Kuat Grip 6 Ski/Snowboard Rack
When the temperature drops and the sky starts to spit flakes, it's time to throw the fully locking Kuat Grip 6 ski/snowboard rack on your vehicle's roof and head for the slopes.
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- GripLock™ rubber securely holds skis or snowboards of varying sizes
- Slide-out feature makes it easy to load and unload
- Fully locking Flip™ mount system allows for quick installation and removal
- Metal outer shell provides unmatched strength
- Large, intuitive handle makes operation a breeze
Imported.
View all Kuat Roof-Top Ski and Snowboard Racks| Best Use | Snowsports Snowboarding Downhill Skiing Cross-country Skiing |
|---|---|
| Ski Load Capacity | 6 pairs |
| Snowboard Load Capacity | 4 |
| Weight | 23 pounds |
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Quick, easy, secure, and locked safe!
Fantastic ski/snowboard rack! I've been looking for a new rack and this one exceeded all my expectation that I knew would come from Kuat. This was easy to install with only 4 bolts. It fit perfectly on my tall SUV. I love how easily adjustable it is to fit on any crossbar, so I can transfer it to my other cars. The tray sliding out for easy loading and unloading blew my mind. Again, I have a tall SUV and this made it super easy without having trying to avoid scratching up the top and side of your car. The grips are tough but not abrasive at all. The arm comes down tight and adjusts to the thickness that is needed for different size skis and snowboards without any work to fit. It adjusts itself. Quick, easy, secure, and locked safe. Love it!
Best Ski/Board Rack I've used!!
This Rack is simply amazing! Super easy to install and adjust. I was surprised how easy & fast the installation was. The slid out rails are a game changer for grabbing your boards or skis. Even for an average height person like me. I really dig the box rubber design that secure your skis or boards to the rack.
Another amazing product from Kuat
Kuat bike racks are top quality and this ski rack is no different! The rack is mostly made of metal and the features all well thought out. I've previously owned the another top brand rack which was a great rack, but the Grip 6 is a step up. This rack automatically adjusts the hinged end to comply with multiple boards or skis. The locking mechanism works even with the rack stuffed full, something some of my previously racks struggled with. The pullout feature is fantastic and I don't have to climb up on my door jambs or tires anymore! I haven't had the opportunity to test this with heavy snow and ice, but the locking mechanism seems well constructed and looks to have adequate clearance. I have off-brand roof bars that have very wide attachments and the Grip 6 mounts overlapped in some odd ways so it took a bit of extra work to mount. Thats more an issue with the roof bars. This is the best rack I've had so far!
Fantastic design and quality
I absolutely love my new Kuat Grip 6 Ski Rack. The quality and design is unparalleled. This was evident from receipt as my product as it was delivered in a banded box that was also poly wrapped. Upon opening, the weight of the solid metal rails just feels like quality and the hinges function is extremely smooth. The units come only needing to install the mounting brackets, which took about 10 minutes following the well written user guide. Installation on the car is simple as well. I like many of the features and small details built into this rack. The wide platform of each rack and function of the locking secures the skis much better than other racks I have used. The large grip handle in particular makes opening and closing this rack very easy even with gloves on. I also like the locking mechanism, which uses a sliding tab that clearly displays locking position and is easy to use. The unit can then be locked with a key lock. I should note that the unit quality locks that were pre-installed on all 4 mounting brackets and both rails that all work very smoothly. I like the slide out feature a lot. I have not yet used it in snowy conditions yet, but makes loading and unloading skis much easier. With prior racks, I always opened the back door and stood on the door frame to load/unload. With this system, I can simply slides out the trays, load from ground level and slide them back in. This is really important loading a full 6 ski rack. I was nervous if there would be enough clearance to use this feature with my Subaru Outback, but it works well. I have not had the rack in use on long trips yet, but I had minimal noise driving at 65 mph. I expect it will make similar noise to other ski racks at higher speeds or on windy days. Overall, I think this is a well designed and constructed ski rack that I can highly recommend.
Best Ski Rack - Worth the Price
Great design features and robust design. I used a Yakima Fat Cat for 3 years and though I liked it, the latching mechanism deteriorated and I was worried it might pop open while driving. I went to replace it and decided to give the Kuat a try. The latching mechanism is bomber with a secondary slide to keep the latch in place. Then you can key lock that slide if desired. I just returned from a ski trip driving through rain, ice, and snow and though the Kuat was covered in a 1/4” of ice, the locks and latch worked perfect. The slide mechanism didn’t work When covered in ice, but the whole thing was seriously iced up beyond what I would expect it to work. I love the segmented rubber grips that holds the skis which adapts to each ski / board thickness way better than one long continuous rubber grip. This feature alone is awesome. I had 2 boards and 3 pairs of skis (105mm, 96mm, 85mm) no problem. Worth the extra money because I doubt it needs replacing in a few years.
