Fitted Thule 973 - Lessons learnt

Anything non-technical about the Mazda Bongo Friendee van

Moderators: Bongoplod, aitch

Post Reply
TheHillsAreCalling
Bongonaut
Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2016 11:38 pm
Location: Godalming, Surrey

Fitted Thule 973 - Lessons learnt

Post by TheHillsAreCalling » Wed Sep 09, 2020 1:34 pm

We recently got hold of a Thule 973 bike rack and fitted it to our Bongo using the VERY useful photos in this thread - viewtopic.php?t=47412

It wasn’t exactly straight forward, but definitely doable with a bit of patience. We thought it may help others if we shared what we learnt.
  • Ours was sold as a 973-15 but looked exactly the same as the one in the thread, and we were able to fit it in exactly the same way. I don’t know whether that’s because the 15 kit is compatible with the Bongo, or whether the seller just described the item incorrectly. If buying second-hand though, I’d recommend taking a good look at what you have before ordering an expensive fitting kit as you may not need one.
  • First thing to do is take off the bike carrier part that folds down. This makes the whole thing lighter and easier to work with.
  • Adjust the frame to be the exactly the same as the last photo in the thread above. There should be two holes showing on the lower part, and none showing above the top bracket
  • With a small amount of force (a couple of gentle taps with a rubber mallet) you can push the short pole that the plastic foot goes on further into the top bracket. In pictures 3 and 4 it shows half a hole showing, but I was able to push it far enough in to use that hole to put the bolt through.
  • Get something to stand on so you can reach the top of the tailgate easily.
  • Put the metal strips that go over the top of the door in place, then push the “feet” up the metal strip. They’ll fit quite snugly against the spoiler which holds them in place somewhat, so you can do one and leave it there while you do the other.
  • I put the drivers-side one as close to the reversing mirror as possible so the rack ends up as central as possible.
  • Now fit the rack onto the plastic feet things that you put in place earlier, feeding the strip down through the frame. You will need to hold the hooks in place on the top of the tailgate as you do this, and maybe slide them sideways a little to adjust. Get each one as high as you can and then secure them through the fixing strip with the holes. This was by far the fiddliest bit for me but wasn’t too bad in the end.
  • I was unable to get the feet to sit half on the metal and half on the glass like in the photos, mine are fully on the glass – one extra hole on the strip than in the photos.
  • Secure the bottom brackets to the underside of the tailgate and re-attach the bike carrier.
  • Finally, I adjusted the wheel holder rails so that although the rack frame isn’t central, the bikes will be.
Now I’ve written it all down it sounds terribly confusing, but once you get going, then hopefully it’ll make sense.

Cheers,
Hills
User avatar
Doone
Supreme Being
Posts: 2839
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2004 10:58 am
Location: Devon
Contact:

Re: Fitted Thule 973 - Lessons learnt

Post by Doone » Thu Sep 10, 2020 8:25 am

Thanks for this, it'll certainly help people
Allan's closed. We recommend PGS (Plymouth Garage Services) or Mayflower Auto Services in Plymouth.
Post Reply

Return to “Bongo Chat”