REVIEW: Thule XSporter Truck Bed Rack

Drew · 08-16-2004, 11:10 PM

I just installed these on my KC XE Titan. I haven't seen anyone else post info on these, so I thought I'd share my experience/opinion.

I wanted something to carry my kayak and windsurfing boards over the bed of my truck. I went back and forth between the Yakima system and the Thule and finally decided on the Thule for the following reasons:

1. The Yakima system is a fixed height, meaning the rack will always be taller than the truck unless entirely removed (close to 7 feet). This would prevent me from entering my office parking garage.

The Thule XSporter can be set to two heights: normal and low. The low height is about a foot lower than the truck roof. At this low setting, it also blocks your rear view, but it's nice to have the flexibility to set it low. In the alternative, you can remove the cross bars entirely while leaving the bases installed, which is what I do when I'm not hauling stuff on the racks.

The only choice with the Yakimas is to remove the ENTIRE rack system, which means unbolting them from the truck. With the Thule, simply release a cam buckle at each base (4 total bases) and slide the cross bars out.

Removing the cross bars is also nice if you have any accessories (in my case, kayak saddles) attached to the bars because they generate a lot of wind noise.

2. The Thule uses two bolts per base compared to one for the Yakima. It's definitely the more sturdy design, which is also evident by the Thule's 450 lb capacity vs. 300 for the Yakima.

3. The Thule looks better, IMO.

Both systems cost about the same price, at around $400. Installation of the Thule was very straighforward b/c it's a bolt on system. Rackwarehouse.com has free shipping and is sales tax free for most states (no affiliation, although a satisfied customer).

The Thule's will NOT work with the Utilitrack beds though. The other downside is that the cross bars are not circular, which is the most common shape. This does somewhat limit the roof rack accessories you can install, so you need to make sure that the accessories you intend to buy will fit.

I'll try to take some pictures of the Thule this weekend and post them. So far I've used it to carry a kayak and my windsurfing boards and it's worked great.

Drew

rvandam · 08-17-2004, 05:13 AM

How do Thule and Yakima compare to the Nissan OEM rack?

Drew · 08-17-2004, 08:42 AM

I'm not sure. I believe the OEM rack only works with the Utilitrack system, so they're mutually exclusive anyways.

pciley · 08-17-2004, 11:35 PM

This is great for XE owners (or anyone without utilitrack)! I was going to buy Kayaks at the beginning of the summer, will wait till next season now. Could not find a rack to fit, didn't want to lean them against the top corner of cab against the paint.

XEs don't get utilitrack, so the Thule sounds like a VERY nice alternative for $400.

Drew, have any pics? Thanks for the informative thread!