Thule Force 3 XL US

First of all, Amazon delivered this to me in one day, which was pretty awesome. We had a Thule a long time ago and the Force 3 definitely has some improvements over the older models. First off, the claps are now on a sliding system (the original one just had pre-drilled holes) so it seems to me that the Force 3 would fit on most factory installed crossbars. The new locking system is very secure- you turn a dial until it clicks three times. Feels rock solid. The other big improvement is the ability to open the Thule from both sides. This makes installation a lot easier, as well as loading/unloading. It only takes five minutes to put the Force 3 on or take it off. I couldn't decide between medium or large, but for $50 more I decided to go with the large since it will fit our SUV. If you have two people to lift it on and off the car it's pretty light. The only con is this item is pretty expensive, but it should last me many years as long as I don't forget it's on and drive into the garage. I'm paranoid so I'm putting a ladder on the garage floor to "remind" me.

So easy to install and held so much stuff on top of our Subaru ascent.

I just received this Thule Force cargo box from Amazon. Delivery was fast and right to the door. The box looked like an accordion when it arrived! I was worried that the contents would be smashed as well, however I was pleasantly surprised to see that the product came out unscathed. The reason the box took so many hits is that Thule shoves these cargo boxes into a rectangle box with ZERO padding around the product. The product literally sits loose inside the box during transit. Its only protection is plastic wrap! Thule: You need to do better here. This is not an acceptable way to ship your cargo boxes! That said: The cargo box itself is a SOLID product. Sure, it's made from plastic however the plastic is high quality and quite thick. I can see how getting banged around in a shipping box did nothing to the product. It is VERY stout with a strong shell. The instructions were loosely placed inside the plastic wrap. Once you unwrap the cargo box, you will find a set of keys inside a ziplock pouch that is glued adjacent to the lock on the cargo box. The keys came with no key ring so you might have to add that to your shopping list. Once the product was out and opened, you will find the that there are straps inside along with the 4 "claws" that attach to the box itself. I have had three Thule cargo boxes and out of the three, this one is THE best when it comes to attachment ease. Lemme tell ya: Past versions were a pain in the butt to configure. I move my cargo box from car to car depending on the situation so the old style was a hassle to adjust for each car. Not any more. The new style makes it a breeze to install the cargo box on just about any rail setup. You insert the claws into the metal lined slides inside the cargo box and you open them wide. Moving the cargo box is decent as its not too heavy. Maybe 35lbs so I was able to hoist the cargo box on top of the car myself. Once on top, you unlock the cargo box and move the claws to your rail locations. After that you simply twist a knob until it clicks tight. And they are TIGHT. I have extreme confidence that the claws are going to hold up! I chose this cargo box specifically for the dual sided access. I needed a box for my camper van that can be accessed from the drivers side as my ladder is on that side of the van. This Thule cargo box makes it easy with the dual access so it functions exactly as expected. What a great feature. Now for the part where I really scrutinize: The locking mechanism. Past cargo boxes aged with time and so did their locking mechanisms. They evolved to a point where they would kinda sorta lock and allow you to remove the key. However....They were not fully locked and you can guess what happens next. Yup...The first time it happened, we had a monopoly game that was stacked at the top of the cargo inside the box last minute. Sure enough, when the cargo box randomly sprang open on the highway, all of the monopoly money started whipping outside, leaving a trail of cash (litter) over a 1/4 mile run. It took over an hour to collect the litter. Needless to say, I was MAD! So on to the next one and that lasted for about 10 years before it started doing the same thing. I was cautious and thought it was really secure. . Nope! Again, it popped open along highway 26 and all of our camping gear whipped out all over the highway. This time, I gathered the gear and stashed it inside the van, leaving the cargo box and key at the side of the highway. Yeah, good luck with it. So the new cargo box with the slider lock seems like a huge step towards improving the confidence. I still don't have any confidence but over time it will build as long as the lock holds up. With this box, I have locks on BOTH sides so I have to remain vigilant that it is truly locked on both sides before taking off. Lastly: While the cargo box is quite roomy inside, the outside shape is really odd. When I first installed it, of course I installed it backwards. It seems as if Thule did not give much thought to the aerodynamics of the product because the rear end is sloped downward, therefore it is safe to assume that the slope would be more aerodynamic....The instructions depict the product installed backwards with a "NOT OK" symbol. Clearly, this is an issue. How hard would it have been to put an arrow inside the product during the mold process? "FRONT" would be wise as well. I ended up putting arrow stickers inside so it will stop any confusion. Otherwise, the product is great. It looks decent, it is SOLID and the locks seem secure. For that I give it 4 stars. It would have gotten 5 had they improved the product as mentioned in my review. Until then: 4 stars.

Fits great on our 2025 Expedition. Tons of space inside for multiple suitcases. A little bit of road noise on highway.

Haven't taken it out for a formal spin yet, but I had an older version, and this one worked seamlessly with my 3rd party roof racks on a Kia Telluride. Basically the same key system as my prior Thule model, easily opened from either side of the car.

I have a 2024 Toyota Sienna and the hatch will still hit the cargo carrier. The cross bars on the Toyota Sienna is NON-adjustable. I have the cargo carrier as far front as possible and it still rubs. Make sure you apply some foam weather seal to the rear of the cargo carrier. The cargo carrier itself is spacious and amazing and easy to set up. But it scratched my spoiler so I'm only giving it three stars. Even the instructions said it would clear the hatch opening. But it did NOT.

These things are expensive, but I love the Thule brand. Had an XL and drove int my garage with it… dumb move, but needed to upgrade to the XXL anyway. Overall awesome product that is easy to use and durable if you don’t break it yourself.

Large volume to hold a lot of items and things, in addition to skis. Comes with build-in lock and a pair of key. You will likely need 2 people to install and remove nut it’s pretty straight forward and can be done in a few minutes. Only down side is needs so much force until you hear the clicks on those twist clamp mounts. Cost wise, it’s expensive for a plastic box. But it seems to be well made and should last a long long time!

Item arrived today as expected. Box packaging good and intact but unfortunately upon opening midway across the cargo box was dented. The box size was perfect on my car but I had to return it for replacement.

Really great product, well made. It's a little difficult to close the latches when fully loaded, hence the 4 stars.