ProView – Thule Force 3 XL Review

Living in Colorado offers the incredible opportunity to embark on adventures year-round. Whether it’s a day trip to Copper or a weekend camping getaway in Winter Park, we’re always on the move. The only challenge? Finding a place to store all of our gear. 

No matter the weather I’m always out doing some adventure. I spend my summer mountain biking, hiking, and camping. In the winter, you’ll always find me on the slopes. With all these activities comes the surplus amount of gear that’s included. 

For years, I was the type of person who would throw my skis and poles in the back of the car without a second thought. However, I’ve come to realize that this straightforward approach has a range of downsides. For one, the skis are prone to damage, and the backseat space quickly becomes cramped for passengers. To make matters worse, they can obstruct the driver’s view, which is a major safety concern. When it comes to overnight bike trips, it’s an entirely different nightmare. We used to camp out in the car next to all our gear, including our helmets, shoes, pumps, spare tires, an excessive tool kit, and all our clothing. This left no space to move around, and, more annoyingly, the gear would constantly slide around while driving.

Now with the Thule Force 3 Cargo Box, we can load everything we need onto the roof. It’s a total game-changer—more space, less hassle, and a much more comfortable experience overall.

Installation

The whole installation process was super smooth. Thule has this awesome tool on their website that lets you easily pick the right crossbars for your car and match them with the roof box you want. As someone who used to sell Thule products, I used this tool all the time with customers to make sure they were getting the right setup. The roof box comes with four claw clamps that you simply drop into place once it’s sitting on the crossbars. The clamps are adjustable vertically, which is a genius design because every car has different spacing between the crossbars. Once you’ve got the roof box in the position you want, just tighten the clamps until they’re secure. I gave the box a good shake to make sure everything was nice and tight. I placed the box right in the center of the roof, but if you prefer a certain side to open, you can adjust it however you like.

Performance

The Force 3 is not only incredibly sleek but also packed with space for all your gear. Thule designed the box to be as streamline as possible in the hopes to reduce the classic “roof box wind noise” that traditional boxes have. The Force 3 is so aerodynamic that we thought we were putting the box on backwards!  With an impressive 18 cubic feet of storage in the XL version, we had no trouble fitting all four pairs of skis and poles. I was honestly surprised by how much bike gear we could fit in there as well! We packed in all our tools, pump, helmets, gear bags, and spare tires—and still had room to spare. With a weight capacity of 165 lbs, we didn’t hold back on loading it up. The box automatically locks once it is closed properly. This feature has been incredibly convenient for us since we tend to leave our skis in the box overnight if we are planning on skiing the next morning.The Force 3 looks as durable as it feels. Made with an Aeroskin material, it stands up to the ever-changing Colorado weather without showing signs of wear. It’s the perfect mix of style, function, and ruggedness. 

Friendliness to the Earth

While I can’t speak to the exact eco-friendliness of the Aeroskin material, I can confidently say that the Force 3 roof box is incredibly durable. It’s easy to imagine this product lasting for many years. In fact, I’ve often seen Thule roof boxes on other vehicles that look like they’ve been with their owners for decades. Of course, with a product this large, shipping can sometimes come with its challenges. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there wasn’t much leftover packaging waste after unboxing. Considering the size of the box, the minimal amount of trash was a nice surprise. 

Room for Improvement

One downside we’ve noticed with the Force 3 roof box is that accessing it at home can be a bit tricky. While we’re fortunate to have covered parking, the combination of our car being slightly lifted and the height of the roof box makes it tough to get to it easily when the car is parked. The fix? We’ve learned to grab everything we need before fully parking. In a traditional parking garage, though, it’s no issue at all—there’s just enough clearance to open the box without a problem.

We did notice some slight wind noise on the highway when cruising at 70 mph or above, but it was minimal and not bothersome. We also took the roof box for a spin on some non-paved roads, which was an important test for us since we spend a lot of our summers navigating these types of trails. Despite a bit of rattling (thanks to the crossbars on our 4Runner, which aren’t the strongest), the box held up surprisingly well! Overall, it’s been a solid addition to our setup.

The Final Word

If you’re searching for the perfect year-round addition to your car, I can’t recommend the Thule Force 3 enough. One of my favorite features is the ability to open the box from both sides—especially handy when we’re squeezing into tight parking spots. Plus, we no longer have to cram the dog next to our skis when heading to the resort (and trust me, she’s loving the extra space). While I do wish it was a little quieter on the highway, it’s not surprising given the combination of the car’s height and the box. Despite that, we’re beyond excited to have the Thule Force 3 as part of our setup for years to come!

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