Today we are going to install a Thule roof rack on a 2011 Honda Pilot. Our Honda Pilot already has factory installed side rails, so we are going to use the Thule Crossroad system, part number TH450. We are also going to need Thules 58 inch square load bars. That is part number THLB58. The Crossroad pack comes with four Crossroad feet, the end caps with the built in Allen key and four smaller end caps that will go on the end of our bars. The Crossroad feet are designed to quickly and easily attach to the factory side rails on your vehicle. The band is actually a steel band coated in rubber. This gives it plenty of strength but the rubber also protects your factory side rails. It is going to loop around your side rail and connect back to the foot. Then we will use the end cap with the built in Allen head wrench to tighten down this bolt. It will tighten the whole system down to your vehicle, as well as tighten down the crossbars and the foot. 0:57
Now we are going to assemble one and get it ready to mount on our vehicle. We are going to take our crossbar and feed one of the Crossroad feet over it. Next we are going to snap our end cap. Now we will just do the same for the other three feet and then we will be ready to set it up on our vehicle. We will take our crossbar assembly and set it up on top of our side rails. Make sure to feed the coated steel strap underneath the side rails. Next what we are going to do is line up our Crossroad feet. This triangle should be pointed to the center of your side rail. We are going to check to make sure that the crossbar is hanging off evenly on both sides of the vehicle. Now that we have our crossbar positioned and centered, we are ready to attach the strap and tighten it down. On the end of the cap is our built in Allen wrench that we will use to tighten the bolt. As we tighten this bolt, it is going to pull the slack out of the strap so that the Crossroad can lock on to our side rail and it is also going to tighten down the assembly inside so that our crossbars are secure and tightened down. 2:01
Once everything is tightened down, you can take your end cap with the tool and slide it back into place. Next we will repeat the same procedure for the crossbar in the rear. Thule also specifies that we need to have a minimum crossbar spread of 24 inches from the center of the front crossbar to the center of the rear crossbar. We just went ahead and set our crossbars up all of the way at the end so we make sure that we have enough space between. You can also install Thule lock cores, part number TH544. The lock cores will allow you to secure the Crossroads feet to your vehicle so that the roof rack cannot be easily removed. And that does it for the Thule Crossroad roof rack system for our 2011 Honda Pilot.
