# 1
Inno Locker Watersport Roof Rack w/ Tie-Downs - Locking - Channel Mount
I've used my locking Watersport Carrier numerous times over the past year to carry my two SUP boards. It's been wonderful! The fact that it synches down securly offers an additional level security on long trips, and it's very easy to load on/off. Would definitely recommend!
I can only comment on what my daughter has said, since it was a Christmas gift, and she lives out of state. It works perfectly and has been very durable.
# 2
Thule Hull-A-Port Aero Kayak Roof Rack w/ Tie-Downs - J-Style - Folding - Channel Mount
I rarely leave reviews but I have ordered a few items from etrailer lately and will say that I am impressed with how quickly they get my order shipped and how quickly it gets here.
Everyone was very friendly and helpful, like a Good Neighbor. Very much 'Old Fashion' care and support!
# 3
Thule DockGlide Kayak Roof Rack w/ Tie-Downs - Saddle Style - Universal Mount
I need replacements when a pair of Dockgrips was was lost or stolen. When others were stocked out, etrailer came through. Fast shipping and courteous service!
The Thule DockGlide Kayak Carrier and the Tie-Downs that came with it are a very functional High Quality Product. Once the DockGlide Carrier was properly positioned on the Cross bars it attached easily and solidly with the associated hardware. The Kayak slides on and off the Carrier very easily and is quite secure once properly tied down. I enjoy Kayaking and the DockGlide Kayak Carrier enables me to get where I want to go.
# 4
Rhino-Rack Kayak Roof Rack w/ Tie-Downs - J-Style - Fixed - Clamp On
I installed these as soon as I got them and I’ve got to say, there are some extra holes for screws that are a tad misleading and the pieces that secure it to the cross bars don’t seem super secure. For reference, I do have Rhino Rack’s vortex crossbars so this should fit snug. The rubber tops were tough to get into place and I am worried they’ll snap when I go to remove my rack but Rhino Rack has yet to fail me with their products so I bet it’ll work out great!
This is a great product. As a novice kayaker I was nervous. The assembly was easy with clear instructions. My sales professional Crystal K. was a pleasure to work with. She knew the answers to all my questions. From placing the order to the delivery I am very satisfied. I will be using etrailer again. I can't wait to get my kayaks to the water.
# 5
Yakima BigStack Kayak Roof Rack w/ Tie-Downs - Post Style - Folding - Clamp On
I acquired a second kayak and needed a system to fit the factory racks on my 2011 Toyota RAV4. Etrailer.com has always had information on what fits and has always had the item needed for the job. I attached the Yakima BigStack to the top with ease, and, with one other person to hold the kayaks while I secured, tied two of them down for a long road trip to Northern Minnesota. The system worked just fine. The only caveat was in the configuration of multiple boats in the instructions. The diagram has two boats on the same side of the posts, however, I found it more secure to put one on either side ( other reviews of this product on different Internet sites have found similar results.) The boats made it through the trip with no shifting.
Worked great on our Subaru Crosstrek with factory crossbars. Loading very easy, and it was very secure, for our 2 kayaks. The Yakima Big Sticks are easy to install/setup and take off. Very happy with our investment,
# 6
Thule Hullavator Pro Kayak Roof Rack and Lift Assist w/ Tie-Downs - Saddle Style - Universal Mount
Bought a pair of these to go on 59" rhino rack bars on our Outback Wilderness and am really pleased. I left the bars full width - they are not a head banger on the car - and mounted the Hullavators as far outboard as possible which means the kayaks clear the side of the car and wing mirrors without folding them in. I did have to modify one Hullavator to make the Hobie Lynx fit (36" wide Lynx = 36" max Hullavator width)
The Hullivator was for my wife to give her the option of loading and unloading by herself. It couldn’t be better. She now goes kayaking anytime she wants with little effort and no need for me to help her. Excellent product that’s worth every cent. Was super easy to install too.
