Thule Traverse Roof Rack Installation - 2017 Toyota Corolla
How to Install the Thule Traverse Roof Rack on a 2017 Toyota Corolla
Today in our 2017 Toyota Corolla, we're going to be test fitting the Thule square bar roof rack system, consisting of part numbers THLB50, these are the Thule load bars, part number TH480 these are the Thule Traverse roof rack foot backs, and part number THKIT1746 and this is the fit kit for the Corolla. The Thule low bar roof rack system is great for carrying a wide variety of accessories while freeing up space in your vehicle for you and your family. It can carry bike racks, cargo baskets, enclosed cargo boxes, ski and snowboard carriers, as well as water sport carriers for your kayaks or canoes. To cut down wind noise and drag, you can purchase the Thule fairing which is sold separately. The two bars have a carrying capacity of 165 pounds, although you always want to double check with your vehicle's manual to make sure it can withstand that weight. Also at our end caps here, we do have knockouts which you can install Thule lock cores in, which are also sold separately, so once you install this onto your roof, it's going to be secure to your roof as well. Now that we've gone over some of the features of the roof rack, let's go ahead and show you how it installs. We have our rear bar partially assembled. We'll show you how the rest of it goes together.
Here's our foot pack, here's our fit kit, and our end cap. We'll start by putting our foot pack onto our bar. We'll turn our foot pack around, see this switch here, lift it out like so. It enables you to push the load bar through our opening here. Just slide it on.
Next you will refer to your instructions and take the proper measurement for the space between the foot packs. We'll slide it to its appropriate place, and holding on to it, we'll flip it over and shut the lever. That locks it to the square bar. Next we'll place our end cap on there. Our fit kit is going to consist of two pieces. We're going to have the rubber foot pad and the clamp that goes around the vehicle.
The foot pads are numbered, so just make sure you have the appropriate rubber pad for the appropriate foot pack. We'll just push those into place, open our door here. We'll take our clamp and it's going to slide into this opening on the top and then push into place like so. Now we're going to set this on our vehicle. We'll open our rear doors and we'll set our bar into place. Next we'll get our measurement of cross bar spread which is going to be measured from center of the bar to center of the front bar.
You can find these measurements in your instructions. Repeat this on the other side. Next we'll put our clamp around the door seal and we'll just get it snug up against it. We'll do this on both sides and then we'll go back and forth tightening about five or six turns until it's completely tightened down. A thing I would like to mention about the tool that we're using. You see it has this green strip in the center and then it has a line through the center of it. You'll see there's lines on either side of the gray portion as well. Once those lines match up as you're tightening it down, that means it's torqued to its proper specifications. This way you don't over-tighten it or under-tighten it. When it's completely tightened down, just push your tool in the rest of the way and shut the cover over it. Now we're ready to install our accessories and hit the road. There you have it for the Thule load bar roof rack system, on our 2017 Toyota Corolla.
David A.
4/29/2020
Does this system fit the 2019 Corolla model?