Thule Slipstream 887xt Hydro glide Review
 

Used for 2010 Hobie Outback on a Toyota Highlander

Instead of my planned maiden voyage this weekend I came down with a cold. It wasn't too bad but enough to keep me from heading out. So I stayed home and try to perfect my loading skills on my new slipstream.

Here is the product and how it should work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsjDL8Y7MtM

But I ran into some trouble....the saddles are canted too perpendicular. When I load they would just get stuck and won't pan out to the contour of my kayak. This caused two things one the balance of the kayak and two you can't push it forward. I set the width of my rack at the widest setting to. So this was what I did.(pic1-3) After that it worked like a charm. I love the fact that the load bar easily slides in and out with just a switch of two levers. Also the little gap on the rolling load bars surprising holds the kayak well. I tried loading from the the stern and bow. I find it alot easier loading the stern first. I have factory crossbars was the main reason why I went with the slipstream. It would have cost me another 70 bucks for mighty mounts and another 100 bucks for a yakima showboat. Couldn't justify paying that much for plastic clips so I gave Thule a try. At the end I'm pretty a happy with it.

Nice, I have a very similar setup. Except an STI instead of a Highlander. :) Add me to the happy Thule Slipstream camp!

Here are my pictures to help others as well.
http://fishingfiend.smugmug.com/Cars.../DSC1606-M.jpg
http://fishingfiend.smugmug.com/Cars.../DSC1624-M.jpg
http://fishingfiend.smugmug.com/Cars.../DSC1631-M.jpg
http://fishingfiend.smugmug.com/Cars.../DSC1626-M.jpg

did you have to cant the saddle like i did?

I have the same problem where the front saddles don't always lay flat when I'm loading the outback. My car is low enough to just walk over and adjust them. So far it has not bothered me enough to take action. I do like the idea of your fix and will take a better look the next time I use it.

OED

Looks like it fits on the factory cross bars on the highlander, but the Thule website says you _need_ there square bars. Did you need to may any mods
to get it on the factory highlander bars?

Paul

Hmmm last i read they are compatible with factory crossbars that was one of the reason i got it....they fit my highlanders factory crossbars without any mods or adaptors

fishingfiend love the photos. I am looking at getting a Thule Slipstream for my 2014 STI. :)

Are the slipstream bars holding up ok with the weight of outback when extended? Thule website says the weight limit for slipstream is 75lbs. Outback probably weighs a bit more than that.