( 7 reviews )
-
Posted: Jul 20 2009
After having spent about 5 hours trying to finish putting this devil together I decided to stop and write this review. Pros: It is pretty. It would be prettier if I could get the rubber strips to stay on, but after an hour of trying everything from sliding them to tucking them to hitting them with a rubber hammer, they continue to pop right out. The suggestion of just plugging the groove with duct tape is sounding better and better. Cons: As someone else commented, it is SOOOO easy to steal. You might as well give $500 to a good charity and avoid supporting the theifs drug habit!! It comes off very easily and the locks only lock the uprights to the supports. As noted by someone else, on my Tacoma, you can't use the lower position. I also had the problem someone else had of not being able to make the uprights vertical, causing the top rail to bow. I cured this by pitching the directions and puting the thing together on the ground with all bolts loose. I then lifted it on to the truck with the adapters hanging and made everything finger tight before grabbing my wrench. I then went bolt to bolt tightening each by only a few turns. Since the other person who reported the above problem didn't have a Toyota I would assume that all the adapters pull the rack supports inward toward the bed so that they don't sit completely on top the bed rail. Tightening down too hard on the adapters can easily tilt the supports sidways unless the top bar is on. If you attempt to put it on with the adapters too tight, you get the bow. Thule should have made the track on the Xsporter wider and provided a wider tongue with a longer neck on the adapter to allow it to sit fully on the top rail. Note that the Toyota adapters you have to buy are less than the HALF the size of the sturdy looking ones that come with the rack. I struggled to get mine on for nearly an hour before I figured out that one of the adapters had its hole drilled at an angle. Make sure you test all the bolts in your adapters before trying to install to assure there are no defects. I now have to wait for Thule to send me a replacement adapter, but that is not the worst of my problems. I travel frequently to the city and this rack is so easy to steal I fear leaving it at a rural boat launch much less an urban parking lot. All I can figure to do is cable lock it to my bed loops and hope no one has the tool needed to remove them.
-
Posted: Apr 7 2009
I bought the xsporter 422 for my 07 Tundra D-cab. I carry extension ladders, etc. on it with no problems and lower it during the weekends when not in use. A lot better looking than the weekender I had before, especially when there wasn't a ladder on there. If everyone would use the rubber inserts in the rails that are provided, there would be no whistling!! I bought my rack used so it didn't come with enough rubber stripping so I called Thule and had two 72" strips shipped for about 15 bucks! I marked on the rack where the bolts to the crossbar were, inserted the strip with the bolts in place, cutting a hole for the bolts to come through and mounting it to the uprights for a firmer fit and to make sure there was no rail exposer for the wind to catch. After putting the load stops where I wanted them, I cut the remaining strips to fill in the rest of the rail. Absolutely no whistling!!! I get a lot of attention with this rack. And it works great too. K.C.
-
Posted: Dec 3 2008
The Thule Xsporter 422 is an easy to assemble, quick removal, carry rack for full sized pickup trucks. Having said that I am not 100% sold on the attachment system. The Xsporter used truck canopy like clamps that are easily removed, and (on my dodge truck) would not allow the vertical posts to sit square to the truck box, subsequently causing the cross bar to bend. The clamps do not distribute pressure to the center of the base, but side load the base causing the stanchions to lean inward. This is easily remedied by drilling through the mounting bases and the box rail and bolting the stanchions to the truck. A second issue for those with tool/Accessory boxes in the back of their truck is that the vertical posts sit inside the bed rail, preventing the opening of boxes located near the edge of the box. The kit dod NOT come with instructions, or the lock set that is supposed to come with it. The instructions are available online, but I had to call Thule customer support about the locks. The informed me that this is a common problem with Amazon sales. The believe the sellers are carefully opening the boxes and removing the locks, then re-selling them separately. They were though willing to ship me a new set free of charge. so Buyer Beware, have the seller guarantee all parts are in the package.
