SUV for carrying skis

You need a Thule box AND have a cap on the back of a pickup? How much crap do you haul with you? :lol:

Whitey said:

Ahh, that does make sense. I seem to be in the minority in that I take my Thule on and off when I use it. But I've got a pretty good/easy/out of the way place to put it when I am not using it. But if I was skiing more than I do (grrrrr. . . kids, grrrrr.... work, etc) then I am not sure that I would being taking mine on and off as much.

Click to expand...

My old box was a pain to install, so when I had a Subaru with a roof rack I put it on at the beginning of the season and left it there. No issues with the garage and there wasn't much impact to gas mileage.

No longer a factor with my current car, it has a fold-down seat and pass-through which works out fine for me and my wife for day trips.

deadheadskier said:

You need a Thule box AND have a cap on the back of a pickup? How much crap do you haul with you? :lol:

Click to expand...

Love it that way. Keeps the skis out of the way, leaves the back open. Yah - I've probably got plenty of room for everything in the back but I just got sick of bag straps getting hung up on ski brakes, piling stuff on top of the skis, etc. Skis on top and stuff in the back & I'm happy. There was a dog in the mix too when I first got the truck, had to leave room for the dog in the back too.

Whitey said:

Dude, you stole my truck! I've got the exact same one, probably a little older though. Greatest ski trip vehicle ever.

You've got the Toyota roof rack - why don't you just throw the Thule ski rack on there? That's where I put mine (I also have the same exact Thule you do). Also, why not just put a cap on the back? I know the cap is more expensive but it gives you a lot more room. I actually take my cap on and off summer (off) and winter (on).

Click to expand...

I did not want a cap because I have always disliked the look of them(wouldn't mind the sleeping room for summer though....)
I do have the factory roof rack, however the span is locked on the Tacoma. I cant widen or shorten the gap, and my box does not fit on the roof. The feet do not go that wide. Also better fuel mileage behind the cab, I can remove the skis while standing on the ground (past 2 trucks I had roof boxes and hated having to climb up to get skis out), allows me to pull into all parking garages or drive thru, and I think it looks cool!

deadheadskier said:

You need a Thule box AND have a cap on the back of a pickup? How much crap do you haul with you? :lol:

Click to expand...

Having a 4x4, crew cab, and the abbility to haul lots of gear I usually end up driving. I have a 6' bed, and my smallest ski is a 178. They need to go in at a angle, not a problem for 1 person, but takes up to much room for skis and bags for 4 people. I dont even know if my 188 powder skis fit in the bed.

Hawkshot99 said:

I did not want a cap because I have always disliked the look of them(wouldn't mind the sleeping room for summer though....)
I do have the factory roof rack, however the span is locked on the Tacoma. I cant widen or shorten the gap, and my box does not fit on the roof. The feet do not go that wide. Also better fuel mileage behind the cab, I can remove the skis while standing on the ground (past 2 trucks I had roof boxes and hated having to climb up to get skis out), allows me to pull into all parking garages or drive thru, and I think it looks cool!




Having a 4x4, crew cab, and the abbility to haul lots of gear I usually end up driving. I have a 6' bed, and my smallest ski is a 178. They need to go in at a angle, not a problem for 1 person, but takes up to much room for skis and bags for 4 people. I dont even know if my 188 powder skis fit in the bed.

Click to expand...

My powder skis fit comfortably straight in my 6,6" bed on the Silverado. That is the solution: bigger truck. I have been averaging 17 mpg and getting 22 mpg on the highway.



Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone mobile app

Hawkshot99 said:

I do have the factory roof rack, however the span is locked on the Tacoma. I cant widen or shorten the gap, and my box does not fit on the roof. The feet do not go that wide. Also better fuel mileage behind the cab, I can remove the skis while standing on the ground (past 2 trucks I had roof boxes and hated having to climb up to get skis out),

Click to expand...

I love the "fold away" style of the Toyota roof rack. But yah - I had to scratch my head for a few minutes when I first went to put my Thule on that rack. I ended up making 2 cables that go between the eye hooks on the rack. I made them so they go on and off easily. That's what I clamp onto. If you have the Thule Atlantis it will sit on the rack OK, just what to attach the clamps to is the issue. I can send you a picture of what/how I did mine if you ever want to throw your Thule on the roof. Although I do have to say that the way you have it mounted does look pretty cool.

