Hi everyone, I just finished my Thule roof rack install this weekend, and after drilling 14 holes in my roof (yikes!) it went really well and doesn't leak a drop. I used the following components:

--Yakima 54" tracks with plus nuts
--Thule 460r Towers
--Thule Rapid Aero 53" load bars
--Thule Fit Kit 3101

The plus nuts make the install easy. Drill the holes, drop in the plus nuts with rubber grommets, and tighten to the correct torque. The tracks then screw in using special silicon sealant. The final install is very clean. The drilling is also very easy and you only encounter the roof cross members on two of the seven holes on each side, which is no big deal. You do not come into contact with any vitals under the roof as long as you use a drill stop.

The Rapid Aero bars mount to the towers using a slot on the bottom side of the bar. The spread between the towers on this install is a narrow 32" so in order to mount wider 53" bars, I had to use a sawzall to lengthen the slot in the bottom of the bar by 4" on each side. I found this to be much easier than anticipated. With a normal small tooth metal blade, the sawzall went through the aluminum of the bars like butter and also cut very straight. The "tab" cut into the bar then just snaps off.

The towers and bars can slide front to rear with the loosening of a few bolts or be removed completely. The install is VERY strong. I would not hesitate to carry multiple kayaks up there or other heavy loads, plus the available bar spread is a wide 54". I have heard of people installing longer tracks for even more bar spread, but 54" was plenty for me.

Have many other owners done something similar? I did a search on the mods forum but didn't see any other track installs after scrolling through some of the results. If you have, post pics of your install.

Thanks! Matt

 

Very clean install.
Brave on drilling the holes as well

 

Thanks! It really was quite easy. I'm surprised more people have not done this. All it takes is a few basic hand tools, a drill and a Saturday afternoon. Everything else is supplied with the track kit.

 

Looks good. I once put long bars on the car and was surprised how many times people bumped their heads on the extended bars. I never did, but I was use to it. I am not sure how or why, but it happened.

Good look. Nice work

 

Thanks Jim. I know what you're talking about! Before the MINI, I had a turbo Jetta wagon with wide bars and it took a few bangs before I got used to them. Now, I've had wide bars for so long I don't even think about it. The nice thing on this install that I have found is that the Thule towers are very easy to loosen and slide forward or rear to move the bars to a spot where it doesn't interfere with your natural motion getting in and out of the car. I used to HATE this about the Jetta with Yakima Rail Rider towers on the factory rack bars. If you loosened the grip of the towers on the factory rack bars to slide them, it would loosen the tower's grip on the Yakima bar as well causing things to slide off center. On top of that, the factory bars were closer together in the rear than the front so you had to re-center everything if you moved the bars.

 

For anyone looking at this considering a track install, I did some research and according to the guys at Rack Attack, tracks can be installed on Hardtops or Clubbies of any year, with or without the sunroof. I can personally vouch for the Clubman with no sunroof.

 

Again wishing that I had done that. After consideration, I went with the MINI bars purely for convenience, only to find that they do not go on and off as easy as I would like. Currently I must push in my club door window to get it to seal. And no flexibility with spacing, of course.

Maybe next year.

 

Just pull them off and list them in the classified forum. I think most people here prefer the OEM route. You will sell them quickly I'm sure.

 

nicely done! looks great. im planning to install roof rack also.. just dont kno what to get.

 

Do you have the the raised roof rails or is your clubman without that?

 

Just back from Lowes with about 200 lbs. of landscaping timbers on the roof. First test of this setup with some serious weight up top. Not even a squeak. The wide bars and wide bar spread really come in handy. The low roof height of the Clubman makes loading a breeze.