: I have used Thule racks with my wife's Acura, which was a hardtop, with no
: metal frame around the door glass, and they work like a charm, with the
: exception of when I was adjusting the front rack forward or back and
: ripped a 1 1/2 inch tear in the rubber moulding, on her side even with
: your (her) eyes when you get in and out, just be carefull doing the dumb
: stuff.....
: I used the same rack ends and changed the bar to 1 x 1 x 090 steel with pipe
: insulation for the honda van and drove 14,000 with canoes and kayaks on
: top on a delivery trip across the states and up and down the east coast
: this past fall, (hey Rob, I stayed with Josh up the hill from you for
: awhile) The ride included a 50 mile burst of 100 mph in florida headed for
: the keys, with only one kayak on top, no bow line and late for dinner, on
: a dock, with a view. I guess everybody in florida was headed for dinner, I
: was just trying to keep up.
: I like Thule but have never tried any others, that is except for pipe
: insulation on the gunwales of canoes and directly on the roof with lots of
: rope.
: David Barrett in fresno

I will give this more thought before I make a final decission. I am not worried about the security so much because the way I would have it bolted would make the Kayak Kidnapers have to saw the rack off of the car. I would use counter sink bolt heads in the metal straps with the nut sunk inside the wood rack and sealed in with TOUGH CARVE so it was completely hidden and the counter sink head would also be cover over also so a screw driver could not be inserted into the head slot. But I do have a better understanding of this and I may just forget the whole thing and get the towers. For some dumb reason I thought I had to have everything. Thanks for my education.

John