Hi all,

to tell you why I'm asking, I have a whole collection of used Thule roof
rack parts laying around (I wanted to be able to carry bikes on my car,
but didn't feel like paying the exorbitant prices to buy this stuff new,
so I bought a couple racks on Craigslist, eBay, etc. to get all the
parts I needed, and then sold the leftovers that I didn't need.) I've
been going through them and cleaning/fixing everything. Whenever I've
come across a part that's broken or missing, I've been able to get on
Thule's web site and order it for cheap. UNTIL...

just picked up a used "fit kit" for my mom's car (mom and dad said they
wanted one too when I offered them the leftovers.) Used off Craigslist
of course, I'm not spending $70 if I don't have to. Anyway there's one
little plastic clip that they're going to need that apparently got lost,
and while Thule is good about replacement parts for racks and
accessories, apparently if you lose a piece of a fit kit you're boned
and have to buy a whole new one. I have another clip to copy and it
looks pretty trivial to make one, if I were able to find some sheets of
appropriately sized ABS (I believe that's what it is made of) glued
together with some sort of appropriate adhesive (ABS pipe cement?) But
I don't know where to find same (although I bet I could order it from
McMaster-Carr.)

Would styrene be strong enough? I know I could get that at a hobby shop
and it's easy enough to work with...

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

In article ,
Nate Nagel wrote:

I don't know where to find same (although I bet I could order it from
McMaster-Carr.)

And that option is unsuitable because?

"Nate Nagel" wrote in message
. I have another clip to copy and it looks pretty trivial to make one, if
I were able to find some sheets of appropriately sized ABS (I believe
that's what it is made of) glued together with some sort of appropriate
adhesive (ABS pipe cement?) But I don't know where to find same (although
I bet I could order it from McMaster-Carr.)

Would styrene be strong enough? I know I could get that at a hobby shop
and it's easy enough to work with...

Have you tried the Yellow Pages? Plenty of plastic suppliers around in big
cities. . As for using styrene, how strong does it have to be? May work,
may not.

On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:16:05 -0400, against all advice, something
compelled Nate Nagel , to say:

Would styrene be strong enough?



Styrene is pretty brittle. It's usually mixed in with other
plastics to give it a shiny appearance. You'd probably be
happier with polypropylene. It has some flex to it, and is
stronger.

Don't know where you'd get it, though.




--

Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will
have to ram it down their throats.
- Howard Aiken

Steve Daniels wrote:
On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:16:05 -0400, against all advice, something
compelled Nate Nagel , to say:

Would styrene be strong enough?



Styrene is pretty brittle. It's usually mixed in with other
plastics to give it a shiny appearance. You'd probably be
happier with polypropylene. It has some flex to it, and is
stronger.

Don't know where you'd get it, though.




We might be able to make some better suggestions, if we had a link to a
picture of the part in question, both alone and as part of the end assembly.

--
aem sends...

Nate Nagel wrote:
Hi all,

to tell you why I'm asking, I have a whole collection of used Thule
roof rack parts laying around (I wanted to be able to carry bikes on
my car, but didn't feel like paying the exorbitant prices to buy this
stuff new, so I bought a couple racks on Craigslist, eBay, etc. to
get all the parts I needed, and then sold the leftovers that I didn't
need.) I've been going through them and cleaning/fixing everything. Whenever
I've come across a part that's broken or missing, I've been
able to get on Thule's web site and order it for cheap. UNTIL...

just picked up a used "fit kit" for my mom's car (mom and dad said
they wanted one too when I offered them the leftovers.) Used off
Craigslist of course, I'm not spending $70 if I don't have to. Anyway there's
one little plastic clip that they're going to need
that apparently got lost, and while Thule is good about replacement
parts for racks and accessories, apparently if you lose a piece of a
fit kit you're boned and have to buy a whole new one. I have another
clip to copy and it looks pretty trivial to make one, if I were able
to find some sheets of appropriately sized ABS (I believe that's what
it is made of) glued together with some sort of appropriate adhesive
(ABS pipe cement?) But I don't know where to find same (although I
bet I could order it from McMaster-Carr.)

