. You can even use the old mouldings to make is £165, if you don't mind some drilling. As usual with Thule, everything is sturdy and looks neat. Taking them on and off won't be a problem either, and usually takes about 10 minutes.