Here's a copy of the e-mail I just sent Thule. My problem is described in
detail.
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I just purchased a Thule bicycle rack from ****. When I got home and began
to assemble the rack I was astounded to discover a major assemble error.
My rack included a 430 Tracker II Foot Pack. Two of the four Tracker II
Foot assemblies were defective and could have resulted in the rack (and
bicycle) detaching from the roof rails.
When you look at the inner face of a Tracker II Foot, you see that the
plastic cover is held in place by a snap mechanism at the bottom at two pin
assemblies at the top. Whatever mechanism is used to secure the two pins
was missing on two of the units causes the entire assembly to come apart
when the spring loaded button is pushed. Since this is the mechanism that
secures the Foot to the tracker, if someone manages to assemble and use a
defective piece, it's highly probable that the piece will quickly fail and
allow the tracker bars to lift away from the roof.
****** took back the defective pieces and order replacements but I wonder
how many other defective Tracker II foot assemblies are floating around out
there?
This is a very disappointing introduction to your product.
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I hope it's an isolated incident and even though it would be very difficult
to go through the entire assembly process without noticing the defect (I
didn't notice the first bad piece until the second one literally fell apart
in my hands), the possibility of more bad pieces being out there and some
unlucky user losing a bike does exist. I know Thule products have a good
reputation and I fully expect that the rack will work fine once I get the
replacement pieces but it was still a disappointing development.