VW roof racks for a 2008 polo. 2002 ones not fit?

[Philbennett]

Hey,

I managed to score some second hand VW roof racks for my new 2008 polo. They came from a 2002 polo and I took the risk as it was such a bargain. They appear to connect to the car but the doors won't close.

My question is, am I connecting them wrong or is there a significant change between the years in the width of the door well?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Philbennett]

I have found the serial number and it is 6Q5 071 126 A. Does anyone know if that should be suitable for my car ?
2008 4 door.

Can't seem to find anything online!

[rbalc1]

A few ideas that may help.

1. The roof racks have a front and a rear cross bar and also only work in one direction.
If they still have the stickers on the underside make sure they are in the correct orientation



2. Have you removed the little plastic screw in the drivers door sill, which the locating pin from the roofrack sits in?

[Philbennett]

Hey, thanks for your reply.

I did remove the plugs and also followed the directions on the sticker and for the one above like yours I place that at the back left etc.

I have taken some photos to explain my situation, as you can see that once the pin is in the hole there is a decent gap between the door frame and the fitting. Guessing thats not normal as the door wont close.

Any thoughts?

Is it possible the fitting section is different to the one that should be with that bars?
Car model is 9n I have found out.

[rbalc1]

It looks like the rubber foot isn't sitting correctly on the roof channel. Is this the same on the other side?

Maybe try winding the clamp all the way out on both sides then line it up on the roof channel. Then wind them back in evenly on each side so it sits evenly on the roof.

I found not having the clamps even caused a slow drip in heavy rain. So it might be something to do with that

[Mysticality]

+1 unwind feet then try again.

[Philbennett]

Hey,

Yep I fully unwound it and lined up the top clamp with the roof gutter and then tightened up. It does up and holds but then I could not close the door properly. Its like the distance between the pin and the side of the fitting is too much.

Shown in the pic with a blue line .

Should the fitting be flush with the car?

[seangti]

I have Rhino racks on my car, if you PM me with a phone number or email address I can take pics at lunch and send em to you.

Mine aren't the factory racks, but they fit the same. Or check out google images to see if you can make sense of it.

Is the cross section bar wider than the mounts? i.e. they aren't the "sport rack" - http://www.shop1auto.com.au/Roofrack...s/VW_Polo.html

[Mysticality]

Should be fitting flush.
Either the racks are on the wrong way around, or they're not designed to fit.

[Umai Naa!!]

Volkswagen Accessories - Roof bar set

Link above suggests they're correct for a 5-door.

The lip on the rubber feet need to be over the ridge in the roofline first, before you tighten down the clamp.

There should be an indentation in the upper door jamb, that indicates where the roofrack should be positioned. So there's a chance you've got them in the wrong spot, as the roof tapers in a bit towards the rear.

[Philbennett]

Thanks Umai Naa and everyone else. Thats the link I found as well so I am bloody confused! Even found another pdf that was in Italian and it clearly showed my year, car model and the roof rack model all aligning as compatible!

I am just to pop into the VW dealership and get some new ones I think and flick these on. No matter where I try them it definitely does not fit . Oh well.

[Philbennett]

Found the document:

[Philbennett]

Think I may have sold it. My model number is ABA-9NBUD which from what I can see makes it available in Jan 2009 and therefor it just misses the cutoff for being suitable for these racks.

Thanks for everyones help.

[Umai Naa!!]

All 9N Polos have the same bodyshape right the way through.

Only the very early 'round-eye' ones appeared different on the outside, but that was just the front-end.

The model after, the 6R, was a completely different car.

Have you tried postioning the rear roof rack further forward on the car, where the roof itself maybe wider?

[rbalc1]

Thats how it should look