Roof Rack

VW roof rack made by Thule. Good rack good fit but with out accessories or a deflector is very noisy. Can barely fit a canoe on it. If I were to purchase another rack I would definitely go with the after maker Thule or Yakima to have a wider cross bar.

As for the basic rack system (Towers & Load Bars) since 1978 I've used Quick-N-Easy, Yakima and Thule for boards, bikes and boats, and only Thule has the complete system that I can really use and rely on day in and day out.

I was given my first Thule system back in 1992 when Thule was a sponsor of mine. I used that basic rack system along with numerous accessories up until the summer of 2015. The load bars were finally rusting [where I had drilled holes in them] and I felt I needed to replace them. My towers and my locks, however, are still my 1992 originals, and they're doing great.

I now carry an 80 Lb. canoe [using the Thule Portage 819] and two mountain bikes [using a pair of Thule Big Mouth 599XTR] on top of my Ford Bronco every day without ever worrying about my load... even when I'm off road.

Thule offers two different types of load bars: the very affordable SquareBar, and the slightly over-priced AeroBlade. They also have several different tower designs for rain gutters, gutterless and factory integrated solutions. They even make a pickup bedside system that is so cool that it makes me want to go out and buy a new pickup.

And then there are all of Thule's really fun accessories for all of your toys: Canoes, Kayaks and SUPs.

There are a lot of choices out there, and I'm not saying that Thule is the absolute best solution for everyone; but, I have found nothing better for me and all of my toys.

Got this rack 5 years ago and have just done some work on it, had a couple of end caps crack and had to get a lock handle that was stripped - my fault, I twisted lock to far and stripped it out. The plastic cover over the aero feet have faded some but it is in the weather all the time. The rack is rock solid.

I own and use two Thule 815 Kayak Cradles that were purchased from Dick's Sporting Goods (DSG). Interestingly, there is no information about them on Thule's website. Apparently, the 815 is made to DSG's specifications. One I bought used off of eBay for $75 plus $13.25 shipping. According to the seller, it was used for three seasons before I got it. The other I just bought at DSG for $79.99 ($99.99 less a $20 off coupon) plus $4.80 tax. The box indicates that it was manufactured this year.

I compared the parts list for the 815 with the parts list for the 835XTR Hull-a-Port that appears on Thule's website and they're almost identical. The only differences are that the carriage bolts and end caps, while the same size, have different part numbers, and the 815 does not include the two 1/4 inch Rope Ratchets that are included with the 835XTR. While the Rope Ratchets are nice for tightening and securing the bow and stern tie-downs, they're not really necessary if you can tie a decent knot.

I must confess that I've used the 815s without bow or stern tie-downs, but my two kayaks have not budged at all. I peek at them through the moonroof on my car from time to time, and they've never shifted. It's important that you read the directions on how to secure the two strap assemblies. If you do it correctly, they will not loosen. Thule's buckle bumpers are pure genius for protecting your car and your boat. When I get home one night with only one kayak on the roof, I entered my garage before the door had fully opened. The bow of the kayak hit the bottom lightweight insulated aluminum panel of my garage door and crumpled it, but the kayak didn't budge (nor did it get damaged, phew!). However, in the interest of safety, I have resolved to use bow and stern tie-downs in the future. To this end, I have purchased and installed bow hood loops from Riverside Cartop Carriers on my car.

Anyway, happy paddling everyone!

I can't comment on J carriers because I don't use them, but perhaps I should. The design weakness with Thule is the square bars, which only becomes a problem on curved roofs, but as the roof curves so must cradles cant away from each other, reducing contact between boat hull and cradle to inside edges. The cradle faces are absurdly small to start with; this rotational deviation from level makes it even smaller. Couple that with Thule's comically inadequate détente angle fixing clamp (for holding the saddle in the shape of your boat hull) and for support you are probably better off using foam blocks. So J carriers may work better on a curved roof, if I can lift that high. I've seen some people use them for composite boats so it might be OK.

