Thule 38" Fairing, Rail Caps mod

[workmeistr]

In an attempt to get rid of that muscle lady picture on the Recent Photos section of the home page (yech!), here are some snaps of my 38” Thule Fairing (the 32” just wasn’t doing it for me), mounted with four Yakima Mighty Mounts (horizontals) #3601, by altering the supplied fairing mounts. I also covered the fairing’s shiny center section with matte automotive vinyl to subdue the advertising.



Thanks to Ken Anderson (Kenny), Bart (nfpgasmask) (great write-up ,BTW), and etlsport for the mod suggestions and recommendations.

I’m hoping to be able to retain the fairing set-up when I acquire the Thule expedition 696. I hope to mount the rack with another set of four Mighty Mount horizontals, belaying the t-bolt in the rubber-filled top gap of the cross bars.

Kenny, or anyone, do you have inside deck measurements of the 696?

I have a couple of Army medical chests (20” x 32” each, 40” x 32” next to each other) that I want to make sure will fit on the deck of the 696. Thanks.

[Ldub]

[QUOTE=workmeistr;132678]In an attempt to get rid of that muscle lady picture on the Recent Photos section of the home page (yech!),

Kenny, or anyone, do you have inside deck measurements of the 696?

I have a couple of Army medical chests (20” x 32” each, 40” x 32” next to each other) that I want to make sure will fit on the deck of the 696. Thanks.
[QUOTE]

Thanks for scrubbing that image...

36" x 53" is within 1/4" +/-

[workmeistr]

That's good news on the dimensions. Thanks, Ldub.

[Moncha]

Pardon this interruption for a message from our sponsors...

In an attempt to get rid of that muscle lady picture on the Recent Photos section of the home page (yech!)

What did I miss?? (kidding) Try to remember folks, VX topic pics please. Don't make me get my delete button out


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[Ldub]

Pardon this interruption for a message from our sponsors...

What did I miss?? (kidding) Try to remember folks, VX topic pics please. Don't make me get my delete button out


You will now be returned back to our regularly scheduled program...

Glad to see you back at the helm more & more often Capn' Boss Man!

And with your sense of humor still intact...that kinda thing just makes my day !

[Kenny]

.. I also covered the fairing’s shiny center section with matte automotive vinyl to subdue the advertising.
...

You can also turn the deflector around to put the THULE to the back. Take it apart, flip it, but it back together again - it's symmetrical.
The vinyl may get dinged up by debris and bugs...

Nice work.

[nfpgasmask]

Nice job, Bren! Sorry I didn't get more photos to you. How do they fit? Looks like you have them covering the metal brackets. Are they pushing out or what?

Bart

[workmeistr]

Kenny,
I’ll see how the vinyl holds up. I wanted more matte (fairing end caps matte, cross bars, cross bar supports, etc.), so I covered the “Thule” side and left the gloss side facing to the rear.
BTW, I tried to disassemble the 32” to store in the 38” box. Those plastic push pins holding the mounting brackets and plastic end caps are a BEAR to remove without damaging other stuff. Once removed and likely damaged in the process, though, they can be replaced with store-bought similar plugs.

Bart,
The rear caps look great since they're taller and show no signs of pushing out with all four clips firmly attached. The fronts (narrower heights), do push out a bit. I may notch down another 1/8” on the fronts to mitigate. I don’t mind the bulge, but when it bulges too much for the four clips of the caps (especially the outside two), to seat right on the roof rails, the caps present an uneven plane to the roof rails. On the other hand, the more material you remove, the less rigid the cap. (Man, I’m a geek…) All in all, I think it looks much better, and thanks.