For a Thule cargo box. The mounting U bracket is too narrow to fit around the cross bars by 1 cm. I'm thinking of grinding out a small .5 cm channel on each side of the rail to fit them, but would rather get some narrower cross rails to put up there...

any local places that carry some kind of universal rail? Its a 2002 pathfinder...

6/16/2011 4:41:52 PM

no way to just get some larger u-bolts and make them work?

6/16/2011 4:43:45 PM

I looked at some, but haven't found any that work yet. The threads of the larger U-bolts don't come down far enough to tighten it on the box, so I'd have to put some kinda mounts on both sides to fill the gap.

The original U bolts come with a quick clip sorta thing that snaps right on the screw threads for quick removal/installation. I'd like to preserve this functionality if I could.

It fits perfectly on the wife's SUV, so ideally I'd like to stick to one set of U-bolts.

6/16/2011 4:47:36 PM

thule has crossbars that will mount to your factory rails. yakima does too.

6/16/2011 5:59:32 PM

better idea...sell me your thule cargo box for $20

6/16/2011 6:42:21 PM

fleetpride will custom bend u bolts to your specs.

6/16/2011 11:51:41 PM

I began grinding the aluminum off an it went pretty well, except that I only had one proper attachment for the dremel. I ground through that bit, but got 70% done.

Where is fleetpride?

6/17/2011 9:13:07 AM

so to use one set of bolts you are going to grind down your factory crossbars??? facepalm

make a bracket to adapt to larger u bolts or get some custom made

and i bet Thule makes all kinds of adapter kits for attaching to factory rails. Hit up REI and see what they have or if they can help. you can always just make something to copy the thule adapter design

or call thule 800 number and they can tell you what bracket you need

6/17/2011 12:20:06 PM

I'd do the same. It's an 02 Pathfinder, not a 2011 X5. Nobody will ever notice a couple small notches if you do a clean job and the real waste would be buying a bunch of overpriced gear to do a job that the factory racks are perfectly suited for.

Thule and Yakima junk is expensive. I've got a set of Thule racks with crossbars, but I don't want to spend like $300 on some legs and hooks to fit my car.

6/17/2011 1:19:37 PM