My Titan with XSporter rack and Kayak.

wuhungsix · 06-07-2007, 02:24 AM

Here is my 06 Titan KC XE with a Thule XSporter rack. I know there has not been much posted on the XSporter so I thought I would talk a little about my experience with it.

Well I bought the Thule Xsporter off of Amazon.com for $390 free ship and no tax which was awesome. it is a very well made piece equipment. The welds all look nicely done and the rack seems quite sturdy for being aluminum. I purchase the Thule Hull-a-port attachment from REI ($120) for a Kayak I was planning to buy at the time. This rack is great for all the XE owners out there that didnt have a sliding track system from the factory. The rack is adjustable and locking (by key) for two heights (above and below roof line). When not hauling the kayak I always roll with the rack at the lowest position to minimize airflow turbulence. The rack installed onto the truck smoothly except for my dumb a** cross treading one of the bolts. Had to call Thule for another bolt which took forever since they were on backorder for all XSporter racks.

Lets jump right into the problem areas:

There are two clamps for each base of the rack which was great. But the clamps are basically just bolts that tighten down on some aluminum brackets pinching the sheet metal and plastic trim of the bed between your rack base and the brackets. When you tighten down the bolts onto the brackets, the brackets tend to walk on you (which is quite annoying). And now since your torquing down stainless steel bolts to aluminum brackets, you get shaved aluminum all over the place since the brackets are softer than the bolts. Now the brackets and the bases all hold firmly but it just seems like it would of been a better idea if they just designed the brackets to be integrated with the bolts somehow, or just use steel instead of aluminum for brackets.

Like I said the rack is quite sturdy but the the Titan's sheet metal is not so. When raising and lowering of the rack, I get a wobble that is clearly coming from sheet metal flex. Once everything is locked at its low or high height it the rack is sturdy with little movement.

Since the based and clamps pinch down on the sheet metal and plastic trim, it appears to bend the plastic a bit out of shape. It would seem that in the long run it would warp the plastic. But I figure its the price to pay to haul around my toys. Besides I can just purchase new trim when I want to take the racks off, if I ever do.

One last negative thing about the rack. The rack also had a howl when set at the high position. This seems to be due to the track on the rails for accessories. It is getting the effect you would have by blowing across the top of a beer bottle. Now the rack does include rubber trim that is suppose to be inserted into the track. I just have been lazy, and never installed it.

Now I put out all the bad things about the rack, but if you really want to haul a kayak or some bikes and still use the entire bed for gear, I feel this is the best way to go. I didn't want to deal with a trailer so as far as I saw it this was my only option to haul a Kayak or canoe. Overall the quality is good, it is functional, there are a ton of attachments for your outdoor outfitting needs, and it doesn't look half bad IMHO.

Here are some pics from this last weekend:

BTW the boat is a Wilderness System Tarpon 130T (13ft) and my Titan is a bone stock XE 2WD with OR wheels. I don't have to tell you guys how bad a** the truck is.

jaho1979 · 06-07-2007, 06:02 AM

Good looking setup.

baggettp · 06-07-2007, 07:01 AM

Looks great!!

54warrior · 06-07-2007, 07:44 AM

You could have gotten your wife to do a "Vanna White" type of pose beside it!!! Like she was presenting the grand prize.

Looks cool though. Kinda like a big banana on top of your truck.

DRTYAZN · 06-07-2007, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 54warrior

You could have gotten your wife to do a "Vanna White" type of pose beside it!!! Like she was presenting the grand prize.

Looks cool though. Kinda like a big banana on top of your truck.

lol, actually I recognize that stance and look (my wife does that often when I'm "messin' with my Titan)... That my friend is the... "okay, are you done playing with your truck now?" stance, along with the "how much did that cost?" stare...

wuhungsix · 06-07-2007, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DRTYAZN

lol, actually I recognize that stance and look (my wife does that often when I'm "messin' with my Titan)... That my friend is the... "okay, are you done playing with your truck now?" stance, along with the "how much did that cost?" stare...

so true. Yea there is another picture in the set that I couldn't post since she is displaying an obscene gesture. This was after a day of paddling and she was a bit tired and cranky...

baseballfanz · 06-07-2007, 04:39 PM

Good looking setup. I like it, might have to buy a canoe just so I can get the rack.

Also, do you think it's a problem withe the one rope touching the front bumper? Movement could rub the paint off the bumper.

wuhungsix · 06-08-2007, 12:08 AM

yea I was concerned about that from the get go. The ropes actually comes with the Thule Hull-a-port attachment. It is very soft and does not appear to be abrasive enough to do serious damage to clear coat. I figure a half an hour ride up and down to the lake every weekend shouldn't pose much of an issue. The ropes that tether the bow and stern are suppose to me a little loose to prevent warping of the boat. They are merely safeties in case the main straps fail, or to keep them from sliding out in a traffic collision.

TexTheTitan · 06-08-2007, 05:44 AM

I've been looking for a solution to carry my 14' Canoe on my truck. This seems to be the best option so far. I'm so surprised the Yakima and Thule haven't developed a roof rack from our trucks yet! What the crap?

My buddy just sent me a picture of your same setup....you don't live in Oregon do you?

wuhungsix · 06-08-2007, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexTheTitan

I've been looking for a solution to carry my 14' Canoe on my truck. This seems to be the best option so far. I'm so surprised the Yakima and Thule haven't developed a roof rack from our trucks yet! What the crap?

My buddy just sent me a picture of your same setup....you don't live in Oregon do you?

Negative. one state south with neutered rights. That is a fine looking Titan your friend sent you!

**DeadRiver** · 06-08-2007, 12:17 PM

i just saw these a few weekends ago on a non-titan and did the quick "hey what the hell was that"... on the way back from surfing i looked at what a pain in the balls they'd be to steal and kept driving... just kidding!

i have the nissan utilitrack overhead racks but i'm not really impressed with the looks of them... the thule racks are a little better but i don't really like how the mount to the truck... do you know if they make a bracket for the utlitrack equipped titans? i really like how they have some adjustment to them, my board is really close to the roof.

i too get the "are you done yet" look when out playing with my truck... it's like "don't you have dishes and laundry to go do, leave me alone"