Originally Posted by
PeteHski
Perfect storm of compounded Thule & Subaru design issues, obscure small print in the manual for a known critical safety issue, REI missing it on vehicle inspection and the customer not reading the entire manual!
I always read the entire product manual for anything like this and check what the vehicle manufacturer says about it. Thule shouldn’t really have a “Quick install” guide for a safety critical item. It invites the customer to cut corners and ignore the rest of the manual. Thule’s at fault here for sure.
Thank you., That is the best summation of the whole thing. Wish I had said that at the outset. That is what I learned. And I am a reader of manuals! Another piece to the "perfect storm" was I was exhausted from work and we were finally getting a vacation. Given the REI inspection was a-ok, not to mention on a brand new OEM receiver, I went with the Quick Install after work, fried, during a hot evening the night before the trip. It didn't fail on that or many other trips... amazingly. I glanced over the manual sometime after, regarding weight restrictions, etc., but the hitch depth didn't pop out at me.