Customer Reviews

Thule 91725 Flat Top Ski Carrier

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My overall impression is that for the price, functionality and ease of installation the Thule 91725 is helluva bargain! I'll probably buy another Thule product because of this purchase.

Description:
Not to offend people or something by stating something that may be obvious to some, but the "Thule 91725 Flat Top" is simply the carrier portion; it doesn't include the carrier base, i.e. you should already have a carrier base installed or you'll have to get one.

The carriers themselves work just like any other carrier with locks and large release buttons. These are wide carriers. So, if you're thinking of getting a couple sets for a mid-size or compact car, it's probably not going fit side by side (e.g. one that opens to the left side and one that opens toward the right side of your vehicle) unless your roof width is wide enough to accomidate or you have extra wide base. The rubber pieces in the carriers to hold your skis/boards in place are teardrop-shaped; the wider end holding the skis or boards in place. Each of the two ski racks comes with 2 clamps and each clamp is composed of two pieces: basically two wide/obtuse-angled "V"-shapes that when joined together with unique hex-screws on each tip, form a diamond shape. The special hex-screw driver is/should be provided with the package.

Considerations:
You'll probably want to account for the clearance between the roof and your ski carrier base's crossbars: assuming your bindings are already installed on your skis and/or board, if you use this carrier, and if your carrier base has only a 3" or less clearance between it and the roof of your vehicle and you place your bidings upside down then your bindings will probably hit the roof top (and probably not fit). In which case, you can always place the bindings up, ski/board base down toward the roof (with a set of skis laid side-by-side), but you won't be able to fit as many skis or snowboards.

Pros:
1. Fairly easy to install (took me about under 10 minutes including alignment): just 8 hex screws for 4 clamps (2 screws per clamp) to mess with.
2. Fairly easy to operate with big white release buttons.
3. "V" shapped clamps will fit just about any crossbar (e.g. eye-shaped, square and/or circular).
4. Comes with locks to secure skis/snowboards onto carrier and hex screws that are unique so it's not very easy to disassemble the clamps without the unique hex screw driver that's provided.

Cons:
1. May not provide enough clearance for some factory-installed base "racks", especially those that are fairly flushed to the roof. Thus, you may not be able to fit as many skis or snowboards.
2. Although the hex screws are unique (you will probably have a difficult time finding these at the local ACE Hardware or something), it is possible the hex screws can be loosened with the proper hex wrench or hex screw driver, i.e. the screws are exposed so even though you lock the carrier there's nothing covering the hex screws as an extra measure to mitigate tampering. Obviosly, if the Hex screws are removed from the carrier base, the entire carrier can be removed...along with your skis or board.
3. I'm not sure, but the teardrop-shape rubber material to keep the skis/snowboard held together in the carrier does not appear to be the type that will last for years, not that it's a big deal, but that's my assessment on it's "durability" and ability to maintain elasticity. I'll find out in 10 years.


'08-'10 Subaru Impreza's w/OEM or factory-installed ski/snowboard carrier base:
I'm not sure how this will fit other vehicles, but I can certaily testify to how it fits on a Subie STi. I have a 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STi and this carrier's clamps fit perfectly onto the eliptical/"eye"-shaped OEM crossbars; I believe the ski base I have is the same OEM item for all '08-'10 Subaru Impreza models (including the WRX and the STi's). So, if you have an '08 or later model Impreza with the OEM ski base, the Thule 91725 is close to perfect. Again, not to offend people or anything, but just make sure the carriers are aligned properly; on the Impreza the passenger/rear portion of the roof is a little narrower than the driver/front portion of the roof. So, if you align it based on the roof line edges, then the carriers will be offset. And when you place the snowboards/skis they'll be skewed instead of parallel to the whole vehicle (if you're concerned about wind drag noise). '08-'10 Subaru Impreza ski and snowboard carrier base OEM part number is E361SFG300 and is a lot cheaper when you order it through an Subaru OEM distributor than from a dealership.

