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(Aftermarket) Roof Rack solved!!!


bikinchris
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I finally had a chance to mount my Thule roof rack on my 2014 Transit Connect. The installation wasn't too bad. I had to remove the foam blocks above the doors to gat access to the plugs that cover the holes used to bolt the feet down. Holding the flat washer and reaching in to start the nut would be super hard, but once you use the silicone like the describe to seal the hole from water, you are just fine because the silicone that comes through with the nut will keep the washer stuck to the inside of the roof!

The parts needed are the square rails from Thule in the length you want. 50 inch works fine for the TC. The 460 Podium feet, and the 3032 kit.

Thule also suggests that you can use two, three or four rails and get extra strength by doing so. There are four holes available and a fifth set if you count the front ones right above the driver. Thule also says not to use the first set of holes that are in the front. I was tempted to use those, but that would have involved removing the head liner and air bags in the van to gain access to those holes. I decided not to spend a whole day doing the job.

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  • 2 years later...
   

I have a 2014 transit xlt  I put 5 sets of thule 460 feet and 5 load bars did not have a problem mounting the feet above the 2 front seats I installed the bolts sticking up then used nuts with nylon inserts on top of thule foot 

 

getPart-1.jpeg

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On 10/10/2015 at 1:23 PM, bikinchris said:

There are four holes available and a fifth set if you count the front ones right above the driver. Thule also says not to use the first set of holes that are in the front. I was tempted to use those, but that would have involved removing the head liner and air bags in the van to gain access to those holes. I decided not to spend a whole day doing the job.

 

@bikinchris - glad you finally got your racks installed. no pics?

 

To access the inside of the front mounting hole, you do have to remove the headliner. I also considered doing so but it seems like too much work with potential for collateral damage. I peeked inside the area by gently pulling down the back side of the headliner and with a flashlight I can see the forward mounting hole and also the airbag, which is well below the mounting hole and folded neatly and held in place with some type of cloth tie. Between the airbag and the roof is a metal flange that has some curvature to it. I don't believe there would be any reason to remove the airbag if you wanted to use the forward most mounting hole and using it would not affect the air bag in any manner. I think that is an urban myth with the TC, but those are just my observations. More discussion in a rack thread I posted a while back, link below, where I mounted tracks in the channel so the rails were adjustable. Just another install option. I also removed those gray/black foam pieces above the slider door tracks shortly after I got the van. They didn't seem to serve a useful purpose and looked kind of funky. Glad I got rid of them.

 

http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/6632-gen-2-roof-racks-tracks-install/?tab=comments#comment-21818

 

Edited by windguy
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