Thule Caprock Platform Roof Rack for Crossbars - Aluminum - 59" Long x 65" Wide

Video Transcript for Thule Caprock Platform Roof Tray Review

Hello everyone, it's Evangeline here at etrailer. And today we have the Thule Caprock roof tray. This is going to be a tray that is available in different sizes and different shapes with different mounting methods for your different vehicles. We're gonna go through the different features and talk about what makes it good, what makes it preferable, what may or may not fit you and your adventures, in that way you can get the best fit for you. This is available in different trays sizes ranging from small to extra extra large. Now for small, that's gonna be 53 inches rounding up for width to 59 inches long.

Then this size medium, which is what I have here, which is 59 inches by 59 inches. And then the largest is going to be 65 inches to 83 inches long rounded up. So depending on your different vehicles, if you have an SUV or a car like what we have here then the small tray would work best. For your extra extra large trays, those are usually seen on trailers, little campers, vans, things like that. So for those larger vehicles, awesome, because then you can get that entire base area for all those accessories.

But for those smaller vehicles, in my experience, 53 inches which is the minimum width is gonna sit right here and that I think is still a bit too large. I have this on a Kia Seltos and it looks a little bulky on top of the vehicle. So if you we're looking at other brands they go as small as 38 inches for width, and that's something worth considering for those smaller cars. You do have different methods of mounting this tray too. I personally prefer the direct mount, so we have Thule Evo towers that go straight to the vehicle and connect straight to the tray.

This is gonna create a more low profile and honestly streamline the method of securing your Caprock tray. But if you do not have a Thule roof rack system or the Thule fit, you can also use these universal crossbar clamps. We actually put those on our Seltos. So if you could see here, this is mounted to the crossbars on the Seltos, definitely creating that nice sturdy fit but it does take a bit more space. Now a reason some people might still want to put it on crossbars even though it looks bulkier is because Thule increases their allowed weight capacity when it's on crossbars.

