Yakima and Thule make fine carriers. Inno has good after market ones too. I am not sure what else you will need. Do you already have bars or are you trying to mount to what is already on your Exploder?
Also, pay a little extra and get the 6 ski 4 board carrier. You're going to end up wishing you had it anyway.
Depending on how low you rack sits, you might want to get the ones that angle elevate. Another handy feature are ones that have slide rails that pull out so you can get to boards in the back of the rack. I would imagine for your vehicle that would help. I think you can only get one or the other with those features though.
I've had my Packasport System 90 for over twenty years, which is mounted directly to my stock Honda crossbars, because with Yakima bars, I can't park in the garage. I've used it during the summer as well, crammed full of firewood, mtn bike wheels, sleeping bags, etc.
I've had 6 boards in it or 4 boards with 2 pair of skis. One reason I like the Packsport is because, no one knows if it's empty or full of thousands of dollars of gear.
The best place to look for one is Craigslist, I see them on the Seattle C/L all the time (stick to the system 90 or larger) from $200 to $500, new they are $1100+. Most of them over time fade to a gray color, but all you need to do is pick up brillow pad at Home Depot, to scuff it and smooth it out a little, then some good spray paint, you can even go to an Automotive shop and pick up Duplicolor paint to match your car, I just paint it gloss black, that way it matches all my cars.
I've even let friends barrow it for vacation/road trips
With the explorer, you could easily fit 4-5 folks and then would need room for boards and skis. The older style racks, if you have taller towers will easily fit 4 boards and 2 skis or 6 skis. Or get a box...my daughter just picked up a Yakima skybox for 200 for her A4 wagon that fits her 181's.
No, I am not stalking, but it would appear that we have similar tastes in how we carry our toys.
One thing I like about the Thule is that this rack will not close unless you lock it closed. Some might not be as happy with that feature, so be aware of that aspect of the Thule. You must always have your keys with you or this rack is of no use.
I prefer boxes as they're more flexible for skis, boards, and even the occasional bit of gear. The main reason I prefer them though...
<begin age old debate>
...is that after an hour drive each way my boards are not caked in road grime, dirt, sand/salt mixtures used on the road, etc. I regularly wax and tune my own boards (every 3-4 days riding) so they're always performing for me and having the bases pelted with all the miscellaneous crap on the roads in the winter and in bad weather seems counter-productive.
While I still manage to carry all my gear inside my Golf (3 people, and could possibly accommodate 1 more), I definitely agree that uncovered carriers seem like a sure way to age your equipment faster than necessary. The outside of my car gets covered in road grime fast enough that I carefully try to avoid touching it after a 2 hour trip to the slopes, I appreciate not having to worry about getting dirt on my hands while handling the boards, not to mention all the scratches from tiny rocks that you can hit on the freeways.
In Europe, all they use are cargo boxes for the reasons you guys mentioned. One of the issue is the cost especially if you don't have the cross bars. This setup can easily cost over 1k. The other issue I can foresee is if you have friends that owns really long skis. You can find a box that can accommodate 180+cm skis but it may not work with your car. This is especially the case for wagons, Subaru, Jetta/Golf, etc..
There are a couple of threads in the other sections of this forum that discusses the Thule and Yakima. The Yakimas has the ability to tilt up on one side to clear larger bindings as shown above and they're more aero.
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