[Garnoch]

Installed Thule Sonic XL 635B

After searching here, I hadn't seen any pictures of this model so thought I'd post some for people who are interested. Even though I had never had to install a cargo box before it was fairly easy, and from this point on, it will be extremely easy. After installing it yesterday, we took it for a 30 minute ride on back roads and the highway and were pleasantly surprised that we couldn't even tell it was there. The car drove the same and there was no noise. We'll be taking a 10 to 11 hour trip with it in less than a week. Here are a couple pictures with a little hurricane damage behind the JX haha.

 

[yeller]

Wow, looks great. Looks like my Atlantis 1800, but a bit narrower. Thule makes a good cargo box.

What are you using to climb up and screw the claws to the crossbars? Step ladder?

 

[Garnoch]

Yeah it really does look very nice. My daughter's boyfriend said it looked like it was made for the car and didn't look "stupid" like a lot of cars look. I thought that was funny, but I agreed it looked nice.

My wife is 5' and I'm 5'8" so she used a step stool to just help me place it on top. From there I would have needed something to climb up on if only one side opened but since it opens from either side, I didn't need anything. I just opened the doors so I could step up, moved the claws so the box was as far back as I could get it, latched one side and closed the lid. Then I moved to the other side, opened the lid and clamped it. Done. I'm a little OCD unfortunately, so then I actually loosened them, moved it over a 1/4" and clamped it back down.

 

[Garnoch]

Yeller, which accessory do you use to hang your box on the Gladiator GarageWorks and does it hang by using the box's clamps to attach to it? Thanks.

 

[Mayoo]

Wow nice install. the whole thing looks blended with the SUV !!!!

 

[jeverall]

Nice, looks great, like it was made for this vehicle!

 

[yeller]

Yeller, which accessory do you use to hang your box on the Gladiator GarageWorks and does it hang by using the box's clamps to attach to it? Thanks.

I've attached a few photos since I don't know the name. Basically the hook comes out, then arcs back towards the wall horizontally. The Thule hooks basically sit on the hook.

 

[Garnoch]

Ah, those pictures did the trick. Thanks, Yeller! I place an order two days ago.

We leave tomorrow morning so I'll report back on how it worked out while packed on a long trip.

 

[Garnoch]

Alright, so today we took (surprisingly) an exactly 600 mile trip with the new Thule today. Filled it fully front to back with duffle bags. I would guess around 75 lbs. We couldn't even tell it was there. I'm sure there must have been some extra wind noise and a milage hit, but we didn't notice anything. After a couple hours and an average speed of 60 MPH, we were at 23.9 MPG. The speed limit then increased and a couple hours later with an average speed of 66 MPH, we were at 23.2 MPG. Unfortunately, we then hit hours of stop and go slow traffic. Because of that, the final outcome was an average speed of 52 MPH with 21.0 MPG.

 

[yeller]

Glad to hear your roadtrip went well. I too am surprised my Thule doesn't have any wind noise.

Thule makes a great product.

 

[harlenm]

I have an older Thule, the Ascent line. Just did 750 mile trip and averaged just around 22mpg. This was also with a brand new JX, only 80 miles on it when we started the trip. All is well except a faulty piece of weatherstripping and a squeaky driver door armrest.