The Impreza's OEM carrier crossbars had enough clearance so I can place a set of skis together (base-to-base) and snowboard upside-down or two snowbaords together (base-to-base) without any part of the bindings (with the exception of the dangling ankle riser on the snowboard) touching the roof top.

Installed this on a Jeep Grand Cherokee factory rack. Not enough clearance between the roof and ski bindings - had to take apart skis and lay them flat. Therefore could barely fit 2 skis + 1 snowboard. Look for a height adjustable or bigger rack such as the Yakima Fat Cat if you're carrying more than 3 pair of skis.

Bought this for my Honda Pilot since I do a lot of skiing. Came as advertised, excellent quality, easy to use and mount. Works perfectly.

Long time Yakima fan but this is the first Thule product I've owned and I'm very impressed with quality and finish of the rack. The main reason we went with the Thule over the Yakima was because of the brushed aluminum which looks great on our silver, 2010 Toyota Highlander. It fits nicely on the factory aero bars and installation was easy with the included. Locks work smoothly and it accommodates 4 snowboards easily and securely.

Product met my expectations. Easy to install to Nissan Murana 2005 with crossbars. Product was cheaper at Amazon than at [...].

This is a very good ski rack that fits on most existing car racks - it fit perfectly on my Lexus RX 350. The only issue is installing it; which requires the use of a special hex allen head wrench (included) for 8 nut & bolts. I have looked for a matching driver bit for a drill gun, but have not found one yet so you will need to use the very small hex allen wrench to turn and install 8 nuts and bolts. Otherwise, this is a very easy to use rack that holds six skis and can be operated with ski gloves on your hands.

I bought this product for my 2011 Toyota 4Runner. It fits and works well. Putting it on the first time was a challenege, now I can take it on and off in about 10 minutes. You will want to take it off as it will reduce your average mileage.

I really appreciated the ease of installing the ski rack on my Toyota Highlander. Easy on/easy off. Our skis went in and out of the rack easily and remain secure on the road and in the parking lot of the lodge or motel. It's exactly what I wanted for a reasonable price.

I ordered this last minute before a ski trip to ensure we would have enough space for luggage inside and not have to worry about skis and snowboards. I have a 2001 Suburban, with factory racks on top. This came under my Prime account, in two days, and I spent about 1 minutes reading directions and 8 installing it.

The racks worked great on our drive from Denver up into the mountains to Winter Park, and were easy to get the snowboards and skis on and off. The locks were flawless, and we had no issues.

Installation is easy, essentially screwing 4 bolts for each rack together to clamp onto the factory racks. There is a special hex key with an insert in the middle, so a standard allen wrench won't work. I plan on cutting the l-wrench and making a drill-insertable key so I can remove these easily (for gas mileage) when I'm not using them.

One quick note, I saw a number of people with Thule bars (or other bars) with these same racks. The clamps make them stand out as they aren't as cleanly finished as some Thule products I've seen in the past. I doubt anyone notices other than someone that has had Thule racks or looks for this, but be aware the bolts are a little long and they stand out. I'll put a more detailed picture up soon with a link on my own site to explain.

I was thinking we might be able to get 3 snowboards and 2 pairs of skis on one rack, and I might have been able to force the ski brakes down to place a board on top of upside down skis, but I decided not to try it. We could fit one board in the back of the truck on luggage, so we did that.

The way this works is that you place 4 boards in 2 pairs, one up, one down. I have fold down bindings and this works fine, but both boys have the boot wrap bindings, which don't fold low enough, so on the Suburban I had to make sure those boards were bindings up. Adult ski bindings did fine, with plenty of clearance.

I almost bought 2 racks, and glad I didn't as the factory racks are not wide enough. If you want two racks, you'd need some long, aftermarket bars that extended over the sides of the truck.

Me and my friends gifted this to a friend who loves skiing so he provided this feedback.

"I almost bought this carrier from REI. This fits very well on my car."

Also thanks to Amazon 1 day delivery - we got it right on his b'day.