Would styrene be strong enough? I know I could get that at a hobby
shop and it's easy enough to work with...

Cut an appropriate length of ABS pipe. Heat it, unroll it till it's flat, let it
cool?

Nate Nagel wrote:
Hi all,

to tell you why I'm asking, I have a whole collection of used Thule
roof rack parts laying around (I wanted to be able to carry bikes on
my car, but didn't feel like paying the exorbitant prices to buy this
stuff new, so I bought a couple racks on Craigslist, eBay, etc. to
get all the parts I needed, and then sold the leftovers that I didn't
need.) I've been going through them and cleaning/fixing everything. Whenever
I've come across a part that's broken or missing, I've been
able to get on Thule's web site and order it for cheap. UNTIL...

just picked up a used "fit kit" for my mom's car (mom and dad said
they wanted one too when I offered them the leftovers.) Used off
Craigslist of course, I'm not spending $70 if I don't have to. Anyway there's
one little plastic clip that they're going to need
that apparently got lost, and while Thule is good about replacement
parts for racks and accessories, apparently if you lose a piece of a
fit kit you're boned and have to buy a whole new one. I have another
clip to copy and it looks pretty trivial to make one, if I were able
to find some sheets of appropriately sized ABS (I believe that's what
it is made of) glued together with some sort of appropriate adhesive
(ABS pipe cement?) But I don't know where to find same (although I
bet I could order it from McMaster-Carr.)


I tried this, but my reply seems to have dissapeared. Excuse me if it repeats.

Cut an appropriate length of ABS pipe. Slice it lengthwise down one side. Heat
it, unroll it till it's flat, and cool it.

Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
Nate Nagel wrote:

I don't know where to find same (although I bet I could order it from
McMaster-Carr.)

And that option is unsuitable because?

I like instant gratification

that, and they tend to make you buy more than you need, thus ensuring
that you have a lifetime supply of whatever you couldn't find elsewhere.
(e.g. the screws I needed to mount the rear rack on my bike came in
bags of 100; granted, the cost was about the same as the gas it would
have taken me to drive around and find them, but now I have 96 damned
stainless steel socket head metric cap screws...)

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

aemeijers wrote:
Steve Daniels wrote:
On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:16:05 -0400, against all advice, something
compelled Nate Nagel , to say:

Would styrene be strong enough?



Styrene is pretty brittle. It's usually mixed in with other
plastics to give it a shiny appearance. You'd probably be
happier with polypropylene. It has some flex to it, and is
stronger.

Don't know where you'd get it, though.




We might be able to make some better suggestions, if we had a link to a
picture of the part in question, both alone and as part of the end
assembly.

--
aem sends...

I don't have a pic, but it's the little fiddly bit that goes on the rear
tower for a 3-door installation in the following link...

http://www.thuleracks.com/instructio...05,%202047.pdf

basically the smallest piece shown in the parts list.

actual size is less than an inch wide and maybe an inch and a quarter
long. there's about a 1/16" groove in it where it slides into the
tower, hence my thought to make it by laminating together different
thicknesses of sheet and then just shape it to match on sander.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

In article ,
Nate Nagel wrote:

Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
Nate Nagel wrote:

I don't know where to find same (although I bet I could order it from
McMaster-Carr.)

And that option is unsuitable because?

I like instant gratification

I guess it depends on how close you are to a warehouse, but it's hard to
get any more "instant" than ordering at 6 p.m. and having it the next
day around 10 a.m., standard ground shipping.


that, and they tend to make you buy more than you need, thus ensuring
that you have a lifetime supply of whatever you couldn't find elsewhere.
(e.g. the screws I needed to mount the rear rack on my bike came in
bags of 100; granted, the cost was about the same as the gas it would
have taken me to drive around and find them, but now I have 96 damned
stainless steel socket head metric cap screws...)

nate

Nate Nagel wrote:
aemeijers wrote:
Steve Daniels wrote:
On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:16:05 -0400, against all advice, something
compelled Nate Nagel , to say:

Would styrene be strong enough?



