My kids accuse me of excessive packing but this heavy shipment required every inch of stretch wrap and cardboard to secure the package (I should buy stock in stretch wrap.). When I cracked open the package it was clearly very well packed. While I was fortunate to have it shipped from upstate NY to me in central NJ, everything arrived in great shape. After the specified processing and shipping time, all 93 pounds of stuff arrived today June 14…intact. It was a rather complicated mix of about 37 extrusions, mostly cut to length and machined, and a large mix of fasteners and accessories totaling 478 pieces (lots and lots of fasteners).

I also bought four rubber fender washers from my local hardware store to sandwich between the crossbars and the cargo box, to prevent marring of the crossbar's anodized finish.I placed an order composed of a “shed load” of extrusions and fasteners on June 2. The bolt head just slides between the gasket and the slot flanges. T-slot bolts seem to be standardized across all rack brands, and use standard M6 threading, so it shouldn't matter if you buy Yakima, Thule or generic T-slot bolts.Ī really nice feature of the Whispars is the integrated slot gasket, which doesn't interfere with installation of the T-slot bolts.

I bought a set of four Thule T-slot bolts which set me back a whopping $6, far less than any other type of mounting kits you can buy. I was intrigued by this attachment method because of its simple elegance. Previously, I had always had either Thule square bars or Yakima round bars, and the Whispbars are my first foray into aero bars with T-slot mounting compatibility. With the aero bars, I did not like the idea of the clamping method, mainly because it looks fugly and clumsy. It came with the stock mounting hardware which is designed to clamp around the cross bar with a combination of metal plates and U-bolts. I picked up a used Sportrack box (Thule's lower end brand, made by Thule) in great shape for $80. My goals in having cross bars are to carry a cargo box and fork mounts (not simultaneously). Since I don't have a pano roof, I wasn't concerned about the tight roof clearance, and I like the tight look of the flush cross bars. I recently installed NOS Whispbar flush aero bars to the factory rails on my GSW.

T slot bolts for roof rack