Don't get me wrong. I use Thule racks and locks and cradles and locking cable and straps… the whole kit. That's because security and convenience and bicycles and protecting the roof of my car are also important, and because I started with a used Thule rack, gradually accumulating a closet full of proprietary extrapolations and substitutions as needs changed. And it does work. It all works. It's just that every single bit of it is clumsily engineered and imprecisely manufactured, requiring brute force as well as wiggling and finagling to get it just right. Some parts fit loosely, some tightly, some are robust and some flimsy. Every change, every adjustment to a Thule rack is a project and a series of compromises. Admittedly, I change things around a lot, but as familiar as I've become with my rack, I still spend an inordinate amount of time getting all the parts straight and tight and solid before I reach for my boats.

If I had it to do over I would definitely get Yakima, which has different problems but at least it acts like the parts were all designed by the same team, and round bars are simply stronger.

Please, whatever you use, tie down the bow and stern. It doesn't matter how many times you haven't and nothing bad happened. It doesn't matter how little it shifts in the wind. It doesn't matter that you're 15 minutes from home and only driving on pavement. The point is that if a strap breaks you could easily kill someone in a following car. I read somewhere that no boat is ready to drive away until it has 6 lines on it: two each across the midsection, triangulated from the bow and triangulated from the stern. Take it to heart.

Also, poke holes in dead tennis balls and jam them on the ends of your bars. It will keep your passengers from clonking themselves, not just because they are softer and rounder than factory caps, they are bright. It's easy to lose track of exactly where black-on-black bar ends are in space, even when you're looking for them; it's hard to overlook glowing lime-green spheres. You'll have to replace them each year as they fade; remove the factory caps beforehand so you won't pull them off inside the tennis balls.

One year ago, I purchased my Thule rack with four H2GO saddles to support my two sit-on-top kayaks. So far 3 out of the four rubber saddles have torn where the pin that passes through the rubber and attaches to the plastic. Even though Thule has graciously replaced them, I feel the H2GO saddles are poorly designed. Thule has replaced my saddles with their new SET2GO saddles.

This is a addendum to all the posts on the Thule Hull-a-Port and saddle style kayak carriers . After seeing a number of posts on the possible fragility of the plastic clamps on the hull-a-port carriers we became concerned about the clamps.

I contacted Thule's tech services and was told that the aluminum mounting clamps would not hit the field until March 2003 and that it might be late March at that. They will still have the capability to clamp to bars up to 2.5" wide. They will still ship with 50mm and 60mm screws. They also stated that some (maybe all?) of the saddle type carriers would get a four position locking set-up that would allow them to lock nearly vertical for a shell on down to flat for a windsurfer.

After a lot of looking and web browsing we came on Oak Orchard Canoe's Deluxe "J" cradles. It's a couple of hours to thier store and we went up and bought two pairs. They are nearly 3/16" thick brushed stainless steel and very well padded. The cradle is wider than the Thule. At 22" high they're 4" taller then the Thule and since they are, essentially, vertical they double as kayak stackers. They are even padded on the back. They come with straps that have sewn on buckle pads. The mounting bracket fits Thule or Yakima bars and some other racks. All-in-all, these are a little more money than the Thule but they appear to be as close to "bombproof" as any accessory I've seen. I'll post a review as soon as we've used them enough to do a fair appraisal.

The "8" rating is subjective, I've never owned the Thule carrier. It's purely a reaction to the thought of trusting an expensive hull to plastic clamps.

I bought my hull-a-ports along with the Aero-Bars from the Rack Warehouse in the spring (2002). Five weeks after I put them on my car, I had the lower plastic brackets snap on one of them on the freeway which was very disconcerting at 70 mph. Thule sent me new plastic brackets but after reading postings on this and other sites about kayaks flying off cars all over the country - I decided not to risk it. I commonly have to drive 500 x-way miles to paddle. I sent the hull-a-port back to the Rack Warehouse asking for a refund. They said Thule looked at it and because it was "used" (mangled is a better word after the product failure) they couldn't give me a refund. They admit that the plastic brackets are prone to failure and because of that - they are re-engineering them in steel and will send me my hull-a-port and new brackets when they are available. It is now almost November and I have not had the use of it all summer. Apparently it's sitting in moth balls at the Rack Warehouse until God knows when??? If only I would of bought them at REI or some other retailer that stands behind what they sell and will wrestle with the manufacturer for the consumer. Live and learn...