Styrene is pretty brittle. It's usually mixed in with other
plastics to give it a shiny appearance. You'd probably be
happier with polypropylene. It has some flex to it, and is
stronger.

Don't know where you'd get it, though.




We might be able to make some better suggestions, if we had a link to
a picture of the part in question, both alone and as part of the end
assembly.

--
aem sends...

I don't have a pic, but it's the little fiddly bit that goes on the rear
tower for a 3-door installation in the following link...

http://www.thuleracks.com/instructio...05,%202047.pdf

basically the smallest piece shown in the parts list.

actual size is less than an inch wide and maybe an inch and a quarter
long. there's about a 1/16" groove in it where it slides into the
tower, hence my thought to make it by laminating together different
thicknesses of sheet and then just shape it to match on sander.

nate


Still a little fuzzy- this is a shim that fits inside the tower, and
adjusts the angle of the tower for the particular car? If the tower
traps it all the way around, all you need is something dense that won't
crumble. You could probably even whittle one out of oak trim stock, or
look around at the borg and find some sort of cheap plastic thing that
you could carve up. Having another one to copy makes it all a lot
easier. Just off the top of my head, a shim kit for toilet bases would
be a good place to start. How thick is the piece? Does it need to be
soft at all? Would carving one out of aluminum bar stock work?

Stuff like this is why I keep a junk box of odd hardware bits- usually I
can carve something to do what I need.

--
aem sends...

On Jun 28, 1:27*pm, Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
*Nate Nagel wrote:

I don't know where to find same (although I bet I could order it from
McMaster-Carr.)

And that option is unsuitable because?

He's a nitwit.

Clues are the long boring ass irrelevant story superfluous to "Anybody
got a good source of ABS sheets in x size", the word "suitable" in the
subject, a description that specifies the material be "glued together"
for some unstated reason (again with "some sort of 'appropriate'
adhesive"), and an apparently broken Google finger.

A search for "abs sheet plastic" first returns [Results 1 - 50 of
about 179,000 for abs sheet plastic. (0.44 seconds)] -
http://www.rplastics.com/plasticsheet.html

and from there-
http://www.rplastics.com/abs-sheet-samples.html
-----

- gpsman

On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:58:11 -0700 (PDT), against all advice,
something compelled gpsman , to say:

On Jun 28, 1:27*pm, Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
*Nate Nagel wrote:

I don't know where to find same (although I bet I could order it from
McMaster-Carr.)

And that option is unsuitable because?

He's a nitwit.

No, he's not. He restores Studebakers, and apparently likes to
putter about the house. He includes a little story with his
requests, which make his posts more entertaining than what is
usually found here.

Apparently, you have a short attention span. It's nothing of
which to be ashamed, but you ought not to case aspersions upon
those who do not.


--

Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will
have to ram it down their throats.
- Howard Aiken

On Jun 28, 11:24*pm, Steve Daniels wrote:
On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:58:11 -0700 (PDT), against all advice,
something compelled gpsman , to say:

* * On Jun 28, 1:27*pm, Smitty Two wrote:
* * In article ,
* * *Nate Nagel wrote:

* * I don't know where to find same (although I bet I could order it from
* * McMaster-Carr.)

* * And that option is unsuitable because?

* * He's a nitwit.

No, he's not. *He restores Studebakers, and apparently likes to
putter about the house. *He includes a little story with his
requests, which make his posts more entertaining than what is
usually found here.

Non sequitur/s.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/non+sequitur


Apparently, you have a short attention span. *It's nothing of
which to be ashamed, but you ought not to case aspersions upon
those who do not.

Another non sequitur.

You seem to suffer similar severe limitations of mental capacity and
subscribe to the same logical fallacies as does the nitwit OP.

Please, continue. Abusing Usenet nitwits is among my favorite
hobbies.
-----

- gpsman