It seems most people here run Yakima racks and there are few Thule owners. There are even fewer 4Th Gen owners so I thought I would post my 4Th Gen Thule setup. I went Thule over Yakima because Thule makes the factory rack for my VR-4 so I had all the attachments from that car. I must say the factory cross bars SUCK! They may be rate at 200+lbs but they flex with just me empty box on it. The Thule crossbars are FAR more stable. I really like the Thule 756xt cross bar attachments. They are coated in rubber everywhere they touch the truck and are about as sleek as can be expected.

My Thule Play Pen, V2 bike mounts and snowboard attachment on the factory cross bars. It worked but even with ski's on this it bounced up and down too much for my liking.





I was afraid to mount a bike to the stock bars. It would not fall off but I just did not like the shaking! So I added the 756Xt crossbars. And yes, I plan to take an abrasive cutoff wheel to that extra bar that sticks out and make the ends as flush as possible.

 

I think the stock roofrack rails are only rated at like some weak #. That's for the entire rack I think. If you need something more durable you're gonna have to beef up the rack by removing the stock ones and replacing em.... How and who... dunno

btw... looks nice

 

I also have the Thule Playpen. I mounted mine farther forward for easier access while standing on the running boards. Mounting it forward like I did probably does increase the cabin noise. I don't use mine for bikes, skis etc., just camping equipment.

 

I have had Thule on my last 2 vehicles. I have all the the attachments so it makes sense (plus they make the best surf racks, way more durable than Yakima)

Thanks for the photos, now I know what it will look like on mine. I'm gonna pick some up this week.

 

I have a Thule rack system but I have the Thule 619 with the Thule crossbars.

 

So attaching the Thule basket to the factory roof rack is a loose fit? Does anyone know if the Yakima fits any better to the factory roof rack?

 

For 2004, they really improved the basket fittings. I have a Playpen with extension on factory bars and I can get it nice and tight. The 2003 baskets had a much more flimsy attachment set up.

Also, the 2004 set up is lockable with one key.

David

 

Did you get that from this thread? Perhaps I don't know what you mean by "loose fit". I haven't noticed any loose fit with mine.

 

Maybe I misunderstood Duc Hunter's comment........

"My Thule Play Pen, V2 bike mounts and snowboard attachment on the factory cross bars. It worked but even with ski's on this it bounced up and down too much for my liking."

Anyway, I am glad to know the fit is good. I am looking at the Thule and the Yakima racks......trying to decide which one, load warrior or playpen.
Thanks

 

OK, I missed that. The attachement to the factory crossrails is solid. Perhaps he is saying that the factory crossbars are flimsy but I haven't noticed that. I don't attach bikes or snowboards though, I just use it for cargo with the Thule cargo net.

 

I plan to use mine for cargo as well. Do you have any complaints/suggestions?

 

The Thule Playpen works fine for me. They do note a weight limitation of, IIRC, 120 pounds with the factory rack but the Yakima would have the same limitation. The Thule has an off-white powder coat finish, I think I would have preferred black.

 

I am not so sure about that. Mine is a 2002 and it locks with one key at each foot and is very snuggly attacked to the stock rails. Check out this galarie of mine. I have some closeups of the Playpen on the stock bars.
http://www.pbase.com/mrcjb60290/4runner&page=all

My comment about it being loose was referring to how much the stock cross bars flex. With the Playpen mounted I would wiggle it up/down and really see the cross bars flex. That is why I went to the Thule cross bars, I figured with Mt bikes on the playpen on the stock bars they would bounce way too much. They would not have fallen out, I just like my bikes to not wiggle around and they sure were-a-wigglin!

I think Thule vs. Yakima are equal except for a few attachments. The Thule bike carrier with the arm that grabs the frame is FAR better than the current Yakima of the same type. All of the local shops including SportRack say without a doubt that Thule is the best of that type on the market. They also say fork mount is the best way to mount a bike and fork mount setups are equally good between Thule and Yak. I love my Thule V2's and think they are the best way to mount bikes up! Oh, one other note, the new Thule spoiler won’t really work on our trucks, it is designed to sit in front of the side bars. On our truck they would have to sit in-between them and its sides would not work as they are designed to move airflow around the roofracks feet. See the pic, they are a separate piece. I have a moonroof though, without one it could work fine. I am going to buy the Thule Spoiler Mounting Hardware and make my own “behind the moonroof” spoiler by customer cutting a sheet of Plexiglas to fit.

Thule Spoiler.

Thule BigMouth that is recommended over Yakima's of a similar style.

 

Thanks all.
The color was one of the things I was trying to decide between, the Thule looks like it matches the silver roof rails better but black looks good on anything. (decisions-decisions)
If they both function the same, I guess it will come down to price.
Oh, have any of you ever used the all weather bags that they make? Looks like those could come in handy during rainy weather.
Thanks again!

 

Yeah, I would like to hear about the bags. The other week, driving out to Death Valley, I went through a sleet storm as I went over a pass at 4,000-5,000 ft. and some of my cardboard boxes got a bit soggy. One thing about the bags, seems to me that they might make access more difficult, I was considering using a tarp instead.

The off-white Thule looks fine but I think black would have looked better with the gold paint on my 4Runner.

Do the Yakima racks have locks like the Thules to make it more difficult for someone to steal your rack?

 

As far as locks on the basket to the factory rack, there are none. I was worried about that myself, but it would take a decent amount of work to get them off, but then of course, where there's a will there's a way.
The load capacity for the megawarrior is 150 lbs (that is of course the limit for the factory rack, so the 150 includes the basket weight). I am thinking of ditching the factory rack and putting on a yakima one to increase load capacity, but yakima didn't have an answer as to which yakima rack I should go with, since the only one they suggest connects to my factory racks.
I've heard those bags aren't completely waterproof (the yakima one isn't b/c I asked the rep about them). It is mainly the zipper area that is going to allow moisture in, so I would probably focus on that when looking at them.

Herman

 

Went searching for the roof bags, most claim to be weather resistant. This one looked pretty good, but is pricey.

http://store.arkatents.com/elite15.html

but all the others that were weather resistant were anywhere from $30-80 anyhow.

Herman