I am posting the response I finally have received from Thule regarding the 835 Hull-A-Port rack system. I am including their comments unedited for your review and as you can see for yourself, Thule really is just passing the buck onto the user.

I would like to tell you that I have been using the Thule on my Durango and I secure the boat by going around the factory rack (not using the Thule securing method of securing your boat to the rack only). I find that that when you synch down the Kayak the pressure is pushed down through the Thule kayak racks and onto the factory roof rack which "flexes" and therefore allows the Thule rack to do the minimum which is to hold your Kayak on its side securely. Also once the Kayak is loaded this way it would be rather difficult to dislodge that baby unless your doing 70MPH and slam on your breaks even then it may not go anywhere..it is pretty darn secure.

In addition to looping the synch down straps around the factory rack, I run them through the rigging on my boat deck and through the bottom part of the "J bend/brackett" of the rack to get to the factory roof rack. I figure that this way if the Thule rack does give away at least it and the boat have a better chance staying with the truck longer until I can pull over. I hope this helps, overall I think the rack is really a good affordable option that requires some added attention and caution when using but overall it is well worth the money.

Okay here is Thule's response....

"I have read reviews online on our product before, and fully understand your concern. For the most part I have interpreted that the people that have had bad experiences were not using the product correctly. Thule recommends using a 4-point tie-down. This is so that you equal out the pressure on the carrier, as well as, on the vehicle. I've seen reviews of people stating that they do not use any bow and stern tie-downs. These are the people that end up having their kayaks fly off. If the product is used correctly, there should be no problems while you are driving. So long as you use the product correctly, Thule will stand behind it. If you have any further questions on the matter, feel free to contact us. Thank you."

Good News #1: They're great.
Good News #2: They fit on Thule AND Yakima rack systems.

You'll get a lot of interesting stares since these are NOT the saddles you're use to. Yes, they look like you should have four people sitting in little 'chairs' on the roof of your car, but fear not, these things are GREAT for holding kayaks.

Originally I bought them because our car didn't have the width for two boats to sit side-by-side. But they support our plastic touring boats (Necky, Looksha IV), very nicely. The fear of oil-canning the hulls by supporting them in traditional saddles is all but gone. The hull-a-ports hold the boats vertically and in even the strongest cross winds, the two straps (provided, with buckle bumpers) are enough to hold the boats in place with ease...and not so much pressure that you'll bend the hulls.

While you should always tie down your bown and stern, you'll be tempted to skip it. Note: we've travelled 700 miles to get to preferred paddling destinations - the hull-a-ports and our boats came through without so much as a wobble (okay, maybe when big trucks pass).

The roof rack instructions are difficult to interpret. Here are tips from a sales person: The picture with the hand sqeezing does not mean completely secure, just means somewhat set in place. You completely secure,and hear the click, when on the car and screwing with the bolt/handle. Also, get the bolt/handle threaded properly into the foot before you shimmy it into the final position on your car, then tighten down. Also, Thule said that front and rear tie downs must be used on a verticle system because the wind force on long boats will tear almost anything off. Still, that piece of plastic is a crummy and dangerous attachment and needs replacing with something far more secure. Fyi Walden also makes a similar J system for kayaks but I haven't seen one up close.

The hull a port system is unpredictable as far as safety goes.the PLASTIC clamp that allen wrenches in underneath your cross bars is not sturdy and should be made of some type of metal to make tis a reliable good system.i was driving 20mphs on a dirt road and i heard a crack and my boat almost completely came loose.can you imagine that situation but on a highway doing 60?tragedy waiting to happen! the closer to you roof you yak is the better.even though i have replacement parts coming and will continue to use the hull a port system.

Thule Hull-O-Ports. Love them. Very secure and easy to load. Have carried a Seda Tango on them with no need for tying down the bow or stern. Down rated them 1 point because they do generate a bit of wind noise.

