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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
Comments: cc: RxHoop@DANIELISLANDMEDIA.NET
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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