Fit Kit for Thule Evo Clamp and Edge Clamp Roof Rack Feet - 5286

Video Transcript for Thule WingBar Edge Crossbars Roof Rack Kit Installation - 2022 Ford Maverick

Hi, everyone, Aiden here with etrailer. Today, we're gonna be taking a look at and showing you how to install this Thule WingBar Edge roof rack system on our 2022 Ford Maverick. So this is a flush-mounted roof rack system, and what that means is the crossbar, the main piece that we're attaching all of our accessories to ends in this foot pack here, the upright portion of the roof rack. And that's really nice for some people that really like the factory look. So it looks custom fit and is custom fit for the Maverick and you don't have anything extending out to the side of the vehicle. Maybe something that you could hit your head on.

In this case, we don't have that worry. But this isn't going to be as functional as roof racks with an overhang because certain accessories, like a load assist kayak carrier, do require crossbar overhang, so that when you bring those carriers down to make it easier to load, it doesn't hit your vehicle. So you can kind of pick and choose which one you want based on your preferences. I think if you're just putting a single accessory up here, like a basket, maybe two bike racks, I think you could fit two kayaks on here pretty well if you did a J-style carrier. Depending on what you're carrying, this should be fine for most cases.

It might be a little bit harder to reach because the usable crossbar spray is a bit inset on the roof. But overall, I think very functional and it does look good on the Maverick. Now, this is also designed to fit the naked roof of the Maverick. Naked roof just means that there's no existing rails on the top of the roof. So, we need something that will clamp into the door jam, but also match the contours of the roof on these ridges here and the pads that come with the fit kit here, the fit kit is that custom-fit piece to make it work with the roof.

The pads that come in are a really solid fit. They match the contours of the Maverick really well. And of all the roof racks that I've worked with and installed on this truck, this one, I think, is the best fit of them all. Now, these are a black crossbar, but you can also get them in a silver crossbar if that matches the look of your truck a bit better. And some more functional things to think about are your measurements.

