I have the Ford roofbars for my 2008 Focus mk2.5, have been using them very occasionally for a few years. I ended up leaving them on the car for an extended period, perhaps 10 months. When I came to remove them, I found that the plastic cups that the bolts screw down onto totally disintegrated, leaving the bars useless. Picture attached of where the plastic cup used to be. So I called my local Ford dealer- the only parts available were the plastic ends, the rubber strip on the bar... that was about it. The parts guy suggested I contacted Thule, so I had an email exchange with them, the upshot of which was that part was most probably manufacturer specific and I had to contact the manufacturer (Ford).

So I'm left with a pair of roofbars that look almost new, but are unusable. Seems very wasteful to have to throw them out and buy a new pair, can anyone suggest where I might be able to source the parts? I'm sure I can't be the only one with this problem, I guess the plastic used was substandard in some way.

cheers

bump

Most of the roofbar parts that are included in the roofbar kit are not avialable as spare parts. The Ford roofbar kit is produced by Thule by Ford specifications. Because of this the Ford roofbar kit is completely different from the Thule roofbar products.

The plastic cups of the Ford roofbars are known to crack/break as a result of overtightening. The roofbar fixing bolts are designed to be tightened very lightly. However the bolts are overtightended very easily. Many people (including myself) overtighten the bolts which results in cracked/broken plastic cups.

 

The easiest solution for this problem is to have them custom made. Any local machine shop should be able to make them. Preferably out of aluminium or strong plastic (POM/Delrin for example). Years ago I had them made out of POM plastic which was a lot stronger as the original plastic.

 

 

Thanks for the reply, yeah I feared that might be the case. Local machine shop, I wouldn't know where to start! 

cheers