Thule Force Rooftop Cargo Box

The Thule Force XT Rooftop Cargo Box, Large, Black fit perfectly on our 2021 Honda Pilot Touring. It held one huge suitcase, and three additional carry-on suitcases, plus room for towels and blankets in between the spaces. After placing the order I was feeling regret not going with the XL or XXL. But when I received the Large size box, it was bigger than I had thought. It looks big on the ground, but not so much when installed on the SUV. The Large size was perfect for our SUV and for our family of 5. It installs on the roof rack with ease. The noise was not very noticeable. If there was decrease in gas mileage, it was not noticeable. Locking was not too complicated as long as one does not over stuff the cargo box. The look and design is elegant on the SUV. We went through so much rain that I was worried about leaks. No water got in this great box. We were very happy with the free shipping from buying directly from Amazon. Otherwise it would have cost up to $350 in shipping & handling at other sellers. Now with the shipping, Pilot Freight Services leaves much to be desired. Others have pointed out that the box is damaged or beat up when received. That is very true. Our cargo box was scratched on the top and dented on the bottom. I remember reading a review where someone said it's unacceptable to receive the cargo box in such condition when it costs nearly $700. I did think about sending it back. But I was grateful to have received the cargo box and our vacation was weeks away that i decided to keep it. I had to use a hair dryer to pop out the dents. As for the scratch on the top, it did not pierced through so i overlooked it. Overall very happy with the investment. This cargo made our summer travel much better.

The big box looks great! Install was super easy on the 2016 Ford Explorer with OE roof rack cross bars. The rear bar on the vehicle was installed in the forward position. It appears it may not fit with the rear crossbar mounted in the rear position. No need, it looks great and works perfectly in the default location. It's a fairly impressive unit. American made. Opens from both sides and has three latches per side operated by one lock from the outside. Function is whiz-bang smooth although a little dry lube would make it even better. The unit could easily be moved rearwards another four inches and still clear the open hatch. See pictures. To install straight inline with the car I eyeballed the Explorer's roof ribs with the geography on the bottom of the unit. I did not turn the grabbers down until they clicked. They have stupendously strong gripping force and I felt I was in the zone before I reached the built-in torque limiter. Might have gotten pretty close. We'll check them again after a few miles and see if anything moved. This thing is great because if you get stuck somewhere, you can rip off the top and use it as an escape raft. If the waters are frozen, the top triples as a toboggan. The lifetime warranty may not cover extra-cirricular conveyance. Not sure. A NOTE: On the mounting clamps, it is possible to screw the handwheel all the way out and the unit will come apart. If that happens, there is potential to lose all kinds of hardware from the internals. They rely on the wheel housing to retain them. Shipping: It took the full month to get here, just as stated in the description. Future updates may come as we put the unit to use. Happy customer.

This roof cargo carrier is great. It is not heavy but it is Extra Large so it is cumbersome and best installed by two people. However, it is large enough to hold six carry-on bags with room for small bags, shoes, etc. on the sides. It can open from both sides, which is very helpful, but I typically only load it from one side. There three are tie down straps included that are fine. There are brackets for three tie down straps set wide enough for two carry-on bags each to be secured. I would recommend measuring the cargo rail clamps center to center to get the correct distance to set your roof cargo rails apart. Save those measurements to save time when installing the cargo carrier in the future. There is minimal wind noise when traveling at interstate speeds. When loaded, the cargo carrier makes the vehicle drive a little top-heavy, but that is to be expected and does not concern me when driving. I still feel that I have full mobility when driving.

The sport version of this works great on my 4-Runner roof. You need 2 cross bars to attach, but I was shocked at how easily I can put it on and take it off myself. It isn't heavy so I can lift it alone and remove it. Lots of space inside. There are two clips that attach to the bars, and they can move forward and backward quite a bit so you don't have to adjust the rails of the roof rack. Really happy with the purchase. I am using it with a low profile Gobi roof rack.

