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Hi, Matt at etrailer. Today we're gonna be talking about the Thule Roof Rack on our 2020 Ford Ranger. Now, this is gonna be a great option if you're looking for something that's gonna have a really sleek design for your roof, especially if you want to carry those longer items like kayaks or ladders. So let's take a closer look at it. Now, there's gonna be a lot of different ways you can carry accessories, items in your truck. You have a bed, you can pull a trailer behind you.
The thing with pulling a trailer behind you though is it's gonna really take up a pretty wide footprint. And if you have, let's say like a tonneau cover, like I have on right now, if you have any taller accessories, then it's gonna be harder to put that back here, especially with a shorter bed like we have today. That's where this ladder rack, or this roof rack comes into hand. I think a ladder rack can be really nice on top of here, especially for the extra long items, if you sort of wanna make like a platform sort of thing. But if you just have anything like a kayak, like I was talking about earlier, or skis or a bike rack, I think that fits really nicely up here.
Now, what I like about the Thule one, specifically, compared to other roof racks out there is to me this is gonna be the best looking one and it's just really easy to work with. So up top, we're gonna have our 53 inch long crossbar. What's nice about this is it's gonna have a T-channel on top that has this weather stripping in here, so no type of debris, water gets in here. Great if you have any T-channel accessories. And to make that process easier is we have this cap at the end of it that folds over to the side, making it super easy to put those items on.
A lot of other roof racks don't have that as an option. (end cap clicks) They'd have that T-Channel but not that type of design for the end cap. Now, for the tower that's gonna sit right beneath here, (panel clicks) we're gonna have this really simple design where we're just gonna have one bolt in here that synchs everything together. The way that works is we have a clamp that grabs onto the gutter (door slams) of your door, and it's gonna sit very flush on your roof. And, (panel clicks) you'll notice we don't really have any gaps underneath here, which is something we're looking for.
'cause one, it let's us know we have a really good hold on top of here and it's also gonna prevent any wind noise. (panel clicks) And with this end cap, you'll notice we have a plastic circle here for the moment, but you can get this replaced with a metal locking core. So if you have any other Thule accessories, you can get 'em keyed alike. You can also put clamp-on accessories on here too. So let me get a measurement of underneath the bar. That's gonna be a little bit under three inches. (tape measure clicks) So that lets you know if you have any really bulky clamps, how much space you're gonna have. In most cases that's gonna be plenty. If it's a very large clamp, it might be a little bit tight underneath there to tighten everything down into place. Now, for the total height they sit up, this is gonna be at about four inches. (tape measure clicks) So they're fairly low profile. They're gonna sit underneath your antenna. Now, if you have anything extra large, let's say a rooftop tent, definitely watch out for this 'cause you don't want them to make contact with that antenna. You might have to remove it in some cases. And for the crossbar spread that we have, this is gonna be a little bit over 32 inches. (tape measure whizzes) So, that's gonna be pretty standard for most roof rack and their accessories. So it should be compatible with most things out there. Now, speaking of those other accessories and putting 'em on here, I do recommend taking the total height of the vehicle, your crossbars, and then anything that might sit on top of there. So you know if you're gonna make it under a low clearance area like a garage. Now, this roof rack seems to be pretty sturdy. So what I'd recommend doing is just checking what your roof is rated for and then going from the lowest rated component just so you don't damage anything, especially if you're putting a lot on top of your roof. Now overall, again, I do like this one a lot. If you're looking for something that's gonna look a little bit more rugged, the one I would recommend is gonna be Rhino-Rack Sportz Crossbars because I do like the design of those. But again, they're gonna have more of a rugged design to 'em. But if you want something to look a little more sleek, like we have right here, I'd go with this instead. Now, installing is actually a fairly easy process. Most people can do it and I can walk you through that process now. To begin the installation, I like to layout all my parts. You'll also notice, I already have one of my crossbar installed. It's gonna be the same process though. So what we're gonna have is gonna be the crossbar itself. I'm gonna have the towers, the end caps, the bases and the hooks. We'll also have a tool to tighten everything down into place. And I do recommend having a tape measure to help make sure everything's squared off. (tape measure clatters) So what we're gonna do, is we're gonna put everything to the side. (items scrape) I'm gonna bring this crossbar a little bit closer to me and I'm gonna remove this end cap. Pressing down on that tab on the inside, (end cap clicks) pulling it off. (end cap taps) And, then we'll push this tower into place. (tower clatters) The way you do that is look on top. You'll notice that lifts up. It lifts up when I squeeze the back side of it. (tower mechanism clicks) So I'll do that, and pushing through that channel. And in the instructions you're gonna have a set number for how far this little bar here pushes inwards. This is gonna be a specified number for the front and rear crossbar, so make sure you are pairing it up to the correct one. Once you have that matched up, then we can throw that end cap back on here (end cap clicks) (crossbar clatters) and put on these bases. These rubber bases are gonna have a number on 'em, so make sure you're checking the instructions. 'cause they are gonna be at a certain point on either one of your corners. So make sure it's going in the right location and it just kind of presses down and contours to the bottom of that platform. And once we're done here, we're just gonna repeat this on the other side. And just kinda roughly place it on your roof and make sure that the thicker side is facing forward. It doesn't have to be perfect at this stage, but just kind of roughly putting it on and lowering it down. And really the goal is once we get our measurements, we want these rubber sections to kind of grab onto this ridge, right up here. And when we do go find those measurements, there's gonna be two measurements you get. The first one is gonna be the top of your windshield to the very front of the front crossbar, right here. The second measurement you're gonna get is from the very front of this crossbar to the front of your rear crossbar. And that's where these are gonna be sitting. Grab this clamp and we're gonna come over here. Everything's in place now. You're gonna lift up on the end of it. If this is a little bit tight, you can always just loosen it up with your included tool. Push it in there And you may have to apply a little bit of pressure. What I'll do is typically pull down on the tower and push up with my thumbs on the clamp (mechanism clicks) until it clicks into place. And then you'll grab that tool and tighten that bolt that's in there. Now, what I'd recommend doing is doing this until it just has a little bit of resistance here in the side. Once there's a little resistance, then we'll go over to the other side, repeat that same process, and we're gonna go back and forth tightening it down. The reason why we're gonna go back and forth is 'cause if you tighten it too much from one side, it's gonna pull a little bit more to one side. So to prevent that, just do it evenly. And the way you're gonna be able to tell if this is all the way tightened down or not is when you're turning this, eventually you're gonna hear a click (tool clicks) just like that. So once you hear that a couple times, you're pretty much good to go. Come over here with your end cap, (end cap clicks) push it on here, lock it into place, and then give the good shake test. (door slams) Make sure it's not gonna go anywhere. And if it feels pretty good, you can take it out for a ride. Now, if you guys have any other questions, let us know here at etrailer. And again, I'm Matt and thanks to watching.
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