Thule or Yakima?

vash · vash's Garage

ok....looks like my sinister plan of owning a pickup truck is on delay. i am looking at roof baskets, for the wife's subaru forester. thule or yakima. thule is more expensive, but looks (appears) better. i cannot get my hands on either model to "kick the tires" so i would need to buy it sight unseen. thule appears to be back ordered, but there is one on ebay. (at REI)

i need the basket to hold a body. heheh. (pig body, i feel it, this is my year)

jyl · jyl's Garage

The Yakima "Load Warrior" and the Thule "Basket" look very similar to me.

I had the Yakima basket. It was sturdy. After 6 years or so I took it off. Scrubbed off the mold and schmutz with a scotchbrite (it had been sitting out in Oregon winters), spray painted any scraped up or rusty spots with satin Krylon paint. Looked like new and I sold it for $250 (to a dealer in used Yakima gear).

I'd buy whichever is cheaper.

island911 · 08-31-2009, 09:11 PM

Thule if you wear technicolor spandex / Yakima if you drive a truck.

- just a guideline.

924slover · 08-31-2009, 09:21 PM

i had the Thule on my old bmw and rover and they are tough racks i still have it i just need different feet for my wagon

cantdrv55 · 08-31-2009, 10:06 PM

I don't think it matters but like jyl says, get what's cheaper. I have all Yakima stuff for my kayaks and bikes. All bought used off craigslist.

alf · 08-31-2009, 11:24 PM

Yakima because it is made in WA where my wife has family and it uses Round cross bars, which if you are a frugal man could scrounge up some pipes at Home Deopt in a pinch.

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

I used a Yakima rack for 10 years on my Honda.

jyl · jyl's Garage

Many Yakima accessories can be used on Thule racks and vice versa. Including the baskets. For the racks themselves I like Yakima because of the round bars. And because they are an Oregon company. (Started in Yakima WA, then moved to Arcata CA, now just west of Portland OR.)

Edit: More complete thoughts on Thule vs Yakima:

Thule is headquartered in Sweden with the US local HQ in Connecticutt, Yakima is headquartered in Oregon.
Thule is the larger company, $800MM/yr sales, sells globally and makes various RV, towing, trailer, etc products in addition to roof racks. Yakima is a smaller US-centric company, but I think it has more market share in the US.
Technically my opinion is both companies make fine stuff. Both companies' accessories mostly mount on each others' rack. I have a Thule roof pod on my Yakima racks. So if you like the Thule pod but the Yakima basket, you can "usually" do both.
The main difference between the basic racks is that Yakima has round bars while Thule has square. The round bars allow accessories to be rotated, to conform to a curved roofline or for less drag when not in use. The square bars better resist unwanted rotation, in the few cases where that's an issue - kayak rollers is the example most cite. (Note that if you tighten the Yakima mounts snugly, wind force will not rotate them.)
Cosmetically Thule seems to have a bit more silver whereas Yakima tends to be all black.
I know some of the people at Yakima. The head of product development of Yakima is a bike racer, restores antique Vespas and Lambrettas, his kids come over and play sometimes. The CEO is a family friend. So I am somewhat biased to Yakima. But I buy all my Yakima stuff retail (used when possible) so its not like I have ever asked for or gotten anything free from them.
I think there is a bigger choice of used Yakima stuff, if that matters.
All else being equal, I do tend to buy Yakima to support a US company. Sorry livi.

Zef · Zef's Garage

Thule

Dave L · 09-01-2009, 04:53 AM

I have had square bars and round.

On the thule rack (square) accessories will be very secure and not rotate on the bar, the down side is that if your roof is curved the bars wont be parallel so if you are carrying wood or other flat stuff it wont make full contact with the bars.

Round is good on a curved roof but I had my ski rack push back in the wind and the universal mounts on the ski rack dug into the paint. I also find that the paint yakima uses sucks and it has flaked off the "new" ski rack and the brackets.

I brought home most of the materials when I finished my basement using a roof rack (including some 10foot sheets of drywall) and I regularly carry bikes, kayaks, skiis and snowboards.

gr8fl4porsche · gr8fl4porsche's Garage

Both make fine product. I have a complete Yakima system that is at least 15 years old. Other than a little rust, still strong and very functional.

