Kuat  Grip 6 Ski/Snowboard Rack

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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…

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.

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.

We have used this in Oregon and an Utah. In the mild climate of Utah it works as intended but in the harsher colder temps and higher humidity levels of Oregon the slides freeze in place becoming useless. When this works as intended they are cumbersome but better than a stationary roof rack carrier. I am 5ft 6in and these are on top of our rav4 prime XSE and When the carrier is open I can’t reach the handles to close them without climbing the vehicle.. I wish I had an extension hook or something that would allow me to bring the tops down without having to climb the vehicle. Like I said We threw these on top of our rav4 prime on OEM cross bars and there isn’t much noticeable wind noise when driving at highway speeds. We love the lower profile body compared to the Thule. I don’t like the position of the locking cylinder because I can’t access it without climbing the vehicle.. the locking cylinders should have been facing where people stand on the side of the vehicle for better ergonomics. Overall these are extremely cumbersome for me to use by myself but my husband loves them and has no issue using them as he is taller and can easily reach and access these without needing to climb on the vehicle.. If you are throwing these onto a taller vehicle and are a shorter person then these will probably be cumbersome to use without a step stool, ladder, or climbing your vehicle. If it weren’t for my husband helping to offload and load the vehicle then I would probably become very frustrated with these. I am already frustrated with it and want to keep the lock in an unlocked position all the time because I can’t easily access the lock to “unlock” the latches and of course my husband keeps the carrier “locked” all the time. My overall impression is that there is room for improvement!