Roof Rack & Canoe Adapter

The yakima roof rack system is very easy to install on your own, and simple to use. It holds up well on long trips across country too. I have never owned another brand of roof rack, but I would buy yakima again.

My YakRak has served me well for 15 years on two different vehicles: A Jeep Grand Cherokee which I used adapters to attach to the Cherokee luggage rack and now a Ford Ranger with shell. I bolted the rack to the shell and use it for a canoe as well as cargo like lumber and 4x8 panels that are too long or wide to fit into the truck bed. The key-locking mechanism makes it easy to remove or secure the canoe to the rack with a heavy chain and lock for overnight parking.

We purchased saddles and rollers 4 years ago to haul our two Eddyline Carbonlite kayaks. Both the saddles and rollers have held up well except the rubber in the rollers really marks the white bottom of our boats. I tried a lot of different cleaners. Nothing cleans the rollers well. In addition, the rollers tend to twist on the cross bars causing the rear of the boats to drop lower than the front which are held tightly in place by the saddles. We are looking to replace the rollers. This should not happen for the price of the product.

I use Rocket Box(general gear), Mako/Hully Rollers(kayak), Button Down 6(skis/snowboards), Steelhead (bikes), and Gunwale Brackets (canoe) attached to the factory rack of either Ford Explorer or Subaru WRX wagon. The only down side is the price. It is really quite ridicules how much they cost. The quality is top notch. I regularly exceed the weight limitations (shhh) and tend to travel at high rates of speed. No problems yet. Installation has always been very intuitive. I lost a part and called the folks at Yakima and they had a replacement for out of a spare parts bin for no charge!

Yakima racks with Mako saddles and Hully rollers. I recently purchased this configuration to fit my 2000 Audi A4 sedan. Whlie driving down the interstate the entire rack blew off the top of my car and luckily did not hit another vehicle. I felt one tower begininng to break loose and tried to stop but it was too late my arctic hawk was a 50lb white missle. To add insult to injury there is over $2200 damage to my auto the kayak needs repair and Yakima states that they will not warranty or stand behind the product because I did not use a bow line. The rack was installed by a dealer who never mentioned a bow line and frankly it probably would have been more dangerous for the loose boat to remain attatched to my vehicle causing more damage and possibly caused the car to go out of control. I am frustrated and angry with Yakima nad believe that clip#72 does not work for my auto. If one tower fails the other three should not follow suit in a blink.

Bought Yakima gutterless racks for Honda Civic DX. Never again Yakima; although now I guess I am committed to them since only have to change clips (maybe bars also) to change to different car. Took me a day to install them, following Yakima instructions. The problem is trying to get the distance between Q-towers to 36 3/4" as specified. I measure and get it to right length; then, voila, crank down on the allen wrench and it spreads them anywhere to 1/4 to 1 inch - not consistent, so it was measure, tighten, measure, untighten, measure/fudge, tighten, measure, untighten, measure/fudge, etc. Well, you get the idea. I think I ended up somewhere between 36 3/4 and 37 1/4 and just said hell with it and tightened them down. Frustrating. Bad design, IMOH. No experience with Thules or Saris, so can't compare. I used to have a guttered VW with a rack and could put it on in 5 minutes.

The Yakima rack system is simply one of the best. It installs easily, it is easy to use and attaches your boat securely to the roof. I tested my boat and rack at 75 mph without a single problem. The rack keeps your canoe snug and safe. It is a great investment for people looking to quickly get their boat in and out of the water.

To carry a canoe on top of my F-250 pickup, I opted for the Yakima basic rack with the canoe adapter accessory kit. The pickup has a cab-high camper shell, which required a rear rack with mounts different from the front. The mount on the rear had to be bolted through the shell, but made a nice watertight joint. Yakima has modular racks, which means you get a round pipe, a tower to hold it off the roof and a mount to affix the tower to the top of your vehicle. The pipes come in different lengths, and the towers and mounts in a great many different versions to match different vehicles. Their variety is greater than Thule's, which was part of the basis for my decision to go with Yakima. Another good point for Yakima was the round pipes. This allows the canoe brackets to rotate around the pipe to the exact angle necessary to hold them flat to the angled canoe gunwale. The round pipes also help with one-person loading from the end, providing a roller-type contact point, though the pipes do not rotate. I plan to try putting a section of pvc pipe over the Yakima pipe to try and make an actual roller. All in all, the system works very well. With additional adapters, you can put bicycles, luggage pods and a host of other things on the same bracket. A bit pricey; at a cheaper price, it would be a 10.