REVISED REVIEW 7/9/2024 I decided to keep the carrier. Also, since there are so many questions related to fitting the unit to many different SUV's and Cars here are photographs which should assist you in determining if it will fit. PHOTO 1 Thule roof racks mounted on the the Subaru Outback. PHOTO 2 The Crossbars are Thule Aeroblades and are mounted at approx. 26" o.c. This distance seems to suit the Thule XL carrier. It is very stable at highway speeds (80+) when the clamps are tightened. PHOTO 3 Shows the clamp pushed forward as far as it will go. The center of the clamp knob is 3.5" back from the maximum forward position. Since the clamps are all the same - the distance from the rear of the adjustment slot to the center of the clamp will be 3.5" PHOTO 4 The maximum spacing between the clamps is 44" (This is when the clamps are pushed to the limits of the slots. Mounting on the Outback: This XL is long (see Thule's website). Care must be taken to permit the rear hatch to completely open without hitting the cargo carrier's rear end. Care must also be taken to limit the amount of overhang of the roof at the windshield. When in doubt limit the rear mounting distance to allow the rear hatch to fully open/close. My four star rating is based on customer support at Thule and the design limitation which only approves storage in the horizontal plane. Since the unit cannot be stored vertically it requires a lot of floor space that many, if not most, of us simply do not have. 3/13/2024 After consideration - I have found a place to store the XT-XL cargo carrier. It is outside in my backyard on concrete lintels. Theft is a concern but an acceptable risk. I changed the stars from 3 to 4. For a comprehensive review read the information below. I bought this after using a friend's Thule. I took a 4200 mile trip out to Colorado and Utah. It has plenty of room for my camping equipment and some of my personal clothing and toiletries. It was very quiet. I was not able to detect any appreciable wind noise. I like the fact that can be opened from either side. I had intended to store it vertically in my shed. I was disappointed to see that Thule does not want this unit stored vertically. Now I have to rethink the entire storage issue. Thule has a suspension system that allows the unit to be stored off the floor. It is a series of cables and pulleys. Requires attaching the lifting cables to the ceiling joists. I wish that Thule's advertising stated that this unit could not be stored vertically. Not entirely sure how I will solve this problem. On 1/18/2024 I spoke with Evan at Thule's Support Line hoping that Thule had suggestions on how to solve this issue. While he was friendly he was not very helpful. He confirmed that Thule does not approve of vertical storage by standing it up on end or by clamping it to a wall using the internal clamping system. I have re-considered my review and changed it from 5 Stars to 3 Stars. BEWARE - Thule's website does not advise or publish this information on their website. Given the nature of my situation re: storage, I will probably be returning this unit. It is too expensive to risk damage for a failure on the part of the manufacturer's design restricting the product's use for vertical storage of any type. Evan was quick to point out that doing so would void the warranty. Thule is not helpful in solving this dilemma. Lest you think that I am simply a grumpy old man just venting; I take these reviews seriously. I will avoid Thule products in the future. Evan's only comment was "Yakima" has the same restrictions. On balance, should you be able to store the unit horizontally, you should be fine. Thule and Yakima can, with their design resources solve this issue with little additional cost to increase the load ratings thus allowing their clamps to support the horizontal loads imposed by vertical storage. This failure speaks volumes about their company's values and lack of interest to assist owners of their products. As a company in an increasingly competitive world, Thule has failed in three important areas: 1. Initial Design 2. Failure to warn customers of 'material' limitations 3. Unwillingness to redesign the product and assist customers with solutions to legitimate concerns. The Thule mounting system is very simple and adjusts to just about any configuration of lateral roof bars. I have Thule Aeroblade mounted on my Outback. Just tighten the four knobs inside the carrier until they click. You are then good to go. I do recommend a small folding step stool if you have an SUV or similar vehicle. Also mount the unit off center to allow easy access from the passenger side. This unit is large. It takes up the space between the rear hatch to the windshield. Just finished a trip to Nashville and the weather on the drive down was very windy. This unit did add to the wind drag and rocking of the car. It was not unsafe. But you should anticipate rocking of the car in winds above 20 mph. Good product. Amazon price was good. I like it but I will be returning it for the above stated reasons.

Hopefully this will help answer the questions I had when I was looking to buy. Fit on 2019 Pilot- Easy, no issues. Plenty of room to still open the trunk and sunroof and with Brightlines crossbars. I tried to slide mine back so that the roof line matched the front of the box to keep aerodynamics (no idea if that worked or not) Install- I did everything myself and it took 5-10 minutes. From opening the box to starting to load it. The latches couldn't be easier. Also don't have running boards yet which would have made it even easier. Space- This would be personal, but I had more room than I needed. Waterproof- Can't say as it didn't rain Drive- Couldn't tell it was there. 4 hour trip each way up to 80mph. I got around 22-23 MPG I actually ordered a Yakima also but I got the 12 which was longer and thinner. The shape didn't work for what I would use so I returned it. That's no knock on the quality though as it seemed fantastic too. I'd say that the roof attachment may have been a little more complicated (still seemed pretty easy) but the lock actually seemed better on Yakima. Both seemed very durable so between the Yakima 16 and the Thule 16 I would say go for price as they both seem to be excellent quality. Note i did get the Amazon Used like new and it was in perfect condition and saved $100.

