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Wow all thanx! I am sure this post will be helpful to many.
What prompted me to post the question is there is a guy with one for sale locally and he has a great price.... but is missing some "mounting" hardware. If he has the stanchions, he isn't saying.... I wonder if I can get the remaining pieces from Thule. I don't know what those pieces are.... honestly, I have no idea how those things mount to the roof rails... so this purchase may be too big a risk.
Are the roof rails in our car's roof a "standard" mounting system? I have no idea how this stuff works.
You can't get the parts from Thule, only Porsche. Do not purchase any rack missing hardware, as you also can't purchase individual parts from Porsche, only the full rack. I know, because I've tried, in Europe and the US.
Wow all thanx! I am sure this post will be helpful to many.
What prompted me to post the question is there is a guy with one for sale locally and he has a great price.... but is missing some "mounting" hardware. If he has the stanchions, he isn't saying.... I wonder if I can get the remaining pieces from Thule. I don't know what those pieces are.... honestly, I have no idea how those things mount to the roof rails... so this purchase may be too big a risk.
Are the roof rails in our car's roof a "standard" mounting system? I have no idea how this stuff works.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
No. There isn't really such a thing as standard in the roof rack business. For instance I have the rails for my wife's MDX in the garage for install in the next few days. Custom made for Acura and the installation requires cutting out a bit of the finishing gasket on the roof seam. Its one of the things that I love about the 911 coupe, is that they had the foresight to include rack mounting points in the roof construction and put the little hinged door up there for access.
I would not buy if anything is missing other than the rails (which would be really tough since they are riveted to the feet). Those could be bought and cut to fit and riveted in, the only way that would happen is if someone ran into their garage with a bike mounted and destroyed the rail. I want to remove my roof rack today. so, I'll grab some photos for you of the parts. The base plate and the vertical feet are not standard parts.
However, there are likely other options from other makes such as Yakima and Innova. My old RL had absolutely no factory or after market rack available. Even that could have a custom wispbar rack made. Just had to have the installer drill some holes in the roof for the anchor pads.
Rack tower mounting foot/base. Inner foot. Critical part. Hex screw and washer could be acquired. Foam Gasket. Not critical. Can be made. Rack tower Foot base installed The rack tower mounted on top of the base. This is the front tower. The back is taller. Note the stainless screw. That could be replaced if missing. The locking tower cover. The lock core is Thule I'm sure, and the rack would work without this cover, but could not be secured from theft at all. Thule usually have a lock mechanism in the tower itself. I've never seen a rail end cap like this on any other Thule rack. Might be available from VW or BMW or something like that. All 4 are the same.
Hopefully this helps you. I've marked the parts that cannot be missing. If you decide to move forward and it is one of the replacable parts like the bolts, I'm sure we can help you with the specs.
You can make up a kit for a 997 using Thule parts that works, I have it on mine. As mentioned Thule in UK and Europe do sell a kit themselves, but the feet are the same height so boxes tend to look a little upturned..
To solve this get on ebay and buy these bits used (you'll probably have to buy 2 sets of 4 feet, so as you only use 2 at the front and 2 at the back you end up with 2 sets of perfect 996/997 feet... Can sell them pretty easy). A quick search shows these are available via ebay.com 2 x Thule 753 feet 2 x Thule 751 XT feet
1 x Thule 3100 fitting fit (specifically for the 996/997)
Its also worth noting that the Porsche supplied roof boxes are also made by Thule and you can buy them unbranded for considerably less. The one they advise for the 996/997 is a porsche branded Thule Dynamic 330
You can then go for whichever bars you prefer. I used the Thule 'Wingbar Evo' which are an aero dynamic shape. Thule recommends 118cm bars, but I used 108 as I dont like overhang on the ends (and I cut 10cm off mine on the rear as that's narrower than the front).
They arent as nice as the specific Porsche bars, but they are a hella lot cheaper!
This is really nice looking and uses the modern version of the Thule bars rather than the old style silver "Euro Bars" as they used to call them used in the RTS. Thanks for doing all the research on the part numbers. I know the Porsche RTS is sometimes unavailable for long stretches and having a high quality alternative will come in handy for someone.
Over the years I have used many different rack systems for my mountain bikes, road bikes and triathlon bikes. On the BMWs I always used Thule with great results. On wifey’s Range Rover we have the Range Rover base and the Yakima tray system. They work well together. When it came time to get a rack for the 997.2, I looked into both Tule and Yakima. There were systems that would work but I really did not like the looks. I decided to go with the Porsche OEM system. It fits both the 996 and the 997. It is perfect and looks like it is part of the car. The only issue is the wind noise generated by the base reach with the sunroof open. I’m thinking about getting a wind faring to address that issue. You could go with the Porsche OEM base and Yakima or Thule trays too.
I use RockyMounts trays with mine and a Yakima ski box (sky box 12 I think?). All fit well on the RTS bars. Rocky Mounts makes a euro mount tray called JetLine which is very stable and affordable and uses a threaded tab which is slotted into the rail. It will work perfectly with the RTS bars. I have one for use to carry a third bike facing backward, but haven't installed it on this car. My forward facing ones are their tierod model, which are on their 3rd or 4th vehicle. They're super versatile and fit any bar I've ever encountered.
Although creative, the only reservation I’d have with using non-oem, (such as Hertsdriver’s method above) is the bars never seem to be perfectly even / level with each other. Especially if you plan to use the channels with “T” bolts.
Wow all thanx! I am sure this post will be helpful to many.
What prompted me to post the question is there is a guy with one for sale locally and he has a great price.... but is missing some "mounting" hardware. If he has the stanchions, he isn't saying.... I wonder if I can get the remaining pieces from Thule. I don't know what those pieces are.... honestly, I have no idea how those things mount to the roof rails... so this purchase may be too big a risk.
Are the roof rails in our car's roof a "standard" mounting system? I have no idea how this stuff works.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
Did not get of it was a Thule or OEM Porsche rack for sale. Suncoast have bits and pieces to sell. Check what You need before buying it. I think i bought some spare part for it long ago. Not very cheap of i recall correct.
Wow all thanx! I am sure this post will be helpful to many.
What prompted me to post the question is there is a guy with one for sale locally and he has a great price.... but is missing some "mounting" hardware. If he has the stanchions, he isn't saying.... I wonder if I can get the remaining pieces from Thule. I don't know what those pieces are.... honestly, I have no idea how those things mount to the roof rails... so this purchase may be too big a risk.
Are the roof rails in our car's roof a "standard" mounting system? I have no idea how this stuff works.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
You can get the mounting brackets by themselves, see them here at suncoast https://www.suncoastparts.com/catego...RoofRacks.html $250, and the locking mechanism on it's own is $50. The entire system complete is only $589 and being brand new would be nice instead of used.
I have never seen the towers...that actually attach to the car....available anywhere other than from Porsche. I believe I could build the remainder of the system tho.
I have never seen the towers...that actually attach to the car....available anywhere other than from Porsche. I believe I could build the remainder of the system tho.
If anyone is interested but can be patient and wait a Long Long time, i think i have a set OEM roofrack set left over...however om not back home until June....
Does anyone know if the Thule 38in (or any other size) would work with the Porsche Branded Rack and bars? It seems like the should since they are made by Thule but also seem a bit more finicky on fit vs. the Yakima Wind Screen
12-23-2019, 12:07 PM
