Thule Hullavator Pro Rooftop Kayak Carrier

What an AMAZING product!! I bought this kayak rack for one main reason: I was sick and tired of wasting precious time and inconveniencing friends in order to go kayaking! I had to either borrow a friend’s truck or inconvenience my group of kayaking friends with trucks to pick me up whenever I wanted to paddle! As a 55 year old extremely independent female, this was really getting old! When I bought my new 2018 Subaru Crosstrek, I also wanted a kayak rack that I could operate myself without damaging my brand new car! This rack is amazing! I have a 50 lb Wilderness Pungo 120 12-foot kayak and it fits perfectly on the Hullavator 898 Pro! I have no problem loading or unloading the kayak myself! The lift-assist feature is phenomenal! Having this rack has afforded me the freedom and ability to just get up and go anytime I want! It literally takes me 12 minutes to attach the cradles to the roof rack, load the boat, and tie down the bow and stern!! It’s the talk of town wherever I launch!! All that being said, the only downfall, if you want to call it that, is the fact that it is on the expensive side! HOWEVER ..... for me, it has been worth every single penny! I would spend it again in a heartbeat!! THANK YOU, THULE!! This is the best invention EVER!! I can’t put into words how liberating this has been for me! I LOVE THIS PRODUCT!!!!

If you can find one of these racks I highly recommend it! My husband got my a kayak for my birthday (because I love kayaking but always rented them). The problem is I can’t lift a kayak onto the roof of my car alone. That is until I found the Thule Hullavator Pro that had load assist. Now I can load my kayak onto the roof of my car in less than 5 minutes and I don’t need my husband’s help to lift it. At first I balked at the price, which was more than the kayak. But it makes life so much easier and I figured I’d rather spend money on a good, sturdy rack than on the medical bills I’d almost inevitably have throwing my back out trying to use another non-load assist rack. Just as an FYI, you’ll also need to make sure you have cross bars on your car (or you need to buy them) along with the Thule kit needed to install this rack to the bars. Check out the Thule website for additional info. Also, you don’t need an SUV or sports vehicle for this rack. I installed it on my Ford Fusion and it works like a charm! Comes with all the straps too!

I got this for my 2008 Toyota Rav4 so that I could haul around my 60 lb. 13'9" kayak independantly. I was wincing at the price...until the first time I used it and found that it is worth every penny! It is such a peace of mind knowing that I don't have to worry about smacking my car, wrenching my back, waiting for another set of hands in order to load and unload my kayak! The straps and anchor lines that come with it are perfect and everything that you'll need to properly secure your boat. A few user notes: 1) This will only work with Thule crossbars, not your factory ones or any other brand, 2) I recommend using the "fit my vehicle" feature on the Thule website to figure out what you need, 3) should you need to purchase said crossbars, be aware that Hullavator installation instructions want the end of the bars to extend 4-8 inches *beyond* the rail anchors (this is so it doesn't dent your car doors whilst loading and unloading your boat). The otherwise handy fit guide will not specify this for you - I got 50 inch crossbars which allows for a 4 inch extension on my one rack side and 1/2 inch extension on the other side. Ideally, I would think that you should have 58 inch crossbars to use the Hullavator on any type of SUV vehicle. You might be able to make the 50 inch work but there is no margin for error and the crossbars will not be symmetrically extended from your rails which Thule doesn't recommend, 4) You would think that when you are dropping several hundred dollars on a rack like this, Thule could throw in the locks. They don't. If you want to protect your investment, you need to either buy the locks separately or use 2 of the 4 that come with some crossbar kits (that's what I did). Bottom line: great rack that I highly recommend but be aware of required accouterments that can definitely inflate your budget.

I'm getting up in age and can no longer lift even my 50lb kayak up on the roof of my Sienna without another person helping, and even then, it's a difficult job I don't look forward to after a days paddling. The Hullavator Pro seemed like the solution. But the price... YIKES! I looked at the Yakima Showdown, which is almost HALF the cost of the Thule Hullavator Pro, but you have to reach up and pull OUT before you can drop down the kayak. Many of us of at retirement age simply don't have the strength to reach up that high and pull the entire weight OUT several feet before you can drop it down to load/unload. So the Yakima was out of the question for me. The Hullivator solves this with it's unique design. You simply pull down with it's gas assist struts which easily drop it down to the side of the car. Great design that works well... once you get it installed! Why only four stars? I'm a retired electronics technician. I've re-built many a car engine over the years. I'm pretty mechanically savvy and I can follow directions as well as anybody. I don't mind the Euro style multi language instructions that come with products if I could understand exactly what they wanted me to do. The instructions were sparse one liners that left you with lots of guessing and head scratching. For a product that's $50 shy of a thousand bucks, I expected a more detailed instruction manual. I eventually got frustrated and jumped on YouTube where a few good souls stepped through the process and showed me what the Thule manual lacked. At the very least, include a link in the instructions to a Thule video explaining and SHOWING us how to install their expensive product. Also... for something this expensive, and so easily removed from the roof in a matter of seconds, you absolutely need a lock. Thule doesn't provide one!! C'mon guys... how little would it affect your bottom line if you threw in couple of locks? Oh sure they sell them... cheap ones for $50! For me, that's an insult. But... they are the only game in town that does this so well, and they probably know that. So, they can ding you as much as they want. Therefore, can't in my right mind give them 5 full stars. For lack of a readable manual and a couple locks that probably would cost THEM maybe $10-15 at most, they are getting some negative feedback that will probably cost them some sales. To bad... otherwise it's a great product.