I initially purchased 4 #875 Hydra Glides to carry my kayaks on. However, the area of the pads seem too small and were putting dents in the hull when the boats were loaded. I decided to eat the $220.00 and install 2 Hull-A-Ports. They seem to carry more of the kayaks weight on the side as well as supply more area of contact. While installing, I noticed that the flange in the base where the base pad fits into, was broken on one of the Hull-A-Ports. I emailed Thule's support and asked them to replace the broken one and asked if I could buy a spare as it's obviously the weak point if it was broken out of the box! Thule's response was that I should take the Hull-A-Port to my dealer and ask them to call Thule while I am there! It's 100 miles round trip. My response to Thule was that this was CRAP and I asked if Thule was going to pay my time and mileage! I would rate them zero, but one is as low as this site goes!

After much reveiw and discussion with others, I decided on the Thule system for my touring kayaks and my Honda CRV. I had initially planned to get H2GO Saddles, while debating on trying the Malone of Maine J saddles, when this year Thule came out with the Hull-a-port Part #835 at around $85 a pair), a J shaped kayak carrier, at a lower cost and intuitively more rugged design (ie bulkier) than Malone's. The Thule guy (at the NE Paddlesports show in Durham NH Spring 2001) did not recommend the fairing that Mike mentions below, but I had considered one for noise control. The rep said Thule is not recommending it for kayaks as it increases the lift forces on the kayak. The rack alone makes a boat-load of noise (no pun intended) so I can only imagine what it's going to soundlike with the Hull-a-port standing up there, let alone with a kayak attached to it. I may get the fairing anyway but it's expensive.

The rack was easier to install than I had thought, though I suspect your average Swede is much stronger than your average American... They show a one hand squeeze on the Aero Foot cam (that scrunches down on the cross bar, securing it). I had to stand and jump up and down on it (please don't void my warranty!) to get the darn thing to close and snap locked. It was almost a show stopper as I would not have been able to get it to close otherwise (I tried squeezing it for dear life with both hand and all my 205 lbs for over 15 minutes before I gave up and stood on the darn thing: closed right up and locked). Other than that, it went in likity-split, and exactly like the fit kit said it would! It took about 45 minutes, counting the isometirc exercises with the cam. I purchased the lock cylinders: I wanted to make those hard to install, but it could not have been easier. The installation instructions are well written and specific for my car (from the fit kit). I do think there should be no charge for the fit kits...

Highly recommend Thule. As Mike says, its Yakima versus Thule for the most part. The gear does roll off the Yakima round bar, but sandpaper or something of its ilk, between the accessory and the bar can slow that down a tad, so it's more of a minor annoyance. I think both are quality products that will last a long time.

Thule v. Yakima - few topics bring about more angry debate. I've had my Thule system for about 5 years. I've hauled mountain bikes, skis, and three kayaks on my roof. It has worked flawlessly, albeit noisily. Yes, Yakima fans, the support bars will probably bend if you put three kayaks on them regularly. But if you are hauling that much weight with any frequency, you need a trailer, not a roof top rack system. Normal mortals won't have problems with bicycles, surf/whitewater kayaks, or one touring boat with an occasional second.

Thule simply makes the best-engineered accessories (with the possible exception of the wheels that Yakima makes for kayaks). If you use square Thule bars, your kayak will not push the saddles forward (unlike Yakima, with its round bars). Thule bike trays have improved (the old ones had junky, tricky mounting hardware), and their new kayak saddles are elegant and attach with only one screw and can be removed quickly (unlike Yak's ugly, plastic saddles that are high, noisy, and have two difficult to turn thumbscrews on the bottom). Compare them and you'll see what I mean.

In Yaks' defense, I believe their systems are easier to remove (in total) than Thule's are, so if you plan on removing your racks frequently, go Yakima.

TIPS: 1. Be sure to buy the ugly wind deflector so that you can hear your radio (or be willing to experiment with placement to eliminate whistling).
2. Car owners: Cut the bar ends short on the passenger side, or teach your passengers to enter the car "butt first" so that they don't bump their head on the bar ends! I've had passengers nearly lobotomize themselves on the bar ends.

I replaced my 89 Plymouth Voyager with a 98 Voyager and the roof rack stinks for my canoe and kayak. I replace it with the Thule rack. This rack is strong and sturdy worth every penny. The factory installed racks could slide back and forth and the Thule can't slide with loosening the bolts. I have no intention of ever moving them so I have no problem with this.