Get some SeamGrip and soak the
Posted by: g2d
on Oct-18-12 11:22 PM (EST)
straps with it. That will stop the wicking.
On the denting, compare the foot size and structure with the foot area of a Yakima rack. Are your rack's feet big enough to spread the load?
I suspect that Yakima (and Thule) examine the support structure under the roof surface of every car when they specify where the tower feet should go. If it didn't matter, why are the foot locations so otherwise irrational on our '08 Accord?
What I'm saying is that all car, truck, and van roofs have hard places, supported underneath by ribs or something, and soft places, where the sheet metal is not reinforced underneath.
If you had to do it again, you might have taken your vehicle to a body shop where they've worked on the same model. They could perhaps have told you where the "hard" points are.