Today, we have a 2012 Toyota Highlander and we're going to be test fitting a Thule AeroBlade Roof Rack System. We'll be using the 60-inch AeroBlade bars, part number THARB60 as well as the Rapid Crossroad Feet, part number TH450R. We have our load bar assemblies put together and now we're ready to mount them up on top of the vehicle. To position the front bar correctly, we do need to make sure that the bar is overhanging on the driver and passenger's side. We also want to make sure that the Aero indicator on the sides of the crossroad feet are pointed towards the center of our side rail. Finally, we want to make sure that the front bar runs perpendicular to our raised side rails.
So to do this, we'll measure from a fixed point on our side rails to the leading edge of the crossroad foot and make sure this measurement is the same on both sides of the vehicle. Once we have the front bar positioned, we'll take the rubber coated steel straps and feed them around our side rails, re-securing them to our crossroad heads and then tightening it down with the included tool. Once we have the front bar secured, we can move on to the rear. We'll take the second load bar, set it up on top of the raised side rails and again make sure that it's overhanging evenly on driver and passenger's side and that the Aeros are centered over our side rails. Once we've done that, we need to ensure that the rear bar sits parallel with the front bar.
To do this, we'll measure from the center of the top slot on the front bar to the center of the top slot on the rear bar and make sure this measurement is the same on both sides of the vehicle. This measurement is known as the crossbar spread and though we dont have a specific crossbar spread to use, it may be beneficial to check with the owner's manuals of the accessories that you'll be using to see if they specify your crossbar spread. Once we have the rear bar in position, we'll tighten it down the same way we did the front. And with that, our roof rack is installed and we're ready to start mounting accessories. That does it for our test fit of the Thule AeroBlade Roof Rack System on our 2012 Toyota Highlander..
