General Roof Bars, again

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General Roof Bars, again

spaniel

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I have been looking to get some roof bars for our 500. Thule have a set which have the "short roof adapter" and although I know that they are supposed to be very good they cost about £150. If you read the Owners Manual it clearly shows the fitting of a standard pair of bars, without the third set of feet. I have found some standard roof bars to fit the 500 at £60 to £80 (look on ebay for "roof bars fiat 500), has anybody here got any like this and if so do they fit OK, without marking the car, particularily the rear bars and do they feel secure. Thank you in advance for any replies.
 
I have been looking to get some roof bars for our 500. Thule have a set which have the "short roof adapter" and although I know that they are supposed to be very good they cost about £150. If you read the Owners Manual it clearly shows the fitting of a standard pair of bars, without the third set of feet. I have found some standard roof bars to fit the 500 at £60 to £80 (look on ebay for "roof bars fiat 500), has anybody here got any like this and if so do they fit OK, without marking the car, particularily the rear bars and do they feel secure. Thank you in advance for any replies.

Be careful if you have the glass sunroof - as I believe the roof bars do not fit
 
You can get the thule bars (761) and feet (750) and short roof adaptor (777) second hand on ebay.

You will need to buy the adaptor kit new (1464). £26

I have just down this and it came in around £70 for all the parts.

I was not convinced by the non thule bars listed on ebay.
 
I have the Thule kit, the fixings that actually secure the bars (front and short roof adapters) fix within the door aperatures and these secure the rear bar. (an ebay bay bargain for the bars and short roof adapter- the fitting kit was new for £24):D

Looking at the bars on ebay- I cant see how they physically attach to the car- as far as I know there isn't any slots in the roof to accept this type of fixing (of course I may be wrong) :confused:

Whilst the manual shows a normal style bar, Fiat dont offer bars as an accessory, is there a reason ?

Contact the ebay seller to see if they have a set of installation instructions they can send you .

Hope this helps :)
 
I dutifully searched the 500 Forum before posting on the subject of roof bars on the 500 Lounge (ie glass roof) and found a number of threads and different opinions on the ability to fit them.

On the Thule website if you use the product selection wizard and as the final option select "glass roof" it says "sorry, no can do" (in polite Swedish).

Has anyone actually fitted roof bars to a Lounge (or any other 500 with a glass roof)?
 
I dutifully searched the 500 Forum before posting on the subject of roof bars on the 500 Lounge (ie glass roof) and found a number of threads and different opinions on the ability to fit them.

On the Thule website if you use the product selection wizard and as the final option select "glass roof" it says "sorry, no can do" (in polite Swedish).

Has anyone actually fitted roof bars to a Lounge (or any other 500 with a glass roof)?
Not as far as I know. Good on you for searching as well (y)
 
I was in Halfords yesterday and saw the Thule roof bar display. The reference book shows the 500 and makes no mention of not being suitable for the lounge. My 500 lounge was outside the door and I asked a 'senior' member of staff if they could fit a Thule roof bar and after seeing the car he said it was no problem and as they weren't busy they would do it there and then.

I wonder if any lounges have already been fitted with bars???

Mind you - having looked at the fittings, I feel sure it would be ok for a light load. :confused: but.........
 
Hi there - if I may jump on this thread to ask a question ...

We are suddenly looking at taking our 500 on holiday with us as our 'family' car is off the road - we have a roofbox set aside to hire but they don't provide the roof rack and I'm not up to speed on them ...

We have a 2009 3 door with no sunroof and the Thule site states that we need 754, 761, 1611 and a 774 short roof adapter ....

Do we actually need the short roof adapter ? E-bay lists everything we need for much cheapness until you search for the 774 which pretty much doubles the price ?

I'm not sure what it's for ?
 
I have a set of Thule bars, with locks, keys and instructions that I would like to sell. They were used on a 2008 "pop", and had only light use for a couple of holiday trips. Collection would be advised as it would be difficult to send them. I live in Newcastle upon Tyne. Price £80.
 
I have a set of Thule bars, with locks, keys and instructions that I would like to sell. They were used on a 2008 "pop", and had only light use for a couple of holiday trips. Collection would be advised as it would be difficult to send them. I live in Newcastle upon Tyne. Price £80.

Thanks Spaniel - collecting them would be an issue so I'm out but I hope you get them sold.

Could you answer my query about the Short Roof Adapter ... is it needed and what does it actually do/involve ?
 
Its not easy to describe how the short roof adapter works but it is essential. The front bar sits across the roof and the feet clamp into the door recess and are located with short pegs into the "holes" which you can see if you open the doors. The rear bar just sits across the roof at 60cm from the front bar. The short adapter consists of a bar with brackets which connects the two sets of bars, front to rear, on both sides. The adapter has a third foot which then clamps into the door recess towards the rear of the door. This is similar to the Ford Ka/ 3door punto fitting.
 
Its not easy to describe how the short roof adapter works but it is essential. The front bar sits across the roof and the feet clamp into the door recess and are located with short pegs into the "holes" which you can see if you open the doors. The rear bar just sits across the roof at 60cm from the front bar. The short adapter consists of a bar with brackets which connects the two sets of bars, front to rear, on both sides. The adapter has a third foot which then clamps into the door recess towards the rear of the door. This is similar to the Ford Ka/ 3door punto fitting.

Sounds like a more secure setup than the La Pre Alpina roof rack that has been used on a Lounge with the glass roof. There have been no issues to-date although an incident was posted on boards.ie (Click here).

From memory there's no weight limit specified in the Fiat 500 manual but in the MiTo the kg weight was halved (it was incorrect).
 
Sounds like a more secure setup than the La Pre Alpina roof rack that has been used on a Lounge with the glass roof. There have been no issues to-date although an incident was posted on boards.ie (Click here).

From memory there's no weight limit specified in the Fiat 500 manual but in the MiTo the kg weight was halved (it was incorrect).


https://www.google.co.uk/#safe=off&...8,d.d2k&fp=1a3d9ad4e3ef4fa8&biw=1920&bih=1076

There will always be failures, whether they be due to incorrect fitting or other reasons......
 
The price of a replacement glass roof would lead me to recommend not taking the chance with lounge models.

If the worst happened, cost aside, I can't imagine the headlining would ever look the same again after Autoglass or FIAT had put their grubby little paws all over it.
 
The price of a replacement glass roof would lead me to recommend not taking the chance with lounge models.

If the worst happened, cost aside, I can't imagine the headlining would ever look the same again after Autoglass or FIAT had put their grubby little paws all over it.

Don't smash the roof then, as for a botched repair and headlining, simply don't accept it back until done properly.
 
The price of a replacement glass roof would lead me to recommend not taking the chance with lounge models.

If the worst happened, cost aside, I can't imagine the headlining would ever look the same again after Autoglass or FIAT had put their grubby little paws all over it.

Personally I wouldn't put a roof rack on a 500 either, if you've got enough in the car that you need to put stuff on top then it's going to be horrid to drive and you're probably best off renting something else or hiring another car. We did a week and a half in Europe with 3 people and got everything we needed in. If we'd had more stuff and a roof rack or roof box then my god it would have been horrid to drive.

Just my opinion though :)
 
Personally I wouldn't put a roof rack on a 500 either, if you've got enough in the car that you need to put stuff on top then it's going to be horrid to drive and you're probably best off renting something else or hiring another car. We did a week and a half in Europe with 3 people and got everything we needed in. If we'd had more stuff and a roof rack or roof box then my god it would have been horrid to drive.

Just my opinion though :)

Can you fit a canoe in the car though :chin: :devil:
 
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