Best Kayak Lift assist: Thule Hullavator VS Yakima Showdown

Thule Hullavator VS Yakima Showdown

We know the fierce rivalry between Thule and Yakima; the two major brands in the car rack industry.

To get ahead of Yakima, Thule made a new tech that could help you lift the kayak onto your car.

The idea was to help the kayakers in loading kayaks by reducing the kayak weight. They were very successful with this product.

After a few years, Yakima also joined the party. And they entered the kayak lift-assist racks market with the rack Showdown.

With Showdown they opted for a more budget-friendly option.

And ever since these two went toe to toe with each other. Now let’s discuss which one got the upper hand in this Thule Hullavator vs Yakima Showdown battle.

Ease of Installation

In this segment, Yakima Showdown takes the lead. The lift assist racks are complex in design.

So, you might think they take a few hours to install. But in reality, the Hullavator takes around 30 minutes to install and the Showdown takes only 10 minutes.

The Yakima Showdown comes fully assembled out of the box. And the installation is short and easy.

In the process, the task that takes most of the time is placing the gripping on the surface that reduces slippage and increases protection.

And it has a clamp design to make installation and uninstallation much easier and quicker.

Just make sure to tighten the clamps before using the Showdown every time.

On the other hand, Hullavator comes in pieces. So you have to do the assembly.

The assembly takes around 30 minutes and it is the difficult part of the process but the good thing is you have to do it only once.

After the setup, you have to install the crossbar attachment brackets on the crossbars.

These brackets should always be on your crossbars. And the arms have pivoting pins that connect with the crossbars.

So you can install and remove the arms whenever you want.

Ease of Use

Showdown and Hullavator both are user-friendly. But the Hullavator makes you do less work than Showdown.

Both of them come down to waist level so that you can load the kayak on them easily.

After loading the kayak from the sides comes the strapping part. You can strap the kayak securely from the waist level.

After that, these two have different functions in getting the kayak on top of the car.

In the Hullavator you don’t have to worry about the kayak’s weight.

Because Hulavator has gas struts that assist you with doing around 40 lbs of the heavy lifting. This means half the required lifting force is removed.

The gas struts are the main reason behind the Hullavator getting the edge.

In the Showdown, however, you won’t get that much assistance.

Showdown will help you in sliding the kayak upward after loading it on the arms.

It doesn’t reduce that much weight but it helps with the lifting process.

Safety

When you are working with an expensive roof rack with an expensive kayak you should look out for safety issues that could do damage to your investments.

Among the Hullavator and Showdown, the Hullavator is more secure and it doesn’t have security issues.

But on the Showdown, you should look out for a few things.

First is the Hand Knob. The Hand Knob is easy to use but it also has a chance to come loose.

And the second issue is the clamps as they don’t go around your crossbar entirely. So on the round crossbars, they might become loose.

And third is you have to always tuck in the side mirrors while loading. This warning is for both the Showdown and the Hullavator users.

Warranty

Both Hullavator and Showdown have limited lifetime warranties.

It means if some part of these breaks and you are not the reason (misinstall or misuse) for it then the manufacturers will have to repair it forever.

So you can be assured that they will last or else the manufacturers wouldn’t have been so confident.

Compatibility

This is the most important part of choosing your rack. If the rack you are buying doesn’t fit your crossbars it will be devastating.

So, you should check the manufacturer’s website to find it out.

Yakima Fit Guide Link

Thule Fit Guide Link

Price

Kayak racks that have lift-assistance technology are very expensive.

They are made for people who have a premium taste and who are in need of lift assistance.

But they are worth it for their design and features.

Between the two, Hullavator is a couple of hundred dollars more expensive than Showdown.

So, if you want a cheaper option go for the Showdown but remember that Showdown helps you with the transition but you still have to do most of the lifting.

On the other hand, Hullavator helps you in your lifting with the gas struts. So go for Hullavator if you have the budget for it.