AVOID AT ALL COSTS
DO NOT BUY THIS RACK!!! My Kuat ski rack broke in two pieces on the highway going 50 mph after about 5 uses. 5 pairs of skis were run over by cars and destroyed. The clamp that holds the skis down literally broke off. We have been in contact with Kuat and they have not done anything to remedy this loss due to a malfunction of the rack. The rack was used as directed and locked, yet we have lost thousands of dollars of ski gear due to this rack's malfunction, and also incurred ticketing costs because the skis caused flat tires on the cars behind us.
The best
There's a lot of perfectly good racks that'll do the job safely. The Kuat is head and shoulders above the others though for convenience, design and construction. First, the slide out is great - there's others that do that, but the Kuat's is super smooth and sturdy. The rubber teeth keep everything nice and tight by gripping everything individually. It's a pleasure to be able to lock the rack down with a button instead of having to fumble with keys all the time. I love that the hinge expands when you load items back there, so it always closes level. The handle is huge and easy to operate. Plus it's all metal construction and just feels so much more solid than all the plastic competitors. I've had Thule and Yakima racks - fine products, but so much happier with the Kuat.
Don’t Use Sliding Feature With Powder On Roof
Probably the best rack on the market, and the sliding feature is nice. However, if you use that feature after a night of snowfall on your roof, it will not slide back into position as snow quickly fills the tracks of the rack and then compresses into the hinges when you try to slide it back into place. This does not allow you to shut your rack or have the audible click of it sliding back into a locked position. This was especially frustrating after figuring this out on the morning after 12 inches fell and I couldn’t get my racks to shut until i got on the roof of the car and used a screw driver to scrape out the compressed snow in the hinges, and a broom to sweep off all the pow on my roof…
Game Changing Design, Build & Features
Wow, very smart design. The pull out tray feature is a game changer. I have a 4runner TRD and I’m 5’11” and putting skis up on my old Yakima, I had to be so careful not to scrap the car as it was a challenging reach. With the Kuat this is no problem. Also the Kuat is extremely well built. I like that there are no plastic sections on the rack to fade in the sun. They are heavier and use materials similar to their bike racks. The install process is super easy compared to anything else I’ve used. Note that the other 1 star review on REI is not for the Grip 6…just look at their pictures.
Best ski rack on the market
I previously had a Yakima FatCat 6 on my 4Runner and it worked great but I always thought the rounded shape looked dorky. I saw the Kuat Grip 6 and loved the appearance, then when I saw it had the sliding tray I decided it was worth it to sell my FatCat and upgrade to the Grip. After this last ski trip where I was loading/unloading 4 snowboards + 1 pair of skis on the rack everyday for 5 days straight, I can definitely say that the Grip 6 is worth it. I previously had a Yakima FatCat 6 on my 4Runner and it worked great but I always thought the rounded shape looked dorky. I saw the Kuat Grip 6 and loved the appearance, then when I saw it had the sliding tray I decided it was worth it to sell my FatCat and upgrade to the Grip. After this last ski trip where I was loading/unloading 4 snowboards + 1 pair of skis on the rack everyday for 5 days straight, I can definitely say that the Grip 6 is worth it. PROS Aesthetics: - Hands down the best-looking ski rack on the market. I love the shape and the metal handles. Functionality: - Attaching the rack to the crossbars takes about 10% of the time it did with my Yakima FatCat 6. Unlike FatCat, you only need to adjust the tension in the strap the first time you set it up, then all you have to do is flip the quick disconnect to pull it on/off (and lock/unlock it with the key). - The sliding tray works amazingly well. Two concerns I had before I bought it were 1) the trays would bind up as you pushed them in and 2) my snowboard bindings would catch on the car roof and stop the tray from moving. Neither of these ended up being issues (just makes sure you push both trays in unison so they don't bind, and attach the straps on your snowboard bindings so they don't flop down). - I like that there are 6 locks on the rack: 1 on each foot, and 1 on each metal handle. Durability: - Everything looks and feels beefy - After I washed my car, I left the swing arms open to dry in my garage overnight. The next morning I went to open the garage door and a metal bracket on the door slammed into the open swing arm. I felt like an idiot, but luckily nothing was damaged -- all I had to do was loosen the two screws for "tilt", rotate the rack back upright, then re-tighten the screws. CONS - Slight noise of wind whistling on the rack at around 30-40 mph. I'm not sure if the visor in front of my sunroof is affecting to this or not. My Yakima FatCat 6 rack made a similar noise. - Sometimes the toothed part of the swing arm doesn't fully engage with the other end. I've noticed this happen when I have the rack full and I don't close the arm down completely straight. Again, the Yakima FatCat 6 had the exact same issue. If smack the top of it with your fist it will click loudly and engage. - One of the lock cores fell out the first time I was setting up the rack. I messaged Kuat Support and I asked for a new set of cores. I was expecting to be disappointed that they would only send one non-matching core (so I would need two different keys for the rack), but this was not the case. Within 3 days I received a new set of 6 matching lock cores, free of charge. Because they handled the problem so efficiently, I will still give this rack a 5 star review. Summary: Get this rack. It's not cheap, but it's a great product that will last a long time.