Whispbar s44 roof racks on wagon

[roshea]

Hi folks.

My roof racks arrived by courier today and I'm wondering about installation. If you have these, how far apart did you install the two crossbars or how close to the front or rear of the rails did you put them? The instructions only say > 700 mm apart, which might leave a bit of room for deciding what to do!

If you have pics of yours, I'd be glad to see them!

[Ocy_RS_TDi_Kombi]

I've had these roof racks on my Ocy for nearly 2 years now. At the moment I've got them spread apart as far as possible as I've been getting wood from Bunnings which is over 4 metres long. But in the past they have been closer such as when we've had the pod on the roof.

[roshea]

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like the distance isn't too critical then - I may as just well set them up the same distance apart as the racks on my old car (725 mm), so I don't have to muck around with the little holes in the bottom of my roof box.

[K1W1]

I suspect that the warning about 700mm is more for legal reasons than any other.
Imagine Joe Idiot who puts the bars side by side in the middle of the roof then loads lets say wood from Bunnings and when it tips and damages the roof he wants to sue the bar manufacturer because they did not explicitly say he could not have the bars side by side. Think it wouldn't happen?

[chetnik73]

I had these installed so I could use the Thule bike roof rack. Basically I just set them as far apart to allow the boot lid to open without hitting the bike. The front rack is just after the arch on the rails if that helps. Its more about what you plan to use it for but all in all, they are great roof racks and very low profile

[roshea]

Thanks chetnik73.

I had them set up ready to take my Thule Polar 100 roof box, only to find that the u-bolts that attach the box didn't fit around the wide bars of the Whispar racks. These shaped u-bolts (PDF link) did the trick, thanks to my favourite roof rack store. [James at the Mitcham branch just sold his Octavia wagon and replaced it with a Golf, BTW]

[Ocy_RS_TDi_Kombi]

thanks to my favourite roof rack store. [James at the Mitcham branch just sold his Octavia wagon and replaced it with a Golf, BTW]

That's where I've bought roof racks and snow gear before - excellent customer service and good prices!

[roshea]

That's where I've bought roof racks and snow gear before - excellent customer service and good prices!

Yep, they really know their stuff, and I've always found them to be incredibly helpful.