Lotus99

Good point, I'm a noob at this... So many things seemed the same on the wagon vs. the sedan, I assumed that wheels and offsets were the same, although I missed the biggest difference, which is its air suspension in the rear.

norsecarnut

Pricing: If you can become an REI member, they have Thule stuff on sale a time or two a year at 20% off all items, or there are many times when you can use a single 20% off coupon. Then, even better, if you are a member, and get the REI/USBank visa, anything from REI results in an additional 5% back to you in the following calendar year, even garage sale items.

Bar width/fitting: it all depends on your factory rail to rail width, I wonder how wide the minivan is. I first used probably the 58" like you said, then I switched up, and I think it's to something like 62-64? I'll measure this week and give you some helpful shots.

I have put a bike mount on the outside of the foot, I have also shifted the box past the foot to the edge of the bar which allows putting two bikes within the box and other side bar mount.

I don't know why you think the mount gets in the way, it sits well below the bar such that the box can hop over it, then mount on the other side, straddling it. I did this with the 2100xt and all the Xt models would be the same underneath. I can look at my Spirit this week too in case there is some issue with it specifically. I have some photos too from the xc road trip I'll dig up. I used the Spirit then.

Oh, about the hitch, if you were making a trip through sometime, the shop I used could probably do the whole job in about 3-4 hours and I think they have wifi There is a nice interurban paved bike path near it too where you could ride for the entire time if you desired.

norsecarnut

I will say I am not at all sure about the sedan offsets except for something like the 550 or rear wheel drive versions which are definitely different.

Sarge

That's the thing; I'd like to be able to rotate the tires. But then I think every BMW I've owned has at least had different offsets f/r, even if the tire size was the same.

I'm planning to run 245/40/18 tires front and rear, so I'm concerned the rears will look odd/stretched on the 9" wide wheel (vs the 8" wide front).

Lotus99

OK, sorry this isn't obvious to me, but what's the point of running a wider wheel in the rear then if you're not going to put wider tires on it too? You're not going to get better traction that way, are you?

Sarge

It's because I'm buying M5 replica wheels that are only sold in staggered sets. I guess if they don't really work properly I'll have to buy a second set and throw the four rears on ebay...

Lotus99

Thanks for the tip about REI, I'd forgotten about them! Looks like they give you 15% off when you sign up for a newsletter, so I might just go ahead and use that right away!

For the bar size, they come in 50, 58 and 65. Do you think with a 50 inch bar, I should be able to put a box on (yours is 36" wide) plus two bikes? Or might the 50 not be wide enough?

With a 50" bar, it pretty much looks like it'll be even with the roof edge. But since the 58 is the same price, I wonder if getting larger (58) is safer up front? My only dilemma is I might end up lazy and leave the bars up even when I don't have a load, so didn't know how bothersome / an eyesore the 58" would be since they'd stick out like 6" per side.

How many minutes would you say it would take to take off the bars / feet once you've gotten good at it?

Sarge

If own a hack saw, you can make the Yakima bars any length you want. I'm not sure about the Thule bars. Buy Yakimas longer than you need, and cut them down. Bars are probably the cheapest part of the rack anyway.

norsecarnut

Haha, sometimes the obvious reasons are lost when your point of view is so practical....the "point" is for "looks" However, you are correct, one can often justify that purpose by also using a wider tire which would provide more cornering traction.

He answered it but I think he already has the tires too.

I think the tire will be just fine on the 9" rim but a 9.5" would be getting past the sensible limit. I don't recall the section/tread width on the 245/40 but my 245/45 look perfect on the 8.5" rims I have and stretching just another 1/4" on each side would probably be just fine.

The tire brand matter too though. Mine are Bridgestone which seem wider in section that a same spec tire but I really like the thick rim lip protection because I seem to be the one who curbs any wheel possible !

norsecarnut

You can certainly cut either brand, it's just steel and then drop the end cap back on.

I'll reiterate, the Thule 450 foot has a wider range of fitting even when compared on the same bar. For example, on the Audi I wanted to use the 2100 box, which is a bit long for the Audi B7 Avant roofline (the B8 is a little longer I think) so I had to have the mount all the way forward right into the part where the rail starts to bend down and into the car roof and gets thicker as well.

The strap design of Thule allows a wide range of flexibility here whereas the Yakima grab style would not be able to hold well in that angle and over the tapering rail.