They are expensive, there was some difficulty putting them on, my wonderful brother did for me, but it is an absolute game changer for me! I love my old Town kayak, which is on the heavy side for me, but this makes it so easy to put the kayak on the roof of my SUV all by myself! I don’t even need to stand on a stepstool anymore! I also like the fact that I can lock it, don’t forget to purchase the locks if you want that option! I have these installed on my Evo wing bars… Happy paddling!

The Hullavator's sole and only purpose is to provide "lift assist". This is advertised as 40 pounds. After installing, it was unable to lift my wife's 36 pound kayak. As a scientist / engineer I decided to measure the lift capability of the individual arms. At the beginning of the lift, the first 6 inches or so, it was no more than 25 pounds (adding the individual results of each arm). During the majority of the lift, the next 21 inches or so, it was about 30 pounds. At the end, the last 6 inches it was slightly more, about 32 pounds. I then checked the gas struts and noticed a manufacturing date of 2008 (I just purchased this in March 2022). Providing just over 50% of the advertised lift at the beginning, when it is most important, seems to suggest either that the gas struts are defective or that Thule's advertising is misleading. I have reached out to Thule and will provide their response. Update: We had numerous correspondences with the Seller (New England Dive). Their responses mostly consisted of that we had done something wrong (either in installation or operation); even though, our explanations to them were clear and concise in that it was installed and operated in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Ultimately, they said they could not assist in that it was a warranty issue between us and the manufacturer (Thule). The measure of a Seller is not only how well they deliver, it is how well they respond if there is a issue. Based on this, I cannot recommend purchasing from New England Dive. As to the manufacturer, Thule, after almost a week, they responded. They identified the process to initiate a warranty claim and how long it would take. The process raised concerns in that: they would ultimately determine if it was a valid claim; the time to obtain replacement parts was unknown; and, we were responsible for shipping the defective parts back to Thule. While understandable, as a warranty process, considering that the product was defective out of the box (maybe Thule should implement some quality control to assure that what's put in the box isn't defective), this put too much on us to resolve what is effectively and essentially the fault of the manufacturer. In the end, the least hassle process was to simply return the product to the Seller.

I love this. If you have to lift your Kayak onto a tall vehicle and are not 6'8" with a great back, this will get the job done. I am 64 years old and have some back issues. We have 2 Hobie peddling kayaks that are somewhat heavy. that I have to get to the top of a 2500 Ram diesel. We tried a competing brand, and although I liked the idea that they folded flat, it was a real effort to get the kayaks onto the carrier. I had to get onto a step stool balancing the kayak (not an ideal situation), then climb onto the top of the truck topper to tie them down. The reverse of the process was just as problematic. We replaced that with 2 of these and have never regretted it. It makes getting the kayaks on and off the roof a snap. Although they were somewhat costly, I'm sure that the saved visits to the hospital or a chiropractor will more than offset the initial cost. I have not regretted the decision one moment. We use our kayaks a lot more than we otherwise would. Just note that it will add about 18" to your clearance (estimated). Someone asked if you could put one end on at a time. I have not tried that, but I believe it would work well.

Just in line with all of Thule products, well made but over engineered. Make sure you order all the parts for your precise model car. I thought I was quite handy. The Fit kits were a real challenge, first because they were not the ones for our Audi, so our fault I suppose though really not stressed in the product description. Took more than a full day of work. Instructions are worthless. Once on the car they did the job as advertised.

BEST thing I’ve ever purchased. I’m a young senior who is active (but can’t lift a kayak over my head by myself) Easy install. This allowed me to keep my independence and not have to ask for help to load and unload my kayak. It left room for J Hooks on the other side for company. Easy peasy to use and a huge show-stopper when I get to the lake. I’m truly amazed at this! WORTH EVERY PENNY

Instructions are useless. Watch install vids on youtube. Easy after that. You can attach to most roof racks easy. Don’t believe you need certain types of roof racks. I bolted mine easily to my current Rhino racks.

Excelente Soporte, para kayaks o tablas de SUP, se necesitan las barras especiales Thule para adaptarlo a tu auto. Sin esfuerzo. Subes tu kayak al techo de tu auto.

Make loading my kayak by myself so much easier.

This thing is a godsend! I'm 5ft and have an Xterra with 33" tires so getting a kayak on normally was a freaking feat in frustration. I absolutely love this thing. I read that there was an issue with rust but it seems that Thule has tackled that issue. I used the Thule 50" square cross bars that go around raised rails (can't remember what they are called). Worked perfect. Only needed just over a 4" overhang. Best several hundred dollars I've ever spent.