Thule Hull-a-Port Pro Rooftop Kayak Carrier
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It comes in a set of two. As a result, one kayak is all you'll need.
There are front and back bumper cords with pulleys for tying to the front and back bumpers, respectively. I don't use them for this because I secure our kayaks by securing the straps in front and behind the raised cockpit flanges. The kayaks will not slide back and forth in the mounts as a result of this. When we stop for a break on our journey, I check the tightness of the straps. The tie down cords have never come in handy for me. I use them for a variety of purposes. When the kayaks are mounted and the travel trailer is being towed, we average 65 miles per hour. We've also driven in 50 mph headwinds, which add to the 65 mph car speed forces, with no problems.
The Hullaport Pro can be used on Thule AeroBlade bars, according to Ladii Rose.
The 883 is a brand new to me. The 835pro has good padding and a place to tuck those pesky long tie down straps in between the padding so they don't fly out and loosen the secure tie down. We adore them, and the fold-down option makes it possible to store the car in the garage. (It also appears to be more appealing.) We have no problems transporting two Current Design 12 foot plastic kayaks; the weight and height of our vehicle necessitates both of us loading, but this is not a problem. I hope this has been of assistance.
Selected User Reviews For Thule Hull-a-Port Pro Rooftop Kayak Carrier
For several years, this has served as an excellent Kayak carrier, but the arms have become slack. When I dismantled it, I discovered that the plastic pivot wheels were worn out. It would be a simple fix, but when I contacted Thule, they said they would not sell the pivot wheels, and that I would have to replace the entire unit. Fill the landfill to the brim. I hope Thule does not present themselves as environmentally friendly, because they are not.
These carriers appeared to work fine for several short trips, but we had a major problem with two of them when the internal "lock" on two of them failed, causing one of the kayaks to fall out of the carriers at highway speeds. Fortunately, the bow and stern lines were secured, and the Thule straps kept the kayak affixed to the vehicle, preventing an accident. The kayak, on the other hand, was bouncing around on the SUV's side, causing $1400 in damage. Both kayaks were properly secured, and the Hullaport Pros' locks were activated. The locks had failed, according to an inspection of the carriers following the incident. I'm not confident in the carrier's internal locking mechanism, and I wouldn't recommend it to friends looking for a reliable kayak carrier. The fact that they folded down seemed like a good feature to me - However, the current design is insufficient for transporting kayaks on highways. We've had them for a year and are unable to return them. I've already bought a couple of different kayak carriers (Malone Sea Wing) that do a much better job of securing the kayaks for highway transportation and are also easier to mount and load. I have a number of other Thule products, and they are all excellent - However, based on our experience, I do not believe the Hullaport Pro product is suitable for safe transportation, and we were very disappointed with it in Thule.
Screws begin to loosen on their own. I'm concerned about this, and I'm wondering if anyone else is concerned about it. I'm confident that I'm not making any mistakes. When I'm driving, the screw caps become extremely loose, almost falling off completely. I'll get in touch with Thule. When I get into my car, I have to tighten the screws again. Aside from that, the rack is fantastic. It performs admirably, and I appreciate how easily it folds away when not in use. The straps that came with the racks are fantastic and incredibly simple to use. However, the rack is not simple to set up. To install on your crossbars, you'll almost need four hands.
All of the Thule gear is extremely expensive, but I believe it is well worth it. You'll be getting well-made equipment with well-thought-out features. This kayak rack attaches to your existing crossbars with ease. They can also be folded flat by pulling a handle when not in use but still want to leave them in the car. Great straps, as well as bow and stern ropes, are included. On the highway with strong wind forces, a big heavy kayak will fare much better on the Glide and Set, which I also own, which is great for most kayaks and allows me to carry two boats on my car roof, one on each side. This HulaPort aids in this regard by reducing the car's width. It will be easier for one person to load a tall SUV onto the Glide and Set by themselves than it will be for the HullaPort.
For securing kayaks to your vehicle, this is a high-quality set. Straps are included, and the cinch buckle has a protective rubber covering. The crossbars keep the unit firmly attached. It appears that padding is sufficient. The ability to tuck straps so they don't blow around while traveling is a nice touch. We've been extremely happy with the results! We got two of them. When the kayaks are not in use, they have a convenient fold-down feature.
To transport our two kayaks, I bought two sets of these. My girlfriend has a Tarpin 12 and I have a Jackson Cuda 14. The racks easily accommodate both boats, which are just over 30 inches wide. Some of the issues I've read about the boats sliding down and out of the cradles (?) are beyond me. ) Up to this point, I've had no problems with boat movement. I, like many others, find it impossible to give a product five stars if it can be stolen in under three minutes. To counter this threat, I went to my local West Marine store and purchased four short lengths of stainless steel wire as well as crimps. Wrap wire around the cradle and bar and crimp the ends together. I also wrapped a short length of shrink tube around the connection to tidy it up a bit. They're a lot harder to steal, and if I ever need to get rid of them, all I have to do is snip them off. As long as the local bottom feeders don't have large wire cutters in their pockets, everything will be fine. So far, they haven't been; br>br>Rod in Vancouver br>br>.
When you first open the box, the amount of parts in the bag will overwhelm you. It appears that installing it will be a nightmare. But I promise it isn't; I despise assemblies, but both took less than ten minutes to install. Despite the fact that there are a lot of parts in the box, assembly is very simple.
It does what it says. When the package arrived, one of the boxes was broken, and one of the tie-dye shirts was missing. There was no downs. I contacted the seller, who promptly sent a replacement (which we were able to use with another tie-in anyway). We had to go down). With the "2016 Ford Explorer Black Roof Rack Cross Bars 2 Piece Set OEM GB5Z7855100AB," we used two sets of these. They appear to be a little flimsy in general, but they work well with the kayaks on the vehicle.
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