Date: Tue, 4 May 2004 14:40:18 -0700
Reply-To: Jeffrey Earl <jefferrata@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jeffrey Earl <jefferrata@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Thule 953 Foot Pack
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Mark Hooper wrote:
Have any of you westy owners used the Thule 953 foot
pack? Is there enough clearance above the the pop top?
Mark,
Funny you should ask—I just went thru the somewhat
confusing and arduous process of choosing a roof rack
for my '83 Westy, and can report that the Thule 953
works quite splendidly. In fact, as far as I am aware,
it is the only commercially available rack which
mounts to the factory rain gutters and does not so
much as TOUCH the fiberglass poptop.
http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/product.asp?dept_id=3&sku=953
Contrary to several posts found in the archives, I
discovered that the Yakima 1A Highrise Towers in fact
do NOT clear the Westy roof, at least not the towers
currently sold. The problem is not their height (even
without the extra spacers), but rather the steeply
canted angle at which they sit, which forces them to
hit the sides of the poptop.
http://www.yakima.com/home.html
I nearly bought the fine quality roof rack made by
list vendor Gary Lee but he informed me that even if
you do not drill holes into the roof, but only use the
gutter clamps, a portion of the clamp will still ride
in contact with the fiberglass. He acknowledged that
dirt and dust, combined with the vibration of driving,
could potentially cause chafing, and urged me either
to pad the clamp or simply drill the holes and bolt in
place.
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/gary2a/rack/roof/roofrack.htm
To be fair, many, many Westy owners have drilled the
holes either to mount the Gary Lee racks or to install
fake rain gutters suitable for mounting the Yakima
rack systems, and the vast majority report no leakage,
cracking, etc.. I simply was unable to bring myself to
put a drill bit to my pristine, white, currently
non-leaking Westfalia pop-up roof, so opted for the
Thule.
It is a reasonably sturdy rack, offers optional locks
for the towers, and with the Boat Loader accessory,
allows me to singlehandedly load and offload my 16'
canoe. I mounted the front rack just forward of the
edge of the poptop, and the rears just forward of the
rear wheels. This compels me to remove the canoe and
the rear rack in order to pop the top, but the front
can remain installed. If I am lazy and camping solo, I
can simply leave the boat atop the van and the top
un-popped and do all my cooking/cleaning while seated
on a camp stool.
Many of the Thule and Yakima rack accessories, such as
canoe/kayak cradles, ski mounts, etc., are designed to
be cross-compatible with the others' rack systems, so
you can piece together your perfect system.
Good luck, and pmail if you need me to take photos.
Jeffrey Earl
1983 diesel Westfalia "Vanasazi"
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