Thule roof rack, box and cage installed on R1S for road trip

[StefanB]

We are headed out on a round trip from CA to Telluride and back. We might be crazy but we are going to try it in the R1S. Camping along the way.

We have 4 humans and 2 dogs (lab and golden) so we will only have use of the frunk.
To ensure we have enough storage I wanted to put our roof box and a Yakima SkinnyWarrior cage on top.

I wasn't able to get the necessary width with the Rivian bars and decided to get the Thule set up. I am very impressed with their fit kit and overall build quality. Mounts are super solid.
I used the rear most mount points which works well and is not very noisy on the highway. I'll do some range tests and post a follow-up.

What I installed:
Thule Evo Fixpoint
Thule Wingbar Evo - length 150
Fit kit 187139
Thule Motion XT XL roof box
Yakima SkinnyWarrior cage

Hope this helps someone who needs to take a lot of gear.

Sponsored

 

[wicked2112]

Does Thule even have a fit for the Riian R1S???? If they don't. be Extremely careful!!!

 

[Dark-Fx]

Does Thule even have a fit for the Riian R1S???? If they don't. be Extremely careful!!!

The mounting points are exactly the same between vehicles. This probably just means they haven't gotten an R1S to test the fit on.

 

[StefanB]

Thule has a fit kit for the R1T. Which I also confirmed with them. Since it is the exact same mount between the R1T and R1S I don't see an issue. The Thule mounts and bars are more solid than the Rivian OEM bars are. They are also quieter with just the bars. The Rivian bars are very easy to take on and off though so I plan to use both depending on the mission.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Have you taken them off yet? Curious if the attachment design ends up causing damage to the top of the roof mounts.

 

[WSea]

Interesting! Wasn't aware that Thule made mounts for Rivians.

 

[StefanB]

Have you taken them off yet? Curious if the attachment design ends up causing damage to the top of the roof mounts.

I haven't, just put them on the other day. I'd be surprised if there is damage. I'm not a Thule fanboy but after having had to adjust my Rivian (Yakima) bars many times this is a more familiar setup process from my past vehicles. And seems pretty straight forward and well thought out by Thule.

Thekit works by hooking onto the mount point and has a custom rubber foot to make contact with the roof. You then tighten the foot onto the hook and Thule includes a torque wrench so you don't under or over tighten. Then the bar mount is attached to the now tightened foot. Overall a rather impressive set up.

After we get back in mid August I'll take everything off and send photos of how it looks.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I haven't, just put them on the other day. I'd be surprised if there is damage. I'm not a Thule fanboy but after having had to adjust my Rivian (Yakima) bars many times this is a more familiar setup process from my past vehicles. And seems pretty straight forward and well thought out by Thule.

Thekit works by hooking onto the mount point and has a custom rubber foot to make contact with the roof. You then tighten the foot onto the hook and Thule includes a torque wrench so you don't under or over tighten. Then the bar mount is attached to the now tightened foot. Overall a rather impressive set up.

After we get back in mid August I'll take everything off and send photos of how it looks.

I've seen photos of how the hook works from Reddit. Steel pushing into what feels like aluminum is always going to make a depression into the aluminum. Of course there is also the chance that the reddit person didn't follow the instructions properly, but it certainly looks to jive with what the instructions say.

 

[Ripped]

I'd definitely like to see a close-up of the mounting with the Thule setup. Makes sense that Rivian would have some cross-compatibility. Certainly make it easy for the outdoorsy people

 

[wicked2112]

The mounting points are exactly the same between vehicles. This probably just means they haven't gotten an R1S to test the fit on.

Just be careful as Thule could come back and say we never tested this on this vehcle. If they have and it works, AWESOME!

 

[Yossarian]

Good stuff @StefanB, and thanks for posting. We will also be traveling with two dogs, and will be looking to mount a Thule Force top box on our R1S (when we get it). It's good to know that the noise level is tolerable with a top box in place, but what about the impact on range?

 

[StefanB]

Good stuff @StefanB, and thanks for posting. We will also be traveling with two dogs, and will be looking to mount a Thule Force top box on our R1S (when we get it). It's good to know that the noise level is tolerable with a top box in place, but what about the impact on range?

@Yossarian With the Rivian bars I was able to get just the roof box on top without a space issue. We used that over the winter to drive to Tahoe a few times. My normal efficiency (no roof box or bars) is about 2.1 mile / kwh driving at 75 mph. WIth just the roof box we would be roughly 1.8 mile / kwh.

Yesterday I did a few test runs setting the cruise control at 70 mph on the highway. Was only 8 mile stretch but I was getting 1.7 miles / kwh. So I'm guessing this will be about a 20% range hit on highway driving.

Around town driving 20-40 mph there is no effect. I am averaging 2.1-2.3 miles / kwh.

 

[rivianforumuser]

Following-up to see if removing everything had any issues. Also, the link above is for 150 length bars, but Thule in their bundle for the R1S lists 135 length, can you confirm the correct length please?

https://www.thule.com/en-us/roof-rack/car-roof-racks/thule-wingbar-evo-_-am711xxx

I'm ordering the same setup

 

[StefanB]

Following-up to see if removing everything had any issues. Also, the link above is for 150 length bars, but Thule in their bundle for the R1S lists 135 length, can you confirm the correct length please?

https://www.thule.com/en-us/roof-rack/car-roof-racks/thule-wingbar-evo-_-am711xxx

I'm ordering the same setup

I went with the 150 bars as they allowed me to get the roofbox and cage on the rack. My measurements were that the 135s would not allow that. If just getting a cage OR the box 135 should work just fine. I don't have any issues with the 150s but if I used the front and middle mounts they might hit tall people in the head. They do not extend past the mirrors.

Taking them off is akin to a normal vehicle, it was about a 5-10 minute job total. The feet are in 2 pieces so that took the most time.

Overall I use the Rivian bars if I need bars quickly, like for my surfboards, and the Thule for longer term usage, like ski season roof box or road trips.

Hope this helps

 

[MPBR1S]

We are headed out on a round trip from CA to Telluride and back. We might be crazy but we are going to try it in the R1S. Camping along the way.

We have 4 humans and 2 dogs (lab and golden) so we will only have use of the frunk.
To ensure we have enough storage I wanted to put our roof box and a Yakima SkinnyWarrior cage on top.

I wasn't able to get the necessary width with the Rivian bars and decided to get the Thule set up. I am very impressed with their fit kit and overall build quality. Mounts are super solid.
I used the rear most mount points which works well and is not very noisy on the highway. I'll do some range tests and post a follow-up.

What I installed:
Thule Evo Fixpoint
Thule Wingbar Evo - length 150
Fit kit 187139
Thule Motion XT XL roof box
Yakima SkinnyWarrior cage

Hope this helps someone who needs to take a lot of gear.

Sponsored