Thule Fit Kit Needed

I have a 1996 Toyota Tacoma and Thule 400XT towers. I've been searching all over to identify a fit kit for this vehicle/tower setup. For 2005 Tacomas (2nd gen) there is the 2160 fit kit, but I can't find anything for my older truck. I don't expect to find one at retail, but I'd like to know what to look for on eBay, craigslist, etc.

Ideally, my set-up would be a single load bar over the cab with a Thule Goalpost mounted to the receiver hitch. I'll be carrying sea kayaks.

Thanks for any help!

 

Did you ever get info? I'm in the same boat.

 

I did not find a fit kit for Thule. Thule's site points you to fit kit 277, but the info is not accurate for our trucks. That kit is designed for a roof that has a grove in the metal, which the 4 runners and hilux's of that era had. Our tacoma's roofs are flat. Perhaps if you had thule rubber pads for a flat roof, you could make it work, but I didn't have flat rubber pads and I didn't want to experiment.

I switched to Yakima for this truck. I found a great source for old school racks, ReRack in Portland, OR. They still have some old Yakima SST towers in stock as well as stretch kits so you can mount two bars to your roof if you have an Xtra cab. ReRack sells on eBay, and their prices are reasonable.
My set-up:
4 - SST towers
2 - 58" load bars
4 - Y6 clips
1 - SST Stretch Kit

The whole set up cost me about $130. I purchased the bars on craigslist, the rest on Ebay. I could have gone for newer Q-Towers, but even used they probably would cost me about $100 - $150 more. ReRack had "new" old stock SST towers, so I went with them.

My bars have a 29" spread from front to rear, which is sufficient for a sea kayak. Of course I will be using bow and stern tie-downs to steady the load.

 

Ha shit. Just bought that fit kit.

 

LOL - well - let me know how it goes. If it works, I just might keep my thule stuff that's gathering dust.

Here's a pic of my Yakima set-up: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/roof-rack-on-a-extra-cab.180700/page-2#post-12554580

 

I emailed Thule. (correspondence is posted here) The part for gen 1s is fit kit 2076. They dont sell it anymore but I found a guy on ebay who claimed he could get any Thule parts. It arrived $75 later and this is what it looks like:

BUT, bolt part C in the photo below is not quite able to reach the threads on part A. as if the metal door profile part of F is not tall enough.


This is a tower 400 on a different vehicle


looks like a better fit.
Can anyone with a gen 1 and a thule tower 400 tell me if mine looks wonky? The ebay guy might have screwed up.

 

That looks pretty good. Can you PM me the eBay guys info? I might get the same kit since I'm not really liking my Yakima setup.

 

Yeah, You bet.
But I would advise you buy new. Thule is no longer supporting these parts. It is just going to get harder with time. Also, despite them saying I needed a 2076, the guy now says that the 4 door might have needed 277, but the access cab and smaller needed 2076. Maybe. Thule is double checking. I will post that correspondence as soon as he gets back to me. And Part C is too small. I was regretting not buying from yakima and would switch to them if i had not invested so much in thule already.

What don't you like about yakima?

------EDIT-------------
Note that above 277 is mentioned. My truck DOES have a grove as does the pad i got. When i get final email from Thule i will post the results.


-------EDIT------------ Aug 2017-----------
indeed. The 277 is the perfect fit for the 4 door gen 1. The 2076 was not a good fit and the clips were too short.

Thule was not overly usefull but did say they had told me the wrong number for the 4 door 2004 taco.

Per a Thule aficionado named Frank:
The 277 has #301 clips.....The 2076 has #76 clips....The #277 kit includes 4 plastic shims that slide into the 400 foot pack to give the connection point for a steeper angle to the metal clip. In addition the 02 rubber pads are slightly thinner than the #18 pads provided in the #2076 kit.

This is the thule guru who found parts:

 

Can you also give me the eBay contact who has access to the Thule 2076 fit kit. I appreciate it a lot thanks

 

http://www.ebay.com/usr/fxchez61?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

I found a 2076 kit on eBay from a different seller for $10. It is not meant for a 1st gen Tacoma ext cab which has a smooth roof. It's for a Tundra with a groove in the roof, similar to Camus' pics above. With some effort, I was able to make it work with my 96 taco, but it just didn't fit proper so I didn't trust it. It may fit a 4 door Tacoma which has grooves, but like Camus mentions, the bolts are short so you would have to get longer bolts. I stuck with the Yakima set-up I described above.

 

Damn this guy doesn't have it either. It seems like he has every other fit kit except the 2076. I emailed him so I'll see if he can find it. Thanks for the link.

 

I'll sell you mine if you want. $10 plus whatever cost of shipping is. If you're interested, PM me and we can work out the details.

 

I might be interested if they are still available, I have a 2001 double cab.

 

Sorry, no longer available.

 

Does anyone have a 2076 fit kit... or just one of the rubber feet they would be interested in selling?

 

Bumping this thread:
Anyone happen to have part #277 Thule fit Kit for 400xt/areo tower?

 

did some digging because I wondered if an old rack I have can be useful. full 400 series fit kit installation diagrams can be found here: https://pauloang.com/thule_fit_kits/
noting that the 301 clip and the 02 pad are what fit 96- hilux and 4runner, and are provided in kit 277