ThuleAeroblade Roof Rack Bar

Before I get into my review of this fabulous roof rack, I want to point out a critical oversight many people may be making because it isn't mentioned anywhere in the manuals.IMPORTANT:-> When you obtain the Fit Kit Rubber Foot Pads for your specific system, you'll notice the rubber foot pads aren't symmetrical squares. Instead, one side is taller and thicker and another side shorter and thinner on them. This is not mentioned anywhere in the manual, nor do they tell you why they do this. However, the reason they are designed this way is to contour to the slope in your car's roof, which could impact the systems grip to the car. So, when you install the system, you need to insure the rubber foot pad's thicker, longer side is on the downward slope of the contour and the thinner, shorter side is on the upward slope of the countor. This way the thicker side makes up for the downward slope and gives you max grip. Again, if they aren't fitting to the contours of the rooftop and leaving large gaps, you properly installed them backwards/wrong. IF YOU DON'T DO THIS IT CAN CAUSE A FAULTY INSTALLATION AND DETACHMENT OF THE SYSTEM MID DRIVE.-> Each of the three parts will also include its own installation manual, which can be confusing since they repeat some information in each one. Even though their is repeat information, you need every single manual for measurements and proper installation of each part. DO NOT THROW AWAY OR IGNORE ANY OF THE MANUALS PROVIDED IN EACH PART FOR THE SYSTEM.-> insure you follow the measurements down to the inch, as they are precisely tuned for each system and car to insure max performance. If you don't you may experience noises, poor performance, whistling, ect.-> insure you cover all the openings fully with the tubing they provide. Any openings in the system or rail will also lead to improper performance, noises, ect.REVIEW:If you take your time, do a thorough job, follow the manuals and insure you don't overlook the things I mentioned above, the system should work as advertised, which in my experience is wonderfully.Now to the review, I tested it out today on a routine surf trip to one of my favorite local spots. The system performed amazingly. I couldn't hear it at all, not even the wind passing over them. With my surf board installed, going 70 - 75 mph at a few points, I had no issues either. Board was tight with no play, wiggle room, or noticeable vibrations of any kind. I imagine it will perform just as well with bigger items too.I am removing one star because of poor installation instructions, which led to numerous small errors I had to go back and fix during the installation process. If I didn't take my time, read carefully, and pay attention the how the system was suppose to work, I would of easily overlooked a number of small things never mentioned anywhere in the manual. On top of that, the system uses three differing parts and each part comes with its own manual on how to install the system, but each manual is completely different in its layout and will even reference other manuals. This led to multiple cross referencing, a number of confusing moments, and a lot of unneeded complication. Insure you follow all the directions for each part properly, as each manual has a lot of repeated information, but then they add in a few additions not in the corresponding ones.

This review is for 3 parts, the 47"Aeroblade, the 480R foot packs, and the Kit1064 fit kit.I have an old Yakima Rack that I used for snowboarding. It spent a couple years in attics, and to keep from loosing the foot pads, I had duct taped them to the Q towers. I don't foresee the need for tape with Thule's system. The design and construction of each of the above mentioned pieces is every bit as good as it looks in the pictures. I was very impressed. I don't think there were instructions included with the blades, or with the 1064 Fit kit, but they were included with the 480R traverse foot packs. For the most painless installation instructions, go to Thule's site, click on fit guide, and input your vehicle data, select your rack, then download the PDF installation instructions. There are 3 dimensions you'll need to install these rack;1. the distance between your foot packs on the blades2. the distance between your front foot pack and windshield3. the distance between the front and rear bladesOnce you have those 3 numbers (that are vehicle make and model specific) search youtube for "How to Install Thule 480 Traverse Roof Rack Presented by Rack Outfitters". This 5min professionally made video has no talking. It just shows a guy installing the rack with some text where needed. Rack Outfitters really made this install idiot proof with this video.As highly as I think of the Thule system, I am returning mine. It does not allow me to drive out of my garage with my kayak on the rack on my Tacoma. I don't think this rack sits too tall, and I don't consider my kayak excessively tall (its a WS Tarpon120). I don't think my Tacoma with 31" tires is too tall. I fault the architecture of my home. What was sold to us as a "2 car attached garage" could be more accurately described as a 1.5 car garage. Or 1 car with room to walk around it. I'd really like to have a talk with whoever in modern home building decided to designate 7' as an adequate height for a garage door. Of the 4 trucks I've owned while living in this house, only 2 have fit in my garage. For me to be able to drive out of my garage, with the kayak on the roof, it has to sit flush (or very nearly) with the top of the cab. It looks like the only kit that will allow this out of the box is the Thule Xporter 500. At $584 on amazon compared to the $372 I paid for this setup, it's a quite a price increase, but based on my opinion of this system, I'm sure it will be equally engineered. That extra $200 will save me 5-10mins each time I need to load my kayak. If ease of loading the kayak on the truck gets me on the water more, then over time, it will be worth it.

These are working great so far for a Cargo Box and Canoe mounts on top of our 2017 Subaru Forester. I was leery about these as they sit up a bit higher than the factory crossbars, but the AeroBlades live up to their namesake. Without a load on top, I don't hear any extra noise with them installed and our mileage appears to be spot on with what it was without any cross bars installed. The vehicle's computer calculated ~35.2 MPG doing 70 on the interstate with some front and tail end driving on the streets with a local commute. That's is right around what the vehicle gets without cross bars. If there is a difference, we're talking a difference of decimal points. I had thought for sure that the MPGs would take a beating at highway speeds in particular with cross bars. The only con that comes to mind is that with the Cargo Box (Thule Atlantis 1600) on top, we can't pull into our garage door as it's just a bit too tall. The factory bars, which would sit lower by about an inch or two would likely allow for it, but then we would lose the ability to mount the canoe as the width of the mounting space on the aluminum is significantly reduced with those. With these, you can use the full top of the bar for mounting with the T bolts as well as wraparound accessories. The factory Subaru cross bars only accommodate wraparound accessories as there is no slot/channel for T bolts. For our vehicle, at the foremost mounting point on the roof rails, the spacing between them is 39". The foot packs underneath the bars do come inward a bit, but the usable space between the foot packs for wraparound accessories on the front bar is right around 36" (less on the rear bar), which is more spacious than what the Subaru cross bars would allow for. So far, we are very pleased with this setup!

Got these for my 2014 Forester, they fit great (stick out a bit, but not so far you'd smack your head, the 60" bars were too wide, didn't fit the spacing for the mounts properly). They're also quiet and don't impact my fuel economy that I can measure, I'm getting just under 10 l/100km. On top of all that they are very very sturdy. Hauled a bunch of lumber with them and no issues whatsoever. I have heard that the OEM bars are flimsy/bendy, also they don't have any protrusions you can wrap rope around. Mind you, these cost enough so if they weren't great I'd be really upset.

This roof rack has done very well so far. I haven’t done very many trips using it yet but I’m going to be doing a long trip with a kayak on it soon and will update after then. It was a little tricky to put on in the correct spot on my car, however that was expected. It feels very sturdy and has none or very little play when pushed on. I also didn’t notice any change in wind noise for the worst on the highway.

Solid and stylish. it was wider than my old rack so I had to buy longer screws in order to place my Malone J kayak hooks to secure properly. Otherwise works perfectly as described.

Fantastic product; well made and allows you to get full horizontal user of the roof

Great product. If you don't like the whistling, follow the instructions. They tell you to put the rubber tabs in which stops the whistling.