So for example, according to the Thule instructions, if you put them on the flush kit towers, you have a maximum weight capacity of 165 pounds. But if you put it on crossbars with a crossbar kit, you now have a maximum weight capacity of 220 pounds. And if you use the truck bed Caprock system, you can go as high as a 330 pound weight capacity with a Thule Xsporter ladder rack. You can check out the truck bed video demo right here at etrailer, if you're curious about that application. But going back to putting this on roofs, even if Thule says that, sure you have more weight capacity, it does depend on your vehicle's actual roof weight capacity. And when you are loading things up on your tray and you are thinking about weight capacity, you also have to think about where you're putting these items. The best thing to do is to evenly distribute your weight. So not everything on the passenger side. Try to space it around if you can. Also you have to consider dynamic versus static weight capacity. That 165 pounds that Thule set as the maximum, that's your dynamic capacity. So it's whatever you have loaded up on your roof as you drive, this bike, that kayak, whatever totes, that's dynamic. But the moment you park, let's say you have a rooftop tent, and you wanna get into your tent, that's now your static weight capacity, which is gonna be a lot more than your dynamic. The issue with most trays is when you do attach your accessories to them, the trays bars are really large. So the dimensions for ours is gonna be 2 3/4 inches wide and an inch and a quarter tall. So with this regular kayak here, it's nowhere close to being able to fit around those bars. So when you are carrying around any accessory with almost any tray, you do have to rely on T-track mounted or channel mounted accessories. That's the case of our bike rack, our kayak here, even our little eye bolts are T-track or channel mounted. There are channels running all over the tray. And these channels are designed for your T-track accessory to fit into. And then you slide through and then you tighten it down. So the things to look out for are where are your channels as well as where are the openings. There's these side channels with openings towards the front and the back. On the back and the front of your tray, you also have a channel covered by your rubber wind strips, but there is no opening. You'd have to remove the corner bracket and then install whatever you want back here, and then install the bracket again over it. So not as accessible. There are also tracks along this side with an opening right over here. So it's in a very corner, not easy to access, but it's there. And of course you have your regular crossbar points which is gonna be your slats. But rather than regular crossbars, you have more than two. So depending on the size of your tray will determine how many slats you have. For example, for the medium, we have five of them. Now they can be spaced apart to different distances depending on your tray size, but you have some limitations there. It depends on how much preparation and actual work you want to do with your tray to make it fit your roof. For example, if you wanna put it on crossbars, you have two slats per crossbar that are connected together by a track, that track attaches to your crossbar. So within that you have a little wiggle room, but not a lot. For example, on this Seltos, we're gonna put on the crossbars, they're around at a fixed point of 26 inches apart. You couldn't adjust the crossbars. So the tray had to adjust, which it could. And within that track, you can move your crossbar clamp back and forth. Now if you don't use a crossbar clamps and you direct mount it, you have another feature you can use. These slats can be adjusted and all that involves is gonna be a six millimeter Allen wrench. You loosen the bolt on your slat, you can slide it to wherever you need it to be and then you tighten it down. While it is recommended that you have them an equal distance apart it's not required. Some people even remove slats to give them more versatility. I even see sometimes if it is covering, let's say their sunroof or an antenna, they might remove a slat that is not used as a base to create that open space. Most of the Caprock is gonna be made of aluminum, so you have that metal construction and you also have that black powder coat finish. It's a very sleek design. And if you have other aluminum accessories like this Kuat Piston SR, you can see how everything just blends in for a nice sporty look. Even the front fairing is made of metal, which I like because if this is not on your roof, it would probably be sitting on the ground. And we had in that position and this fairing held up. Underneath the fairing, you have this rubberized material which feels really strong and grippy. You can adjust the bearing up and down and even remove it if you're not using it. Even with the wind fairing, it's still gonna be noisy. You're gonna be carrying around a large tray on top of your roof. I drove around for a bit for a couple days without any accessories on and I could hear it. Not anything whistling or anything super obtrusive, but I knew there was something on my roof. That's just the experience you're going to get with pretty much any tray. Another thing with trays that go on your roof is you still need to lift and reach your cargo onto your roof. And while that sounds not as fun, if you compare it with having just two crossbars though, I know a lot of people feel safer with having an entire tray. In fact, I saw one girl, she had her bike, she laid her bike flat onto the tray and then climbed up onto her car so she could lift it into the upright position. Not ideal, but also not something that could be accomplished with just two crossbars. So it is up to you, if you think having a tray might make it easier or make you more comfortable with loading cargo up, especially since you have all this space that you can take advantage of. The next question is are you able to take advantage of that base A roof tray really is just a base for the accessories and for the cargo. So on its own it's just a large square on top of your roof, but where it really shines is the type of accessories that are made for it. For example, Thule has the side rails that transform your tray into a basket. You also have those T-tracks that are universal for almost any channel mounted accessory. So we have a lot of those options here at etrailer, from kayakers to bike racks, to even these Thule eye bolts that you can put anywhere so you can strap your cargo down securely. So does it work with other accessories that even are not Thule branded Yes, it does, as long as they have that universal T-track channel system. Can it also work with accessories that don't have that channel mount Highly not likely. Because it has those large slats, you need to have extra large straps or clamps to go around which are not that common. So that is something to be mindful of when you get accessories to match the tray so that you can fully maximize your experience. Hopefully this video will help you get onto the right direction for figuring out what's the best fit for you, whether it's the size of the Thule Caprock tray that would best fit your vehicle or maybe it's what accessories you think might work best for you to go on top of it. Is this your only option though No, there are a bunch of different options for different situations. If you do have a smaller car or SUV and you find that this is too wide for your needs, I did mention a smaller tray that's gonna be the Pioneer platform. It goes to less than 40 inches wide and that might be an option for your more streamlined needs. If you're looking for something that is more custom fit for your car you also have Front Runner with its different kits for the different vehicles. All of those and others are available here at etrailer.com. So I do recommend looking through our fit guide, finding our recommended fits for you, taking a look at our videos, pictures, and descriptions to see what works out best. But if you find that you do prefer the Thule Caprock system whether it's because of their accessories designed specifically for this tray, whether you prefer Thule products, and you have a bunch of them that you wanna put on top of this or maybe you just like Thule's unique design when it comes to designing their products, well, this video right here was a review of the Thule Caprock roof trays. My name's Evangeline and I hope you enjoy the journey.