Video Transcript for Setting up the Thule SquareBar Evo Roof Rack for Flush Rails on your 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe

Hey everyone, it's Evangeline here at etrailer. And today we're gonna be taking a look at how the Thule Edge crossbar system fits on the 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe. So this is gonna be a flush crossbar system. So if you already have your flush rails and you wanna be able to carry around fun accessories, like kayaks or roof boxes, or even roof mounted bike racks, then you're first gonna need a system just like this. This doesn't give you that much overhang, or really any overhang at all. And that's something worth considering, depending on what you're carrying.

But this does give you a sleek look, if that's what you're going for. So there's pros and cons to every style of roof rack. This is more similar to your factory roof rack, which means you have that sleek low profile look, but you also have the ability to put this wherever you want on your flush rails. With this kit, you get the correct size bars as well as the edge feet and the fit kit all included. So your bars are gonna be about 44 inches long.

But your actual usable crossbar spread is limited to within those feet. So that's gonna be 40 inches on each bar. Now, wherever you put it, because the roof on the Tahoe is pretty square, you're gonna have pretty much the same measurement. Now for the height this adds to the top of the roof, there's two measurements you're gonna wanna know. The first is distance from underneath the crossbar to the top of your roof, that's two and a half inches.

That's how much space you have for things like clamps or u-bolts with wing nuts for those different accessories. So it's on the lower side but still usable. Next is gonna be the height added to your Tahoe. That's gonna be four inches. That's where your cargo is going to sit.

So let's say you have hang around skis, with extra tall bindings, you wanna make sure that there's enough clearance there to your roof. And if there is not, that's when you get to start looking at accessories that give you that extra height. Here we have the arrow crossbars. And, you can see that they are shaped to be more aerodynamic. They're taller in the front and they're tapered in the back. But Thule also has this other thing, where they have the wind strips. So the wind strips not only help with that aerodynamicness, but you can see how this comes apart in the middle. Which means if you have T track mounted accessories they can slide through here and be secured. Now included with this kit is gonna be your custom fit kit hooks. So see how you have two hooks that fit around your flush rails, and then you have this rubber pad as well. That's why it's very important to use our fit guide here at etrailer.com, where we get the right fit for your Tahoe and then it fits those flush rails perfectly. So this has 165 pound weight capacity, but also be mindful of your actual roof weight capacity or accessory capacity, so you you don't overload those. Now this has everything you need in order to install it, which is gonna be your tool as well as your plastic lock cores. I personally recommend grabbing some other things, like your tape measurer and I use the Moki doorstep to give myself that extra height, because the Tahoe is pretty tall. So, let's take a look at that process. So installing this crossbar may be a little tricky to figure out which parts go where, but that's where this video is for. I'll guide you through that process. The very first step is to set up the towers, and make sure they're ready to go into the crossbars. You start by taking off the end cap and just taking a look at how it works on the inside. Also, for your crossbars, if you don't have the weather strips on there, go ahead and install them now. So if you lift up those weather strips you'll be able to see that there's a spot for the tab on the towers to fit into. Now it should make a click. So there's a trick to this. You have to get your tower where the feet, push that all the way in. Now supposedly you could just force that in through there. I like to use a little tool, just to press down on that button as I push. Once you've pushed that through, go ahead and push the entire tower. So you may feel like there's something stopping you, but that's just the rubber seal. So keep pushing until it clicks at that tab. (bar clicking) Now get your clamps set up. So there's gonna be an A clamp, a B pad, as well as a C clamp. So first start with the A. See where we have those two prongs The two prongs fit on top of the tower, and then you get that bolt through it. To hold the A clamp in place, you're gonna have that B pad. So just pop that B pad into the tower. You've got little tabs there on the inside that should snap into place. And finally, you have C clamp. C clamp fits over the A, and is held in place by this nut. (metal jangling) And that's it with setting up your clamps. It's now time to gently place these onto your flush rails on your roof, making sure that your tapered end is facing the back. For your Tahoe, you can actually pick wherever you want these crossbars to go. So the distance apart, center to center, is called crossbar spread. You want at least 27 and a half. Let's put it to 28. And you wanna make sure that they're all in the same spot. So over here, I'm just gonna line it up right where that window is. Same thing on the other side. Take those measurements, make sure they're even. Using the included tool, tighten down on those towers. Now this tool actually has a torque spec of four Newton meters, which means you just tighten down until your tool clicks. And, once all four towers are tightened down, go ahead and put that end cap on. Just slides onto there and you do get some plastic caps. These pop into the end cap and secure the end cap to the tower, as you're driving around. It's a nice, secure fit there. Now if you want to, you can upgrade to metal lock cores. This also helps if you have other Thule accessories and you want them all keyed alike. So once you've checked all four towers and everything is nice and secure, that's it for the install. You're ready to load up your roof rack and hit the road. This was a look at the Thule Edge Crossbar System, for your 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe.