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Yakima Overhaul vs Truxedo Elevate: Sport Ladder Rack Product Comparison
When it comes to outfitting your truck with a versatile, height adjustable truck rack, the Yakima Overhaul HD and the Truxedo Elevate are two of the top contenders on the market. Both racks offer a sturdy construction, select tonneau cover compatibility, and a list of accessories to tailor the system to your intended use case. In this comprehensive comparison, we'll dive into the key aspects of these racks, including compatibility with tonneau covers, construction, features, and pricing, to help you make an informed decision.
Product Design:
While these two truck racks are often cross shopped by those in the market for this type of truck rack, they both approach the segment with a different design and level of complexity. The Yakima OverHaul HD has been on the market for quite some time, and certainly is a step above the Elevate in its design characteristics and available accessories. The Truxedo Elevate is more of a simple, get the job done truck rack with more limited height adjustability and less in the name of accessories that are available for it sold by Truxedo. However this doesn’t rule out the Elevate immediately, and you will see why as we get more in depth into these differences in design.
Compatibility with Tonneau Covers
One of the crucial factors most consider when choosing one of these truck racks is compatibility with a tonneau cover. Both the Yakima Overhaul HD and the Truxedo Elevate are designed to work seamlessly with various tonneau cover styles. The OverHaul HD has a shorter list of covers that it is compatible with, and requires an adapter to fit to any of them. The Truxedo Elevate includes hardware to mount to most covers with existing tracks running along the top of the bed rail, and Truxedo’s TS Rail Kit can be purchased separately to adapter covers not of this style to work with the rack. Below are some of the confirmed cover options for each truck rack.
- Yakima Overhaul HD: This rack is confirmed to be compatible with the RetraxPro XR, RetraxOne XR (with Yakima Tonneau Kit 1), and Roll N Lock M Series XT (with Roll N Lock Adapter) in conjunction with the Tonneau Kit 1 Adapter.
- Truxedo Elevate: The Elevate is also compatible with many different tonneau covers, such as the Revolver X4ts, RetraxOne XR, RetraxPro XR, Roll N Lock M Series XT. When paired with the TS Rails the Elevate can also be used with the BAK MX4, Truxedo Lo Pro, Truxedo Pro X15, Truxedo Sentry, and Truxedo Sentry CT.
Construction and Durability
Both the Yakima Overhaul HD and the Truxedo Elevate are built to withstand the rigors of outdoor use and heavy loads.
- Yakima Overhaul: Constructed from high-quality steel, the Overhaul offers exceptional durability and strength. It features a powder-coated finish that protects against rust and corrosion. All height adjustment bolts feel sturdy and well made, giving you confidence that they won’t strip out easily with consistent use. This rack is rated for 500 lbs, or 300 lbs off-road. When fitted to a tonneau cover, the weight rating drops to 300 lbs, or 180 lbs off-road.
- Truxedo Elevate: The Elevate is also constructed from a durable steel, and features a powder-coated finish. It offers a robust construction with reinforced crossbars, and a sturdy mounting system. The Elevate is rated for 500 lbs, or 250 lbs off-road. Elevate does not call out a lower weight rating when fitted to a Tonneau Cover or TS Rail System.
Functionality & Flaws
Yakima Overhaul HD and the Truxedo Elevate share similar capabilities, however it’s the fine details of each system that can make one system better suited for a particular use case over the other.
- Yakima Overhaul: One of the best parts of the Overhaul HD are the Heavy-Duty crossbars, which provide a sturdy loading surface without being oversized. Meaning most traditional roof rack accessories such as bike racks, kayak carriers, cargo boxes, recovery board mounts, sidebars, etc are a possibility. The design of the truck rack with its tapered uprights make for a really sleek looking truck rack, however when it comes to the height adjustment there certainly are a few steps during the process. Due to the tapered upright, to adjust the height it is required that all 4 of the height adjustment bolts on each of the 4 uprights be loosened, as well as the 2 bolts securing the upright to the crossbar. This means that to adjust the height of this rack, you have to loosen and tighten 24 bolts. Not the end of the world if this is something you don’t plan to do frequently, but for folks who wish to adjust the height often this might not be the rack for you.
Truxedo Elevate: The Elevate also features a sturdy crossbar and height adjustment. The process to adjust the height on the Elevate is certainly a quicker process, and requires less hardware be loosened during the process. Since the Elevate only has 3 height settings, it takes a lot of guessing out what height to go with for your truck as they are predetermined for you. The Elevate system overall is a much simpler system, and in many cases simpler can be better in the truck rack space. The biggest drawback to the Elevate is the dimension of the crossbar. It is quite oversized, and clamping around the bar is not possible for most accessories. This requires usage of the T-slot for most accessories, certainly shrinking the pool of compatible accessory options.
Pricing
Pricing for the Yakima Overhaul and the Truxedo Elevate vary for both racks depending on the application and any additional mounting hardware that may be needed. The Elevate is a fair bit less expensive than the OverHaul HD in almost any configuration, with a retail price of $849.99 if fitting the rack directly to a compatible tonneau cover, or $1,089.99 if the TS Rail mounting system is required. The OverHaul HD starts at $1,318.90 for Uprights and Crossbars, if an additional mounting kit is required that could add $139.95 to that price.
Conclusion
The decision between the Yakima Overhaul HD and the Truxedo Elevate like most decisions in the rack industry ultimately depends on your individual preferences, compatibility, and intended use. Both racks offer excellent quality, durability, and versatility. By carefully considering factors such as tonneau cover compatibility, construction, features, and pricing, you can select the ladder rack that best suits your needs and provides a reliable platform for carrying your equipment. We hope this article has given you a better grasp on each rack's strong suits and shortcomings to make that decision. Of course, if you still have some questions reach out to our Rack Experts using the contact us section on our website!
