Just threw away $300
 

I bought myself a cartop carrier at REI. A Thule Cascade XT. 11 cubic foot. List price was $299 by I got it for $240 because I get 20% off one item from being a member.

Yesterday I backed it right into my garage door and cracked the ABS. You can totally see light through the damn thing. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

The crack is about a foot long and is totall irregular, running from the bottom back to the top back to the bottom on the side. I'm pissed off.

Damn.

Plastic welding is your answer.

ugh. I feel your pain. I used to get lazy and strap the dog's metal crate (xl rectangle box of open wire) to the Thule rack on my car. Absentmindedly I drove part of the way into a parking deck, almost tearing the roof off the car.

You should be able to fix yours- good luck!
k

How about abs cement? Seems to really hold on abs plumbing parts. You could try a very small test area first. Then after glued back together use a strip of fibreglass cloth or simular glued to inside with abs cement to reinforce repair. Think it only comes in yellow around here though. :sun_smile If it is that waxey type of plastic polypropolene or whatever it's called that gas jugs are molded from then welding is the only option. I have never found anything that rebonds it. :mad:

I tried epoxy. There's no real way I can clamp it together except for... duct tape.

The crack doesn't want to come back together without being offset so I think I might build the material back up on the outside and sand. Pull it together first with duct tape on the inside. Then maybe put some stickers over it, reinforce with fiberglass cloth in the back after I take off the duct tape.

Sucks. I spent all afternoon trying to fix the sonafab*tch.

Hey Kuan, sorry about your bike rack.

If it makes you feel any better, I just got rear-ended tonight in my E-320. :mad: Guy hit me from behind in rush hour traffic. We were only doing about 5 mph, but it was enough to crack the rear bumper on my car.

He offered to give me $150 on the spot to take care of it. I told him it'll be a bit more than that! Got his info, and I'll get an estimate on Monday if possible.

I hope I'm not a sucker: I don't feel a need to call the cops on people unless really necessary. The guy seemed honest and gave me his lisense info including a cell phone number. I called him right there and saw that his phone did ring, so I hope the rest is truthful.

He said he didn't have his insurance card with him, but gave me the name of the carrier- US Auto Insurance with a policy number. I think it's bogus, because a google search yeilds no company by that name-- unless they're out of Texas.

We'll see.........

Yep Stefano, but at least it wasn't your own stupidity. Me? I have no one to yell at.

You're right there.

I am yelling at myself, or maybe will be. I didn't call the police and get a police report made, so it's simply his word against mine. I should have done that. If he has no insurance and baulks at the amount of the estimate, I'm screwed-- and that's my fault.

I just hope my "faith" in the goodness of my fellow-man holds out, but my naievity may do me in.

jb weld?

Does your credit card offer replacement of purchases if lost or accidentally damaged?

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL

Shoot good idea, I gotta check on that.

Hey Kuan,
I give you full Credit for actually being able to share your mistake with the World. Stuff happens, if your going to destroy something, hey do it while it still smells new. We all have made some nasty mistakes. LIKE, when I was 16 I did a rear brake job on my Hot Rod 56 Chevy. Took it easy up the block to test, and the dam thing didn't want to stop. Had to scrape the curb hard as I turned the corner. BUT, I did drive it back home very slowly because there was a TINY bit of break left. When I got home I pull into the driveway and there on the green grass sits 2 beautiful newly painted rear brake Drums :eek:

Kuan, I'm totally from the 'coulda been worse' club because I know a girl at work who had a mountain bike on her rack on a little Ford Escort wagon and drove into the parking garage and ripped the bike and rack off the car and blew out front and back windshields :eek: . Hope it all works out for you.

Redneck that sucker together! :D Duct tape the crack and then wrap it in rope to hold it better.

try some plastic weld. it is an epoxy type stuff and works pretty well on plastics. I used it to seal a radiator coolant bottle in my brothers rover and it held up quite well for a couple of years . and this was a high pressure bottle...

Alon