Thule or Yakima? Does it matter?

Hey everyone, looking for a roof rack for my truck. I want something that I can take off when not in use. I don't have any rack at all so I am assuming my best bet is Thule or Yakima. I found the Yakima for about $50 cheaper than the Thule.

Just wondering if anyone has experience with one or the other or both? Or if anyone has other / better suggestions?

I will be carrying a roof top box or a kayak. I will only need it in the summer months.

Thanks!

 

I've had both. Both are fine. Personally, I prefer the square bar design of Thule I had before. I found it easier to strap down loads with them.

 

I've got both... both are great products and all the attachments are typically interchangeable anyways (except tower and crossbar).

 

both are well made. you can get most of the stuff of craiglist for half off. Locks included. Its outside your truck anyways , dont know if youre particular to it being brand new.

 

Same.

I've had both. Prefer the square Thule bars to the round Yakima bars, but I feel the Yakima bars are a bit stronger.

 

After I found out it's pronounced Too-Lee, Yakima all the way.

 

Get whichever you can get the best pricing on. I have both. Yakima round on my Tacoma, Thule Aeroblades on my wife's Crosstrek. My Thule roof top box fits both. Honestly I'm a bit partial to my old Yakima round bars. They're cheaper and feel more robust.
Just be sure to educate yourself before you buy accessories. Some older stuff will not attached to the newer aerobars, and vice versa.

 

I have a single clamp on Yakima rack on my cab to supplement the racks on my cap. The clamp on rack is not particularly easy to take on and off. Not bad, just not something you want to do every time you use it. The racks on the cap mount to a track and are super easy to take on and off. There is a write up somewhere on this site for mounting tracks to the cab so that is an option.

 

I went around saying "thoo-ul" for years. Felt right dumb when someone finally corrected me. Ha ha

 

If you're into Made in the USA go with Yakima. Obviously Sweden products are upstanding as well

If I am mistaken somebody please correct me but I believe round bars are stronger in torsional applications, and square tubing is better for bending?

 

I have a Yakima that I used on my old car and I loved it. I liked the round bars better than the square. Can't speak for Thule customer service either way, but I did have an issue with the Yakima where they decided the clamp was wrong that they originally said for the car I had. Once I found out, I called them up and they sent the replacement free of charge and paid to have a scratch repaired that the old clamp had caused without any issues or questions.

 

I've had and use Yakima on my vehicles. I would look on CL and get what you find cheaply and then get the appropriate clips/mounting hardware NEW from Yakima or thule.

I have Yakima QTR set up which I put on a mustang and also had it on my 2008 Tacoma just by changing out the clips.

 

If OP has a 3rd gen then he wont have much luck finding old hardware on CL because it wont fit the new gen...
And Yakima stopped making the classic hardware so you gotta resort to their new models. Only exception is if you've got a camper shell with the Yakima tracks, in that case you can find the classic hardware.

 

I've never bent a Yakima round bar despite some loads that might be considered excessive. I have seen several pickups driving around with bent Thule bars.