Thule Rack Components for Snowboards

[Brumann]

i have this... it is great... highly suggest this if you are only going to carry skis or snowboards.... the fairing is overrated imo,,,, does look nice

Originally Posted by JaredT

Has anyone tried out the 5401 Snowcat from Thule?

http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/prod...id=24&sku=5401

Appears to be a pretty good option: slim, compact, and it appears to cost less $$

All I would ever carry would be snowboards and maybe skis.

[humblex5]

Originally Posted by Brumann

i have this... it is great... highly suggest this if you are only going to carry skis or snowboards.... the fairing is overrated imo,,,, does look nice

Does anyone have a picture of the Thule Snowcat 5401 on their X without snowboard or skis on? I've seen a picture from JaySpec7 with snowboards mounted. I'm trying to get a feel for how solid it looks, if the cross bars sag in the middle, and if the Snowboard mounts are wide enough for wide boards.

[JaredT]

If you can wait, I should have pics up by the end of the week. Heading up to Tahoe next weekend, and it's time to get the rack on.

[humblex5]

Originally Posted by JaredT

If you can wait, I should have pics up by the end of the week. Heading up to Tahoe next weekend, and it's time to get the rack on.

Terrific, I can defintely wait. Thanks for offering.

[JaredT]

Just came back from a trip in Tahoe. The Thule rack worked very well . From what I noticed, I did not see much if any of a dip in the bars even when loaded with 4 snowboards. I am pretty particular about this such as this, as I am an engineer by trade.

My only complaint is that these racks ride real close to the roof. My particular bindings actually hit the roof when flipped upside down, but some of my passengers had lower profile bindigns and were able to barely get them in w/o contact to the roof.

Does Thule manufacture raisers?

[breytonX5]

Nope, Thule doesnot have the adaptor to raise the ski/snowboard carrier for better clearance, unlike the Yakima system. I'm currently using the 726 model and the bindings do have enough clearance from the roof. The 725 carrier sits lower than the 726 so the bindings will rub.

If you don't want any issue with clearance then this Thule snowboard-specific carrier is the one:

[humblex5]

Thanks JaredT, those are some great shots of your X. The pictures and info helps alot, I was a little worried about the clearence and even the width on the Snowcat. I have a wide board for larger feet and the snowboard holders may be a little narrow for it.

I've been doing a little research on other Thule/Yakima base systems and snowboard carriers and found that Thule does not carry any risers but a few of the Yakima products do. I think I'm going to go with the Thule 450R base + aero cross bars but am still undecided on the snowboard carrier. I'd post a pic of the 450R that's sitting on my PC desktop but I don't know how post pictures in these threads.