These uprights are designed for use with Thule Xscape truck bed racks. They mount to your Thule SR or tonneau cover rails with a mounting kit and support Xscape crossbars. Includes four uprights to support a complete Xscape rack installation.
This component is part of the Thule Xscape truck bed rack system. To find the right solution for your vehicle, visit the etrailer fitguide to make sure you select the Xscape setup that works with your truck.
California residents: click here
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hi everyone. Steven here with etrailer. Today we're taking a look at the Thule Xscape Truck Bed Ladder Rack TRT Tower System. So folks, this again is just the set of four towers. You will need sold separately crossbar to go on top of these and also the fit kit that is specific to your vehicle. So you can check all that out on our fit guide here at etrailer.com.
Now these are made of a nice, strong, rugged aluminum construction and once you have everything with the rest of the kit that's sold separately, it would look more or less like this. We got the crossbars there, kind of greyed or whited out there on top. But this kind of gives you a visual of what these would look like once you get everything installed and whatnot. And again, each tower again, rugged aluminum construction, (metal tapping) they have built-in telescoping towers here. There is a button here once you pull up, (metal clanking) it automatic locks into place as far as height.
(metal clanking) And then to get it back down, you would simply push the button here to release the locking mechanism. (metal sliding) So how cool is that So it really is easy to go up and down right (metal clanking) to where you need it to go, (metal sliding) right when and where you need it. And of course you got (metal jingling) the top here that your crossbar would slide over and lock into place. (metal jingling) They even give you this special wrench here. This ratcheting wrench has been designed for optimization of tightening these special bolts here that come on the towers and that are gonna come on your bars.
And this is a set at 15 newton meters of torque. And then that is also engraved or molded into the system right here under that bolt as well. (wrench thuds) So make sure you're reading all the instructions, (metal thuds) make sure you're torquing everything down (metal sliding) to the correct torque spec. Again, everything here is pre-installed as far as the nut plate, on the top there, (metal jingling) allowing that load bar to slide freely during installation and saving you time for setup. And what's nice about these bases, they're nice and wide, they're gonna provide a nice solid base on the truck bed platform and the perforations down here on the bottom allow that fit kit to fit in (hand tapping) there perfectly for those fit kit pads, which is gonna help protect the side of (metal thuds) your side rails on your bed of your vehicle.
So again folks, this is just the Four TRT tower system. This is the Thule Xscape Truck Bed Ladder Rack System base. I'm Steven with etrailer. Thanks for watching.
Ratings & Reviews
It was a bit of a risk ordering this product for my 2026 Ford Maverick because neither Thule nor etrailer had any fit info on their webpage for my truck. However, it fits just fine.
I went with the 70" load bars because I need enough width to hold two small canoes (about 32" each), but the 60" bars would probably be a better fit for most people most of the time.
Installation was easy. However, it did take me a couple tries to get the angle of the uprights correct so that the cross bars would lay flat and not bow out when torqued down.
Adjusting the hight of the bars is not as easy as implied on the product info page. Yes, there is a button to push to release the mechanism. But you also need to loosen a bolt in the same assembly before you can push said button. And, because the towers are angled, the cross bars need to be loosened before the tower hight can be changed and then realigned and retightened to match the new hight.
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