Cracks in rooftop cargo carrier

circus

Member
Might need to repair some cracks in a Thule rooftop cargo carrier using a hot air welder. Need to know what's it made of. Pointers appreciated, never tried before.
 
There should be a recycle symbol with a number molded into the part somewhere. The number indicates the type of plastic it is made of, ie: #2 is PE. All large plastic molded parts have them so they can be recycled properly. Find that symbol and go from there.
 
Another possibility would be to use baking soda and instant glue. The glue reacts with the baking soda and does a nice job of filling cracks with what ends up being like a homemade plastic.

Lots of videos on Youtube explaining the process.
 
Here are the common codes. ABS, a very common plastic, is number 7. I would ignore the so called dangers. They are obviously exageratted and some are just plain made up.

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This post was edited by MJMJ on 01/24/2023 at 05:58 pm.
 
Looking at pictures of Thule rooftop carriers online, they're likely going to be a variety of copolymers and/or laminates. It won't be as simple as a single type of plastic I'm afraid. I suspect the interior base material is ABS, but the outer shell will be some sort of laminate. It's still possible to fix it, but it may not look perfect.
 
Fortunately it turned out to be painted ABS. Just like my Vetter motorcycle fairing with a ten years ago repair. Perhaps not easy but possible.
 

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