Parts Needed to Bolt Thule Roof Rack to Roof of 2011 Honda Pilot

Question:

The quick question: Your site directs me to fit kit 3101 for my Honda Pilot 2011, but says it isnt confirmed to fit. Can you confirm that? The longer question: I have set of factory bars on my Honda Pilot 2011. I have Thule Wingbar Evos and Thule Rapid System 753 podium style mounts, and want to make use of the Wingbar, and would use the 753 mounts if needed. To use the Wingbar, I could buy the Raised Rail Evo and not use my Rapid System but then it would raise the bars by a lot, and its already very high for us. So I would like to remove the factory rack. Thule says to use clamps that wrap around the top of the window frames. That doesnt sound or look great. I would rather bolt it directly to the car roof. So my plan is to remove the factory rack and get a fit kit to bolt the factory rack directly to the car using the Thule 753 mounts. Are there any issues with this approach? What would be the simplest/cheapest way to do this?

asked by: Karl J

Expert Reply:

So you can use the 3101, but they work with Thule tracks as opposed to a bare roof, and you would need to bolt on Thule tracks to your 2011 Honda Pilot's bare roof as opposed to directly bolting on a fit kit. As far as the 753, from what I can tell that looks to be a European part number, so there's no information I can find regarding fits with current North American parts. There is also not a fit kit which is compatible with your factory rack.

That said, if you wanted to use Thule tracks and bolt it directly onto your roof, here is what you'd need, and keep in mind you'd need to measure your roof to get the correct length of tracks:

- Thule Roof Mounted Top Rack System - 54" Long # THTP54 or 42" Long # THTP42

- Thule WingBar Evo Crossbars - 53" Long - Silver # TH711400 or Black # TH711420

- Rapid Podium Feet # TH460R

- Fit Kit # THKIT3101

So that's what you would need in order to bolt the tracks and roof rack directly to your 2011 Pilot's roof. Otherwise, by far the easiest thing to do would be to just use the Evo Raised Rail Feet # TH710401.

These are 2-1/4" tall, and the WingBars are 1" tall so it would add 3-1/4" of height overall, but could be worth it for the simplicity. Then the only other thing you may want to add (with either option) are locks, the Thule One-Key System Lock Cylinders # TH450400.