Thule Modified

I was up near 8am, but easily could’ve slept longer. I started coffee then played on the internet until it was ready. Once it was I did some more PC time but then did a walkabout the yard. The lawn has bounced back surprisingly well after Wednesday and Thursday’s strong storms. Looks lush again. That pleased me much.
I headed out for a run a little after 9am. It was a good run, only three miles. My plan for the day was to cut the lawn and possibly even tinker with the Thule in an effort to get the mounting brackets moved to where the Pilot’s rear hatch will open fully without bumping up against the unit.

Mindy had bacon baking in the oven when I got back from my run. The kids were still asleep. I headed out to start yard work near 1030am. I didn’t want to wait too long as it was expected to get pretty warm again as the day wore on. ON my way out through the garage I noticed that dead animal smell again. I checked the tray of mouse pellets I put near the dog food storage container. It was about 3/4s gone.

I thought to look in my rag box where I often find mouse turds. Sure enough, down amongst the rags was a rotting mouse carcass. Yuck! It stunk to high heaven! I tossed it out amongst the utility boxes. Hard to believe one tiny rotting rodent could stink up the garage that bad.

I cut the front and the hilly, uneven parts of the back with the push mower and its new rear wheels. What a difference. It actually goes straight. I took a couple water breaks and in doing so popped inside and woofed down a slice or two of bacon as well. Yum!

While I worked outside, Mindy did more work in the basement. I went ahead and finished mowing the yard with the tractor. Before whacking, edging, and blowing I took a break from lawn mowing and made protective rings out of chicken wire for the pepper plants that were eaten to a stub presumably by rabbits earlier in the summer. They’re starting to make a comeback. I wanted to try and protect them from further damage. That took about 15 minutes. Mindy liked the idea and commented as much.

I went ahead and finished the lawn work. Looked great when I finished. I took another brief break but then pulled the Thule from the garage and placed it atop the Pilot mounting only by the back cross bars. I then push it forward to where the rear hatch would open fully without smacking into it. As I expected, the Thule would need to be modified to fit the front crossbar of the Pilot. I’d have to move the bracket forward by about six inches. I put chalk marks on the side of the Thule where the bracket would have to slide to fit. I then removed it from the Pilot and opened it up to see how much effort would be involved, or if I even wanted to do it.

The biggest dilemma wasn’t whether I could do it or not, but rather whether the shortened distance between the cross arms would hold the long Thule securely. Modified, about 3’ would hang over beyond the front most bracket. In the end, I figured the worst possible outcome would be having to buy a new – different Thule model. Decided to give it a go.

On closer inspection, the sliding bracket was riveted to the unit’s body, meaning I’d have to drill out the rivets, cut new sliding grooves into the units body, and then drill new mounting holes and attach the old bracket with nuts, washers, and bolts. I’d have to run to Home Depot to get what I needed. I took the Accord. I planned to buy lock washers and those nylon lock nuts to ensure it doesn’t vibrate loose.

I settled on the necessary hardware spending only $6 for everything I would need. I was excited to get home and give it a go. The rivets drilled out much easier than I expected. I used my new cordless Father’s Day drill. Awesome – TY, Mindy! I then used the oscillating tool from dad to cut/extend the track about six inches on each side. That worked extremely well. That oscillating tool is bad ass!

I got the first side mounted in no more than 15 minutes. However, I changed the hardware configuration slightly, deciding to use a flat washer on each side of the bolt along with one lock washer and lock nut. That would give more surface for the nut to mount against. That also meant I would be short by 4 flat washers.

Just as I was about to mount the other side Darwin pulled up. He knew what I was doing immediately. In fact, he’s the one that suggested I try modifying the Thule last winter when he saw that it slammed against our rear hatch every time we opened it. Said he had to modify his own, though its design was a bit different than ours. He watched as I put the finishing touches on the Thule modification.

He bolted for home just before I was ready to put it to the test. I was hopeful that it would fit up nicely, not bump the hatch, and more importantly, stay safely put while driving. It worked well, just as I hoped it would. I didn’t take the Pilot on a test drive though, but would later.

I was very happy to have that taken care of. That’ll make winter ski trips and summer vacations that much more pleasurable. The afternoon was waning. I was beat and sore from a day of yard work. I watered the flowers then headed in for a shower. We were expecting dad for dinner. Mindy was grilling inferno chicken.

Dad showed up sometime around 5-530pm. By then, I was fresh out of the shower and tinkering inside. Mindy was already out at the grill working with the chicken. In addition to the chicken, Mindy grilled zucchini sliced into ½” thick slices and basted in an olive oil, garlic salt concoction. Both the chicken and the zucchini was delicious. For dessert, Mindy served the leftover birthday brownies. Dad commented that the brownies might be the best ever. They were very fudgy-gooey!

We hung out on the deck after dinner for a while chatting. We got to talking about the my boat and how sluggish it seems pulling a skier out of the water these days. Talked about changing the prop size for more power out of the hole. But Dad also suggested trying a Stingray (whale tail) adapter. Said he had two, and that I could try his older one if I wanted.

It must’ve been around 730pm when he left for home. At the same time, I decided to take the Pilot on a test drive with the Thule modification on top. I wanted to see if it would bounce now that more of the front hung out over the front bracket. Seemed to do just fine. My assumption is that it would be more likely to bounce when empty – worst case. I felt good about the performance.

Met Mindy out back again on the deck where we spent the rest of the evening. I email called my mom after getting an email sharing that she might come up next weekend. Dad called too to let me know he found the Stingray attachment and was willing to bring it by the house. Said he found the dog nail trimmers too. Said he’d bring both by. I was talking with mom when he returned. He didn’t’ stay too long, just long enough to drop the two items.Mindy tried trimming Eiknarf’s nails almost immediately. She had me holding her. She went berserk, and honestly, I’m surprised she didn’t try to bite us. She would have nothing to do with those dang trimmers. I think Mindy got two of her front claws trimmed before giving up for the night. Inside, we watched more delayed Olympic coverage. Watched swimming and women’s gymnastics. The USA women are amazing! Headed to bed just before 10pm though we let the Olympics whirl from the bedroom TV.