Thule Professional Cap Ladder Rack System Installation

This Product Fits The Following Vehicles

2004 - 2009 Chevrolet Colorado
1979 - 1998 Chevrolet Pickup with 6 ft. Bed
1979 - 1998 Chevrolet Pickup with 8 ft. Bed
1999 - 2000 Chevrolet Pickup, C/K LS with 6 ft. Bed
1999 - 2000 Chevrolet Pickup, C/K LS with 8 ft. Bed
1999 - 2009 Chevrolet Pickup, Silverado
2007 - 2007 Chevrolet Pickup, Silverado Classic
2007 - 2007 Chevrolet Pickup, Silverado New Body
1983 - 2004 Chevrolet S-10 Pickup
1987 - 2009 Dodge Dakota Pickup
1994 - 2009 Dodge Ram Pickup
2007 - 2008 Dodge Sprinter Van with Factory Track
2004 - 2009 Ford F-150
1997 - 2003 Ford F-150 and F-250 Light Duty
2004 - 2004 Ford F-150 Heritage Series
1999 - 2009 Ford F-250 and F-350 Super Duty
1983 - 2009 Ford Ranger Pickup
2004 - 2009 GMC Canyon
1979 - 1998 GMC Pickup with 6 ft. Bed
1979 - 1998 GMC Pickup with 8 ft. Bed
1999 - 2009 GMC Pickup, Sierra
2007 - 2007 GMC Pickup, Sierra Classic
1999 - 2000 GMC Pickup, Sierra Classic with 6 ft. Bed
1999 - 2000 GMC Pickup, Sierra Classic with 8 ft. Bed
2007 - 2007 GMC Pickup, Sierra New Body
1994 - 2004 GMC S-15 and Sonoma Pickups
1996 - 2001 Isuzu Hombre
2006 - 2008 Isuzu I-Series Pickup
1988 - 1995 Isuzu Pickup
2006 - 2009 Lincoln Mark LT
2006 - 2008 Mazda Pickup B Series
1994 - 2005 Mazda Pickup B2300 Series
1994 - 2005 Mazda Pickup B3000 Series
1994 - 2005 Mazda Pickup B4000 Series
2006 - 2008 Mitsubishi Raider
1998 - 2009 Nissan Frontier Pickup
1974 - 1997 Nissan Pickup
2004 - 2009 Nissan Titan
1979 - 1996 Toyota Pickup
1993 - 1998 Toyota T-100 Pickup
1995 - 2009 Toyota Tacoma Pickup
1999 - 2009 Toyota Tundra

Products Featured in this Video

Installation of a Thule Professional Cap Ladder Rack System

Today we are going to install part number TH342 from Thule. This is part of the Professional Line. This is a Cap Rack System that gets bolted to the top of the cap of your truck whether it be a fiberglass unit as we have shown here or an aluminum unit that can be also available. The first step involved is to find a place where you can actually mount the rack itself. Generally, in the corners of the cap area is going to be your strongest area. Try not to go too far forward away from the corner, to keep it as strong as possible. Also, you have to take into account what is underneath here. On aluminum racks, you have the bars that are going across the frame of it. And also, on some fiberglass caps, such as this one, there is a layer of insulation or a thicker material underneath here. We actually had to fit between that thicker layer and the corner here, so that is why these are sitting as far in the corner as possible. And once you have the pads in place where you want them, we did tape them down to hold everything in place. And we will go ahead and drill out our holes to mount them.

First we will start off with a 1/8 inch bit and then we will work our way up bigger. OK, we will start assembling one of the bases here. Again, our rubber pad goes down first, and then you have the metal bracket that sits on top of that, that transfers the strength. And then you have the plastic cap that goes over the bracket. Then you in your bolts. And the plastic cap itself actually has a hexagon shape to match the bolt head. Now all that remains on this part is to go ahead on the the back side and tighten down the nuts. Next we install our stiffening bracket, and then we install our nuts, and then we just snug them down. And you want to do these evenly.

Next we can install the arm that sits on top of the base. Install your bolt. And this is a hex bolt. And the other side of the plastic has a notch that is the same shape as the nut, so you can go ahead and just hold it in place while you screw it down into place. I still want to leave these loose, and we will probably tighten them down a little bit later when we actually put the cross arms on. Now we can the hardware that goes to the cross bars. And make sure you do this on the bottom side, because there are grooves on both sides. And you can tell it is the bottom because it has this little extra edge right here. The other side does not have that extra edge. And then our hardware, two on each side. Now we can install our crossbar, and the bolts just fall into the top of these brackets here. And then you can move your bar left and right to get it centered.

All right, once you have the bar the way you want it, you can go ahead and install the hardware. Use a flat washer and a lock nut. Use the same thing on the other side. All right, then we can go ahead and tighten the bolts down to keep them from going anywhere. Once we have the bar tightened down, it is a good idea to go back to these bolts here and give them their final torque, too. All right, next we will repeat everything for the bar that goes to the front of the vehicle, and since it is kind of hard to reach across the vehicle at this point, instead of standing on the tailgate it is a good idea to have an extra set of hands. That way, you do not bounce if off the roof of your cap. OK, and again, you want to make sure you have these centered on the vehicle.

We will go ahead and install the load stops now. It is pretty simple. Again, the bolt into the track here and slide it out of the way a little bit. And then your load stop goes into place. Put it over the bolt. And then it has a part that goes into the slot. Slide it out of the way and install a washer, and then your locking knob. And that is it. Repeat for the one on the other side. And go ahead and repeat the same motions for the bar going toward the front of the vehicle. And the last detail we need to do is install the rubber strip that goes in the back here. And simply just kind of start it. Kind of put it at like a 90-degree angle and it is easy to push in at that point. And whatever you have left over, just simply cut off. And with that, the install is complete. We will go ahead and toss on a ladder and show you how it looks. Just take your load stops and just push them up against the ladder. And use your favorite tie-down to hold it in place, and you are ready to go. And that covers our install of part number TH342 from Thule, the Professional Cap Rack System.

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