Video Transcript for How to Install: Kuat Grip Ski and Snowboard Carrier on your 2021 Chrysler Pacifica

Hey, it's Ethan here at etrailer. Today we're gonna be taking a look at the Kuat Grip Ski and Snowboard Carrier and how it fits on our 2021 Chrysler Pacifica. This is the four board or four ski, sorry, four ski, two board version. There is a six ski, four board option available as well. It comes in this black that we have here or there's also gray and pearl for either of those sizes but let's check out a little bit about how it works. We have our skis loaded up at the very far back of the carrier and as you can see with the factory crossbars, they're inset on the roof a little bit.

So from the ground I actually can't reach the skis which might be the case for you, which is where we come to one of the biggest features of this rack. So if I open up these jaws using the large levers in the front, I'll just undo this latch here in the front and the trays actually slide down to bring your gear towards you. So now I don't even have to reach over the top and I can get the skis up and off. Slide those back into place. We can take a closer look at the carrier.

So as you can see, it's held up right now. I'm not having to hold it in place, which is nice. You can see that there are these rubber teeth on the top and the bottom that are gonna serve to cushion your gear inside the carrier but also keep it from sliding around. If I come to close it down, you can see that there are a couple stops. So this is at the very top in case we have some wide gear.

It still isn't going to open. And then there's two more one there and one at the very bottom and they're really easy to open up even if you have large gloves or mittens on, you should still pop those right up. And if you close them down you can lock them in place and secure them with this lock core on the other side. There are also lock cores on the clamps which we'll get to in just a sec. Taking a closer look at the clamps and how they work on our crossbars.

So as I mentioned, these are existing factory crossbars so they're pretty slim but this rubberized strip that goes around the bottom of our clamps does a really good job of holding onto that as it would with any other style of crossbars, whether that be round, square or elliptical. There's this little outcrop right at the top to hold into those round crossbars but if you have crossbars that have a T-Track channel, you can get a kit that allows 'em to fit into there as well. If that works a little bit better for you. If you're curious to know what it's like to live with this carrier on your car, you're going to be adding a little bit of height with the carrier and the crossbars to an already pretty tall vehicle. So I'll get a measurement so you can get an understanding of just how much that might be. From the top of the crossbars to the top of the carrier, about four and a half inches. So it's pretty low profile. Nothing that I'm super concerned about. If you wanna go from the top of the crossbars to where your gear's gonna sit, that's gonna be about three and a quarter inches. That's a measurement you might want to consider as far as well, my bindings clear with the top of my roof. These crossbars are about 39 inches long and you can see that this does take well over half, so I don't think there's gonna be room on the other side for any more accessories. You might have to upgrade to some crossbars that aren't from the factory if you want some that are longer, give you a little bit of overhang to get more accessories on here. If you're looking for that premium option that's going to hold your skis and snowboards really securely and also has those sliding trays to make getting them on and off really easy while keeping that low profile and a nice aesthetic, Kuat Grip is definitely a really solid option for you. If you don't need all the bells and whistles but you want that low profile and a little bit of those features, you might wanna check out something like the Yakima FatCat EVO. It's got that low profile and the aesthetic and it's got a ski lift rise in the back if you have some tall bindings, but you'll lose out on the sliding tray and a little bit of that weight capacity. These being able to support 165 pounds, it's a lot, keeping in mind that your factory crossbars and your roof all have different ratings so you're gonna want to go by the lowest rated component. This is just a quick look at that Kuat Grip Ski and Snowboard Carrier and how it fits on our 2021 Chrysler Pacifica.