Because the fit kit is designed to fit in a very specific spot on the roof, we're not gonna be moving these front to back and being able to adjust our crossbar spread. The crossbar spread is important to know because depending on what accessories we're using, they only work with a certain range of crossbar spreads. Ours today, center to center from one bar to the other is 28 inches, which I think is in a really good spot. I usually say that anything between 24 and 36 inches is a great place to be. So we're in that range right now. Just be sure to check any accessories you plan on using just to double-check. The other thing to look at is going to be the height that we add to the roof. From the tallest point on the roof to the top of the crossbar is gonna be 3 1/2 inches. So it's very low-profile, doesn't add a lot of height, and I shouldn't have to worry about this in my garage. And when you add stuff on top of it like a box, you probably will, but the roof rack itself is perfectly fine and the space from the roof to the underside of the bar is only two inches. That's important to know for clamp around accessories because it does sit fairly close, but I do think it'll be enough for any of those accessories to still have room for the clamps underneath. If you plan to use the T-track on top for channel mount of accessories, it does have a weather strip in there to keep down the wind noise. That'll just split down the middle. You slide your accessories in to wherever it fits, and it'll conform around the T-bolt. To access that, you need to take off the plastic end caps here which can be locked if you pick up a lock core separately. Otherwise, you can just twist the plastic core and pull the whole thing off. We'll show you that in the install later. And as far as roof racks and the Maverick go, I think this is a really solid option. The Maverick is obviously a smaller truck, and because of that, you are limited on space. So if you want to carry something large like a kayak or maybe you don't want to put bike racks in the hitch or in the bed, whatever it may be, the roof is a great place to go to expand your cargo space. And something like this that has such a strong fit, I think, is an even better choice because you wanna make sure that the roof rack is a solid option and that you don't have to worry about it moving around. Everything that contours and fits to the shapes of the Maverick roof has no gaps for air. So, it fills me with a lot of confidence loading it up and going down the road. Be sure to always check your vehicle's roof capacities, so you don't overload it because that tends to be the limiting factor with these roof racks. But aside from that, I think it's gonna be a great functional addition to the Maverick. The only thing left to do now is show you how it installs, which lucky for you, is very simple. Probably one of the most simple systems that we offer, but we'll walk you through the whole process now. We can start the installation off by taking our crossbars and installing the weather strip in the top. That'll just peel apart along a perforation in two pieces and press into the channel. Ours, since we have these crossbar down here are already done, but then you can take the feet and actually take off this end cap. That can be a little bit awkward to do when it's not really fixed to anything, but you can just make sure we match up the tapered end to the tapered end of the crossbar. And this block here is gonna be the thing that we need to look at. This will slide into the end of our crossbar and push down on that block to get it to slide the rest of the way in. And as we push it, (crossbar clicks) we'll eventually hear a click. That's gonna be when that block seats in this hole right here. So if you want to, you can keep the weather strip uninstalled until you see that and then just press it back in after that's seated. Once both sides are installed, we can take the included tool and start to tighten it up. Now, on the top here, you'll notice that there's a series of lines and markings with letters of the alphabet corresponding to them. In your instructions, you're gonna notice that the front and the rear crossbar have a certain letter code that you want to tighten these to. So on our Maverick, for the rear crossbar, the letter code we're shooting for is D. Up front, it was C. So I'm gonna tighten this up until the very end of the crossbar. This metal bit right here aligns with that line for D. Once you've got it lined up, I'm gonna just press this weather strip back into the channel since it was overhanging a bit. The overhang is okay. Once we add our covers back on, it'll cover it up. Just repeat that on the other side. Now, on the underside of those feet, we're gonna have a spot where we need to add our rubber pads. Luckily for us, the Maverick kit uses all the same number code for all four locations. So it's a pretty easy, just match it up to the shape and press it into place. Your instructions are gonna have two more measurements. One that goes from the front end of the roof where it meets the windshield to where the first crossbar mounts up, and another measurement from the first crossbar to the second. We've already got our front one installed, so we've marked out with painter's tape and an arrow what measurement we need to shoot for for lining up the second crossbar. It's just a helpful little tip that makes this process a little bit easier and ensures that we're installing this running parallel to the other bar. So I'm gonna get this lined up with that arrow and do that on both sides. And then, we can start clamping it down after removing that painter's tape, of course. So I'm gonna stand behind the door to get out of your way here. But to attach the clamp is pretty straightforward. We've got this moving piece right here with a slot underneath. Take your clamp, feed it up into that slot, and you should feel it kind of click into place. And once it clicks in, you won't be able to pull it back down. And through the middle there, we're gonna have a location where we can actually tighten down a bolt and secure this. Again, we wanna do this process on both sides and tighten it evenly. So once you've got one making contact right here in the door jam of your vehicle, go to the other side, repeat the same process, tightening them a few turns at a time back and forth until you hear your tool click. And as we're tightening, we'll hear that click. You can close your door, set the tool to the side so you don't need it anymore, and install the end caps. But before you do that, your kit does come with these plastic cores. If you opted to buy lock cores separately, you could install them at this point, but the plastic cores will slide in at a 45-degree angle. And then I like to use a quarter. It fits in that slot pretty well. Turn it to the side in the unlocked position. You can see right there. That'll line up with a slotted hole right there as we slide the cover back on and use that quarter to turn it upward to the lock position where it will no longer come out. Now, obviously, that's not the most secure thing in the world, a lot of people have quarters, but that's why you would maybe pick up the lock core kit. Otherwise, it'll at least keep these end caps back on and be a little bit of a deterrent. But I like to do a shake test at this point, too, to make sure that nothing's shifting or moving around either front to back or side to side. And it's looking really good. So this installation is done and we're ready to hit the road, and that'll do it for our look at an installation of the Thule WingBar Edge roof rack system on our 2022 Ford Maverick. Thanks for watching.