Interesting thing is that I found myself using that "clamp to the cables" style mounting on all my cars. I find that if you clamp it to the cross bars it sits much higher and is not as solid. But resting it on the cross bars and using the cables to clamp and hold it down - that gives it a good low profile and is more solid. Almost all roof racks have eye hooks in between the cross bars. I've got too many kids going with us to the AZ summit to take the Tacoma, so my Thule is currently happily sitting on the Ford Expedition - mounted the same way as the Tacoma even though the Ford has movable cross bars. I was even able to use the same cables I made up for the Tacoma even though they are completely different vehicles.

As I look at the picture of your truck, one thing you are missing are the Toyota step rails. I have those on my Tacoma and it makes it a lot easier to get into the Thule. You can stand on them and you are looking right into the Thule. EASY install too. Pre-drilled/tapped holes already there on the truck. A ratchet and about 15 minutes was all it took for me to install mine. I think most of the aftermarket stuff would be OK too, I'd just want to be 100% sure that they mount to the existing holes so I wouldn't have to custom mount them.

First...sorry to bump this old thread.

VTKilarney said:

I'd love to be one of those people that keeps a car until 300,000 miles on the odometer. But my biggest fear is breaking down on a frigid night in the middle of nowhere.

Click to expand...

My goal was 250, but looks like I'm going to fall short. I don't want to have to worry about breaking down on my weekly trip to and from VT.

cdskier said:

Personally I have a 2007 Avalanche and am quite happy with it (215K). Too bad they stopped making it as I have no idea what I'll do when I eventually need to replace it. Although I probably wouldn't be able to afford what they would want for that thing today if they still made it. Prices on Chevy's PUs and larger SUVs are ridiculous...

Click to expand...

I made this comment almost exactly a year ago...and here I now am at a point where with 237K miles on my Avalanche I'm now looking for a new truck. It mis-fired for a few seconds on the way home from work the other night. Stopped at my mechanic and he said see if it happens again. We had just replaced all the spark plugs and one of the ignition coils the end of November so he thought maybe another coil was going. I was a block away from the mechanic and it started mis-firing bad so went right back to leave it with him. He took a look at it today and there's no compression in one of the cylinders. One of the valve lifters is stuck/collapsed. He's also concerned there could be other problems that he finds once he takes the cylinder head off considering the age of the engine. At this point it doesn't make a lot of sense to potentially spend $2K or more on a truck with this many miles and risk having something else go wrong.

yeggous said:

This is what I bought:
http://bakindustries.com/p-30253-revolver-x2-hard-rolling-tonneau-covers-overview.html

The dealer didn't stock any on-site so I found it on display at Car-Risma in Lowell. I ended up buying through the dealer (MacMulkin in Nashua) at a better price and they did the install along with the other prep. When I picked up the truck, the salesman said they he sold two more of them by showing off my truck with the cover in the one day it sat at the dealership.

It's much more expensive than a soft cover, comparable to a hard trifold, and significantly cheaper than a hard hinged cover. Expect to pay around $1000.

From a functionality perspective, I think it's the best compromise. The hard top is much more secure than a soft cover. It's not quite as secure as a bullet-proof hinged cover, but it more than gets the job done. With the hard metal cover, items are more secure in the bed than in the cab with glass windows. It rolls up out of the way and secures which makes it easier to use the full bed length than trifold or hinged cover would be. It just rolls and clicks into place which makes it easier to apply and remove than a roll-on soft cover.

Click to expand...

And this brings me to the reason I searched for this thread in the first place... I remembered yeggous mentioning this rolling cover and wanted to see if there was any additional feedback on it. I'm considering buying a GMC Canyon or Chevy Colorado and think this rolling cover might be exactly what I would want to get for the bed. Thoughts?

cdskier said:

First...sorry to bump this old thread.



My goal was 250, but looks like I'm going to fall short. I don't want to have to worry about breaking down on my weekly trip to and from VT.



I made this comment almost exactly a year ago...and here I now am at a point where with 237K miles on my Avalanche I'm now looking for a new truck. It mis-fired for a few seconds on the way home from work the other night. Stopped at my mechanic and he said see if it happens again. We had just replaced all the spark plugs and one of the ignition coils the end of November so he thought maybe another coil was going. I was a block away from the mechanic and it started mis-firing bad so went right back to leave it with him. He took a look at it today and there's no compression in one of the cylinders. One of the valve lifters is stuck/collapsed. He's also concerned there could be other problems that he finds once he takes the cylinder head off considering the age of the engine. At this point it doesn't make a lot of sense to potentially spend $2K or more on a truck with this many miles and risk having something else go wrong.



