Cracks in Thule Cargo Box

[dbaken]

I was getting ready to put my Thule cargo box on the car for the summer when I noticed the anchor points have all developed cracks (see photo). I am guessing the cracks are not fixable, but thought I would check here before I went out and bought a new box. Thank you for any input!

 

[clarkman]

uh oh.

how old is it? perhaps a quick call to Thule customer service?

Obviously, these things do wear out over time, but even with my heavily used Yakima box, I don't notice any stress cracks anywhere on it.

 

[adamcu280]

I’ve got way worse than that in a 20yo+++ Thule and it’s still going with some duct tape sealing it up from the inside. Given the cost of replacement I’m going to keep rolling with it. Maybe some epoxy or plastic glue?

Granted my cracks aren’t in the anchor points. Can you make a reinforced sandwich plate to mount to?

 

[dbaken]

I bought it off Craigslist in 2017 or 2018. See a lot of miles and hard use since then.

Hmmm. I'll hit the hardware store and see if I can figure out some sort of sandwich plate.

 

[Paige]

Sand, clean, epoxy then and some backing plates on both sides.

 

[iveofione]

An easy fix with a sandwich of fiberglass tape and epoxy. The fiberglass and epoxy will stop further progression of the crack and add strength. Simple support plates will probably work but don't necessarily stop the crack.

 

[Modest_Man]

Personally I'd grab a little bit of fiberglass cloth and some resin and run some on the inside and outside. Let it cure and re-drill the mounting holes. Shouldn't be more than $25 or so.

Whatever you do make sure to drill out the crack at each end to stop it from spreading.

Amazon fiberglass repair kit

 

[Brian Miller]

An easy fix with a sandwich of fiberglass tape and epoxy. The fiberglass and epoxy will stop further progression of the crack and add strength. Simple support plates will probably work but don't necessarily stop the crack.

Would it be a good idea to stop drill both ends of the crack, then a fiberglass and epoxy sandwich?

 

[iveofione]

Would it be a good idea to stop drill both ends of the crack, then a fiberglass and epoxy sandwich?

My bad, I assumed everyone knows that you always stop drill a crack.

 

[SurfnFish]

best backing is cut from a thin HDPE cutting board, less than $10 at a big box store. Cut to fit, apply J-B Weld PlasticWeld to bond, will outlast the rest of the box.

 

[O' Clarkii Lewisi]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't those things made out of thermo formed plastic?

 

[goinoregon]

when i had yak rocket boxes, that developed cracks, i used drywall tape (the mesh type) and the glue that u use for black plastic pipe (whatever its called). worked great. super fix, and lasted until i gifted to son in law. i even used it to beef up areas that i figured might crack in the future.