Z-man · Z-man's Garage

Thule. Used it on my Subaru Legacy as well as the 944. I have and older model basket as well as the long container ala "Spock's coffin." Transported everything from four wheels/tires for DE events on the 944 to a family's worth of vacation gear in the coffin on the Subbie, as well as a little fishing boat for trips to the lake with my bro-in-law.

I never had an issue with the Thule racks.

-Z-man.

-Z-man.

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

both good - I have been using yak stuff since the early days (gold colored) - mid-70s IIRC. I have beat it thru every desert and mountain range in N. America (yes, includes Canada, Ak and Mexico), and thru at least 45 states and every species of bug hit therein.

911boost · 911boost's Garage

I have had my Yakima stuff since 1992 when I bought it to transport stuff on the roof of my Mustang for the trip from Virginia to Iowa for college. It has been mounted on that car and an Accord, a older GL Subie, and my Tahoe over the past 17 years. I have never had a problem with it.

I have thought about buying a basket for the roof of my Excursion, but then it will be to tall to go into parking garages etc.

Bill

teenerted1 · 03:21 PM

yakima...yakima...yakima...

have used same yakima rails since 1987 and only had to replace one when i bent it driving a bike into the garage. rest of the rack held up. plastic bracket didnt even snap. i now use the two shortend sections as pry bar extensions.

they make adaptors for both systems and most boxes are designed now to fit both and some oval factory cross bars too.

i have bike mounts, wheel mounts, ski mounts, kayak mounts and a few others i cant think of
now. all easy to swap and if you get the same key system you will only need to one for the whole system. mine have been on 5 different cars so far and the round rails would even fit the porsche if i ever needed it too.

CRH911S · 09-01-2009, 08:32 PM

I have a Yakima, Rocket Box, 15.1 cu.ft, that I use with round bars. Note, though, check the owners manual to find out what the load carrying capacity of your roof. VW says no more than 35lbs on my Jetta. Tested Anchorage to Denali and back with no issues. I shopped Thule too but REI didn't have what I wanted so I went with Yakima.

vash · vash's Garage

man, just looking at the pictures, i like how the thule has the large diameter bar around the circumfrence in one piece..bonus on the two cross bars for additional racks. the yakima looks decent too.

looks like the thule is scarce, and more costly...so the nod may go to yakima. FYI, the subaru roof basket looks like it is sourced from yakima.

vash · vash's Garage

Jim Bremner · 09-01-2009, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyl

Many Yakima accessories can be used on Thule racks and vice versa. Including the baskets. For the racks themselves I like Yakima because of the round bars. And because they are an Oregon company. (Started in Yakima WA, then moved to Arcata CA, now just west of Portland OR.)

Edit: More complete thoughts on Thule vs Yakima:

Thule is headquartered in Sweden with the US local HQ in Connecticutt, Yakima is headquartered in Oregon.
Thule is the larger company, $800MM/yr sales, sells globally and makes various RV, towing, trailer, etc products in addition to roof racks. Yakima is a smaller US-centric company, but I think it has more market share in the US.
Technically my opinion is both companies make fine stuff. Both companies' accessories mostly mount on each others' rack. I have a Thule roof pod on my Yakima racks. So if you like the Thule pod but the Yakima basket, you can "usually" do both.
The main difference between the basic racks is that Yakima has round bars while Thule has square. The round bars allow accessories to be rotated, to conform to a curved roofline or for less drag when not in use. The square bars better resist unwanted rotation, in the few cases where that's an issue - kayak rollers is the example most cite. (Note that if you tighten the Yakima mounts snugly, wind force will not rotate them.)
Cosmetically Thule seems to have a bit more silver whereas Yakima tends to be all black.
I know some of the people at Yakima. The head of product development of Yakima is a bike racer, restores antique Vespas and Lambrettas, his kids come over and play sometimes. The CEO is a family friend. So I am somewhat biased to Yakima. But I buy all my Yakima stuff retail (used when possible) so its not like I have ever asked for or gotten anything free from them.
I think there is a bigger choice of used Yakima stuff, if that matters.
All else being equal, I do tend to buy Yakima to support a US company. Sorry livi.

Are you sure of the fact of American ownership, I've heard that it's saudi.

jyl · jyl's Garage

I do not know who "owns" Yakima. I think it might be an investment company who owns it, but I am not positive. But it is based in Beaverton OR, management and engineering/product development and marketing and finance etc are all there. Where the manufacturing is I can't say for sure. I only know those two guys there, they are really good, down to earth people.