So when this came on a truck, I went outside to see if the delivery guy needed a hand. He said no, it was lite. He wasn't kidding. So you unbox this, pull it out and go oh boy. As a previous reviewer stated, it is very thin plastic as the top shell. Now I have a Thule carrier that's over 40 years old. If I dropped it off the top of my Chevy Traverse, nothing will happen. It's double wall construction like a hard cooler. This is more like one of those blue storage bins. Definitely try not to drop it. Not sure how the top will do. So it's real simple to get up on the car for it being so lite. The old one is a two man job struggling. Once on your rails, you open the clips with the dial and grab your roof rail like a claw. Super easy to use. It also slides a little so you don't need to adjust your roof rails (some may have too depending). I had my rails to fit my old one which was bigger than this, so no adjustment needed. Opening it is a bit tricky. The key doesn't go in as smooth as a normal key. Why, no idea. It has that big plastic knob which you turn to open it from either side. Opening is easy. Closing, just make sure you have it aligned correctly otherwise it won't close properly. We filled it for a softball tournament down in Virginia from New Jersey about 353 miles away. I had 3 folding camp chairs 2 stadium seats, a sportbrella, beach umbrella, little table, small suitcase, carry on, small duffle bag, air bed and some towels. Still had plenty of room. Went back in the house and realized there wasn't much left to put in the car. Anyway, I used the included straps and tied things down since another reviewer showed a pic of the top of this ripping off. Hopefully nothing would get blown around if that happened. We left and prayed. Firstly, you really don't hear this while driving which is a bonus. Once I used one of those bag types and it just flapped the entire trip. Drove me nuts. No noticeable noise here. As for gas mileage, a traverse gets about 22 miles per gallon on a highway. We averaged about 20.4 so not much drag. Mind you, this was almost full, trunk full, and 6 people in the car so you may get more if you were smart and didn't have four kids who are all teenagers now. Surprisingly, no issues with this at all. Held up great. It rained most of the way down, completely dry inside. I do like the fact it opens from both side so you just open your door and step up. You will have to close it, go to the other side and open it in order to load/unload. I was able to take it off by myself when we got back. Just need another person to put it wherever you want to store it. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised and relieved that it did so well. I am happy with this purchase. Amazon had the best price on it. I researched a bunch of these and decided on spending more on this than other brands hoping the quality was there. So far, it is. I have another tournament in South Carolina that this thing needs to come with. I'll update after that trip and let you know how it's holding up. Hope this helps.

I tried a SportsRack (also owned by Thule), which isn’t anywhere close to the quality of this Thule. Spend the extra couple hundred dollars. Lots of space. Bringing my son home from college, we fit a large e-scooter, lots of clothes in trash bags, and oddities like waste baskets. Everything was easily (and thankfully) tied down by Thule’s included tie straps. This was very easy to install, but it WILL require two people to at least set it on your racks. From there, you only need one person to move, adjust, and tighten. The clamp technology is genius. Again, this is why you don’t want the SportsRack. It did lower my fuel efficiency somewhat, but I happily accept that because the extra room this saved me from stuffing so much in the back of my SUV. We drove home with peace and confidence, partly because I could see with the rear view mirror for once. How to store this when not being used…that is the downside. I called Thule and they said NOT to lay it on its side as the shape will deform, which can impede opening/closing one or both sides. If you can pay another $260, the ceiling pulley system is the best way to go. Of course, I didn’t do that nor do I have the extra space to allow the Thule to lie flat on the garage floor. I included a photo to show you how you can mount it on a wall and I’ll Include two YouTube videos with instructions below. In my photo, you’ll see I used the small hooks. Just know that I asked Thule about this method to store it and they said this can also cause deformity.

付けた感じは思っていたより大きくなくその割に収納力がある

Ottimo baule, spazioso, facilmente montabile e smontabile. Fattore di forma perfetto per le mie esigenze. Al vederlo smontato sembra enorme, ma una volta sul tetto è perfetto: un secondo baule.

Coffre de toit au top, facilité d installation et surtout remarquablement silencieux. Je recommande ce produit.

eine Ausgabe welche sich gelohnt hat , der zusätzliche Stauraum auf dem Dach macht sich nur wenig bemerkbar . wenig Windgeräusche . im Spritverbrau ist ein Mehrverbrauch auf 1000 Km nicht wirklich Messbar bzw .Spürbar gewesen , trotz teilweise 150-160km/h. ich fahre die gleichr Strecke mehrmals im Jahr . Die Montage war Kinderleicht und hat meine Frau allein erledigt bevor ich Hilfe ordern konnte .klingt Frech, ich weis, aber ich bin im Rollstuhl . passt wie erwartet Perfekt zu unserem Thule Dachträger . kann ich klar empfehlen . Die haptik ist sehr wertig und schafft vertrauen im Gegensatz zu den viel günstigeren Konkurenten welche wir vorher angeschaut hatten . die Mehrausgabe an Geld hat sich gelohnt. würde ich sofort wieder kaufen

Coffre de toit Thule facile à monter, spacieux et aérodynamique. Livraison rapide effectuée par un livreur professionnel