And this brings me to the reason I searched for this thread in the first place... I remembered yeggous mentioning this rolling cover and wanted to see if there was any additional feedback on it. I'm considering buying a GMC Canyon or Chevy Colorado and think this rolling cover might be exactly what I would want to get for the bed. Thoughts?

Click to expand...

I love that bed cover. It works great! Totally the best choice you can make on covers. Rolling hard top for the win.

The Silverado Double Cab with 6.5' bed is the sweet spot. You can fit the skis straight in the bed. It's crazy the amount of gear I can haul. Right now I have 12 pairs of skis and 3 duffle bags in my bed. And you have a 4-door cab to keep your boot bag warm.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone mobile app

i have used a trifecta for last 10 yrs.
http://www.extang.com/trifecta-folding-tonneau-covers.html
love it. no hardware needed. easy on/off.
i run a f150 quad cab . tons of room. longer bed is the key. (6 1/2 ft bed).

yeggous said:

I love that bed cover. It works great! Totally the best choice you can make on covers. Rolling hard top for the win.

The Silverado Double Cab with 6.5' bed is the sweet spot. You can fit the skis straight in the bed. It's crazy the amount of gear I can haul. Right now I have 12 pairs of skis and 3 duffle bags in my bed. And you have a 4-door cab to keep your boot bag warm.

Click to expand...

Awesome to hear. I thought about the Silverado, but it is just bigger than I'd like/need. I don't see a need to upsize from my Avalanche. The Canyon/Colorado is a bit narrower than the Avalanche, but with a Crew Cab/Long Box it is actually still a few inches longer.

Now I just need GM to offer some incentives/rebates on the Canyon or Colorado. A local dealer has pretty much the exact Canyon that I'd want, but there are absolutely no deals available from GM so he feels bad selling it as he's thinking maybe GM will announce some deals in the next few weeks. If I had been looking a week earlier, there were over 4K in deals available from GM on the Canyon at the time.

cdskier said:

First...sorry to bump this old thread.



My goal was 250, but looks like I'm going to fall short. I don't want to have to worry about breaking down on my weekly trip to and from VT.



I made this comment almost exactly a year ago...and here I now am at a point where with 237K miles on my Avalanche I'm now looking for a new truck. It mis-fired for a few seconds on the way home from work the other night. Stopped at my mechanic and he said see if it happens again. We had just replaced all the spark plugs and one of the ignition coils the end of November so he thought maybe another coil was going. I was a block away from the mechanic and it started mis-firing bad so went right back to leave it with him. He took a look at it today and there's no compression in one of the cylinders. One of the valve lifters is stuck/collapsed. He's also concerned there could be other problems that he finds once he takes the cylinder head off considering the age of the engine. At this point it doesn't make a lot of sense to potentially spend $2K or more on a truck with this many miles and risk having something else go wrong.



And this brings me to the reason I searched for this thread in the first place... I remembered yeggous mentioning this rolling cover and wanted to see if there was any additional feedback on it. I'm considering buying a GMC Canyon or Chevy Colorado and think this rolling cover might be exactly what I would want to get for the bed. Thoughts?

Click to expand...

I have a Pace Edward's Switchblade retractable cover on my Tacoma. I have a 6' bed so skis can go in straight, but I have a Thule box mounted above my bed. Crew cab means plenty of room for friends.

Sent from my SM-G930F using AlpineZone mobile app

A guy at work said he was car shopping over the weekend, an he discussed roof rack options...

The salesman wasn't concerned as he mentioned he could fold up his skis. Yep, the commonly seen folding skis!

Well finally ended up buying a leftover 2016 Crew Cab Long Box Canyon a little over a week ago complete with the hard rolling cover which I think is great so far (thanks yeggous!).

Took it up to VT this weekend and loved it. So nice being able to stick skis straight in with the long box. Even driving back to NJ through the storm today it seemed to handle quite well.

cdskier said:

Well finally ended up buying a leftover 2016 Crew Cab Long Box Canyon a little over a week ago complete with the hard rolling cover which I think is great so far (thanks yeggous!).

Took it up to VT this weekend and loved it. So nice being able to stick skis straight in with the long box. Even driving back to NJ through the storm today it seemed to handle quite well.

View attachment 21827

Click to expand...

Congrats! Two thumbs up!


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone mobile app