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I bout my first Thule roof rack in 2014
Since then I have had a number of cars and have just changed the adaptor kit for each car which is approx £40.
We got a new car last year and have been told that not only now do I need to buy a new adaptor kit, I also need to buy a new foot pack - so £40 has now become £120.
+ the fact that I will now have to completely dismantle the bars depending on which of our two cars I want to use.
Is it really true that Thule have now changed everything to make their roof rack systems not compatible with older stuff?
Ive emailed Thule but had no response so far...
I think in the past two or 3 years they changed the clamp / footpack system. Not sure if parts are backwards compatible between generations.
The foot packs were never universal. I think there was a single type of foot pack for cars with no rails, and those ones you can swap adapters into. Have you switched from a car without rails to one with?
There's at least a couple of different foot packs for cars with roof rails (flush vs normal), and I've got another set that work with a threaded hole in the car roof.
There was a change in design at some point, I think: older bars you tighten the foot packs using a skewer on the end cap for the bars themselves. I don't think the wing bars have this, so newer foot packs have a separate tightening mechanism, and newer bars (even non-wing bars) don't have the skewers.
ebay is generally pretty good for this!
If your rack was new in 2014 then your bars will (assuming they're the right length) be compatible with the new 'Evo' feet and fitting kits.
Thule only changed the foot system because cars are getting harder to fit racks to and if they didn't overhaul the system they would not be able to fit many newer models.
However, Thule use multiple differnt fitting systems to accomadate different car types, you've evidently been fortunate to have cars of a similar roof type up until now so you've been able to carry the old feet across and just change fitting kit, evidently this time the car is different enough that you need to replace the feet as well.
Luck of the draw I'm afraid.
Hmm not sure
First car was a BMW 3 series touring with flush rails
Second car (still got) is a 3 series saloon.
New car is a BMW X1 with flush rails.
The same footpack works on both earlier cars with just a change of adaptor.
Oh well just more expense... nearly as cheap to buy complete rails too