Thule Xsporter Pro Low Truck Bed Rack - Full Size - 220 lbs

Video Transcript for Thule Xsporter Pro Low Truck Bed Rack Review TH24QC

What's up everybody It's AJ with etrailer.com. Today we're be checking out the Thule Xsporter Pro Low. This is gonna be a bedrail system so that you can put on accessories up on top and not use all your bed space. Let's check it out. Some things to think about when we're talking about the Xsporter is just how you want to use this. So, when I'm looking at this I'm thinking this is a low profile.

So this is meant for more fun, play things, not so much work because it's not gonna be up and above that cab. That'd be a ladder rack. You wanna throw ladders on there, this isn't gonna work for that. This is more for what we got set up for maybe a bike rack and a tent here. Easier access here at the bed level, rather than reaching up any higher.

Now, it is also gonna leave that bed space open down here. Now, there's still a little bit of overhang, so you can't stack things too high, but the bed is still open and able to use to throw, like we have, coolers and stuff underneath there so that we don't sacrifice the whole bed with just trying to throw the tent on top of it. Another thing to think about is how hard it's gonna be to install those rails or take them off when you don't want them. I definitely don't want something that's gonna be permanent, that's always up on those bed rails, that could get in the way when I actually do need to load up the bed. I'm gonna be able to take this off pretty easily but I also wanna know it's secure at the same time, which is a weird balance, but it's just, I want to know that it's gonna stay there when I tighten it down.

So, those are some of the things we're gonna be looking at as we go through this. This is gonna be that low profile design. It's only six and a half inches up from the bed rails. We've got our tent to be easy to access from right here. Now, I also like that the tent is lower than the cab of the truck, cause that's gonna really help with offroading.

When you are going through the woods you don't want to be snagged on trees and stuff if it's up higher than the cab. Now, you could get it slightly higher if you go with the Xsporter Mid. That's gonna be a little bit higher up and it's gonna have more of a weight capacity at around 600 pounds. Right now we're at 220 with this but I think it's a good trade off for that low profile design. Again, you don't want it, when you're driving through the woods and stuff, to get it snagged on branches, scratching that up and causing a bunch of issues. Taking a closer look at the base here. We're gonna go measurement from the rail to the bottom of our rail up here and that's gonna be four inches. Now the rail itself is gonna be two inches thick. So, that's something look out for for those clamp on accessories. Make sure you go and look at those and see that they are gonna be able to fit on these rails Up top, we have the weather strip that covers up the T-Track. So, the accessories that use that, that's a way to go too. You just remove this end cap, slide that in, then you don't have to worry about the clamps fitting around the bar itself. It's gonna slide right in here and sit pretty good. Now, one thing about this is the weather strip is a little difficult to get in there sometimes. You have to kind of push it all the way back down into place. We use some soapy water to get it pushed down. Some people slide it in the track and pull it all the way across. If you do have T-Track accessories you will have to cut it at points to go around where you want your accessories to sit. So, those are all things that you can customize yourself. Earlier, I mentioned how important it was for me to make sure this was easy to install and uninstall. And it is pretty easy. The clamp goes right here against the bed rail, pushes up there, you tighten this bolt down, and that's what tightens it and holds this base right there on top of our bed rail. Now the clamp is awesome because it's reversible. So, you can flip it. If you have a Toyota that has one of those track systems You can flip that around and still use that clamp. You don't have to get extra parts or wait on extra parts. It's all ready to go, right when you open everything. So, I really like that part. So then once the base is attached, you drop in the foot into place after you've attached it to the rails It clicks right in, then there's one bolt to tighten on each side. They even give you it's own tool with a on there and turn it. And it clicks when it's fully tightened. And that's something I kind of struggle with when I'm tightening it stuff down, always worried it's not tight enough, and then you over tighten. This won't allow me to do that. So, I'll turn it, they'll snap snap, and I'll know I'm done. Security has also been thought about. There's gonna be lock cores on every base. So, that's gonna be all four of 'em, and it's gonna be key to light. So, you insert the cores, they give you the key to do that and you can lock and unlock each one of these so that nobody can mess with this when you're not around. That way, it's gonna be protected from anybody tampering with it. Now, there's also gonna be a lock core on the inside, on each rail. So, there's one on this side and there's gonna be one on the front rail. And that's gonna lock the base in place as well, so that, again, it can't be tampered with when you're not around. Now you can't unlock this one with the rail on there. So, just keep that in mind. When that bar goes across you can't get that key in there to unlock that. Not that you really need to do that. The bar itself is a black powder coat aluminum so you don't have to worry about it being out in the elements and rusting or corroding. It will be protected, and they're also lightweight when you do to go pick 'em up and move 'em around. Back to the weatherstrip. It is nice that it's there and it sits up on top of the bar. Sometimes they have the recessed ones that are down underneath the bar, which those are nice cause you can put the accessory and slide it across, but this one sticking up actually protects the bar. So, if you look at how the tent sits on there, that metal portion right here is sitting on this rubberized weather seal. So, it's gonna protect the bar from getting scratched out from that. As I was working with this I was thinking about some of the other truck bed bar systems I've worked with and the first one that pops in my head is gonna be the Yakima Bedrock. So, that one's nice and easy to install. It has a lever system where you screw the portion of the bottom that pushes up on the bed rail and you throw the lever down to add tension. That's nice, it was easy to put on there, like I said. But, the only thing is I kind of like the on this one better because I can tighten them down. The tool tells me when it's really tight and I don't have to worry about a lever popping up on me. The bar's are gonna be a little bit different on those too. Those are gonna be HD bars, so those are gonna be more clamp-on friendly, versus what we have here. I mean, this one's still works, but it's gonna be a little more friendly for more accessories. So, that's something to keep in your mind depending on what you wanna put on there. Also, they make a different version of the Xsport and it's gonna be a mid. So, it's a little bit higher up. If you need that height on there for your accessories, that is an option. You don't quite want to go to the cab, but you wanna get a little bit higher, you can do that. They also have one that shifts. So that means it's gonna slide forward and backwards for adjustability. So, if you're adjusting for different accessories, maybe not the tent every single time, maybe you need to move close together or further apart. You can do that on a track system. That way you don't have to completely undo 'em and move 'em every time you need to go do that. Now, another thing with adjustability is that Yakima offers the OverHaul. So that's gonna be adjustable up and down. So, maybe you want something you can use during the week for work. You wanna throw ladders up there or lumber. You don't wanna just prop 'em up in the bed. You can leave that up there during the week. And then on the weekends if you wanted to put your tent on there, you can drop it back down more low profile like this and use the same rack. So, if that's something you're thinking about using all the time, why buy two different ones when you can get the same one that does both. Overall, I did like the Xsport here. I was impressed how easy it was to put on there, how secure it is overall with the base being secured. And that tool, that let me know that I tightened it enough was awesome peace of mind for me. With the peace of mind comes the locks. You usually have to buy that kind of stuff kind of separate. I'm glad it was all included in here so I can lock it all up. And again, another thing I don't have to worry about. And then the bed is open for whatever else I wanna throw in there, because you never know what else you wanna take with you. It's not taken up by the gear up on top. So you're kind of just adding a second level of that bed that you can use and put more accessories, and haul more with your truck. Well, I think that does it. Thanks for hanging out. I hope it's helped..