Boost spacer for Thule/ Yakima/ etc roof rack fork adapter

[El Chupacabra]

I have a couple of these Thule through-axle adapters for old roof racks, but they are all 15x100 non-boost size.
https://www.rei.com/product/816728/t...kaAveEEALw_wcB

The plastic inserts in the adapter can be popped out. If I can find a 5mm spacer (or 10mm) that would fit the plastic insert, I could make the adapter work with 15x110 boost forks. Anyone here done this? and have a source for those spacers? I wandered around an Ace Hardware with some calipers but couldn't find anything that would fit.

[HankScorpio]

Yep, I do this with my boost fork. I found a plastic tube at the hardware store that was 15 mm wide and just used a pipe cutter to cut a 10 mm section. Been working great for a few years now.


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[mntlion]

pop off black end caps. add 5mm zip tie as spacer to each side, push ends back in. Problem sloved

[El Chupacabra]

pop off black end caps. add 5mm zip tie as spacer to each side, push ends back in. Problem sloved

Genius! Going to try this.

[El Chupacabra]

Update: success! In case others are looking for this info, here's what worked:

All the adapters I have are Thule. IDK whether Yakima or others are different.

The one newer adapter I have has plastic inserts that only go into the adapter a short ways. For this one, i made two 5mm spacers from a piece of schedule 40 PVC, 3/4", which fits over the plastic insert neatly. Cut with a hacksaw and a fork steerer tube guide to keep it square, then fine tune with an angle grinder. Easy but takes a bit of fiddling to get the spacer width just right.

I also have 3 older adapters, with metal inserts that go into the adapter about 1.5". These metal inserts have a knurled section to hold them in place. I hammered them out with a screwdriver, then put some weak glue on the insert and knurl (Elmer's) to give me time to install and adjust the spacing. These metal inserts fit tightly in the adapter because of the knurled section. I tapped the inserts back in to match up with 110 OD. Also added a zip tie to the gap to help take up the space - thanks mntlion - I had some that were almost exactly 5mm width.

The older adapters with the metal inserts are easier to change to boost spacing. Basically hammer them out, put on some glue, hammer back in but not all the way. Epoxy would be ideal but I was concerned that it would set up before I could get the spacing adjusted.