# 7
Rhino-Rack Nautic SUP or Kayak Roof Rack w/ Tie-Downs - Saddle Style - Clamp On
After attempting to mount the individual rack pieces using the “burglar proof” button head screws with the pin in the recess and the short hex wrench with the hollowed out end I discovered that no real burglar would want the rack but would rather have the kayak so the first thing I did after spending 10 minutes trying to insert the hex into the button head screws with the pin inside the recess and attempting to turn the bolts and continually being obstructed by the support pieces and the paint interference on the bolt heads with trying to get the wrench into the recess I knew it was going to be a long frustrating process so I threw them away and purchased new button head stainless steel bolts and a 4mm extended handle hex wrench to turn them. Smartest thing I ever did. You not only have to mount the rack initially but then you have to put the kayak on the roof and remount all pieces again to fit your boat. All kayaks are different to one degree or another. Having to move the individual support and retighten them with the boat on the rack is even more difficult to do than the initial mounting with these “burglar proof” bolts and hex wrench and you will be happy you threw them away before you started the entire process. Try it for yourself at first and then go get the alternate ones. Worth the little investment and stainless steel will not rust away when you want to remove the rack system in the future. Once the rack is on your vehicle and kayak in rack the tie downs supplied are very good quality. Make sure you use the recommended tie down locations and directions, two kayak body ties and ties at front and rear. Due to numerous kayak hull designs it would be nice to have each support pod have a horizontal swivel built into it so it readily conforms to the hull shape. The overall quality of the system should be the last rack you will have to purchase. I only had issues with the supplied bolts and hex wrench. I gave this rack system a three star because of the bolts and hex tool and the individual pods not swiveling and I haven't at this point transported the kayak anywhere so I am waiting to see how it handles long trips with wind loads and constant loading and unloading performances.
Works great. I’m 5’6” and the pivoting cradles make for easy loading and off loading. I do need a stepping stool to install the carrier on the roof rack.
# 8
Malone SeaWing Kayak Roof Rack w/ Load Assist and Tie-Downs - Saddle Style - Clamp On
I am happy with my purchase of the Malone SeaWing with the load assist feature. I use it a lot and it is holding up well. I have square crossbars, and the wing base can be flipped over during assembly to fit square bars perfectly. The load assist really does make it easy to get my 14 and 16 foot kayaks on the car by myself. Another reviewer stated that the load assist feature put black streaks on his thermoformed kayak, and I had the same experience. I fixed that by wrapping heavy duty, double sided Velcro around the areas of contact, and that has worked fine. They are still in place one year later. Four stars because Malone should have covered the load assist sliders in a non-marking material.
The lift assist would not work with a skin on frame kayak. Repeated use would damage the skin. You can see in the pic that the load assist pushes in on the skin, and would not slide all the way into the storage position without lots of pressure on the kayak. Etrailer would not take retuttome inern since I installed the rack, but there was no way to know without trying. So bottom line - don't try to use this on a skin on frame kayak. And don't count on etrailer for returns when they sell a product that doesn't work as advertised.
# 9
Rhino-Rack SUP and Surfboard Pads w/ Tie-Downs for Crossbars - Universal - 33-1/2" Long - Qty 2
These pads worked well on our Yakima RailBar Crossbars- Item #Y00448-0449 that we also bought from etrailer around 2020/2021. Not sure if etrailer carries the exact Yakima Crossbars anymore, but think they have a similar model. Both the pads and crossbars work well to haul our kayak on our 2019 Subaru Forester. etrailer's customer service rocks! We had a lot of questions purchasing both items and they were great to talk to!
The product came quickly and was so easy to install on my existing roof rails! It is absolutely perfect to fit many needs above and beyond my kayaks and paddle boards. They look so good on my new 2019 Jag F-Pace I might leave them on all the time.
# 10
Thule SUP Shuttle Stand-Up Paddleboard Carrier with Tie-Downs - Roof Mount - 2 Boards
Very easy to install on roof rack. Just be careful not to lose one of the rubber pieces that help protect your board. They can easily fall off of the rope when tying your board to the rack.
With a little help from youtube, this was one of the easiest things I've ever assembled! LOVE my new SUP rack!!
# 11
Thule SUP Taxi XT Stand-Up Paddleboard Carrier - Roof Mount - 2 Boards
I love my Rack it came when promised and etrailer was great believe me I will be going back to them for anything else I need I am giving them a well deserved 5 stars
The only thing better than the quality of the product was the quality of etrailer’s customer care. I had to return the Thule SUP Taxi because it was too difficult for me to tighten the straps with my arthritic hands, these wonderful folks were completely obliging, helpful and courteous!
# 12
Rhino-Rack Kayak Roof Rack w/ Tie-Downs - J-Style - Folding - Clamp On
First experience with purchasing from etrailer. Absolutely felt that my order was personalized which is a nice touch. The Rhino Rack S512 folding JStyle Kayak holders arrived boxed impeccably with no damage whatsoever and the price was great! Fantastic first time experience. Looking forward to using them. Thank you.
Received crossbars when promised. Installation was straightforward. Was missing a couple parts. Informed company and they responded quickly with replacement parts. Very pleased.
# 13
Swagman Exo Aero Rooftop Kayak Roof Rack w/ Tie-Downs - Saddle Style - Clamp On
I have (2) Wilderness Systems Pungo 120 kayaks and was looking for something better that the cheap J-Shape kayak holders that I purchased elsewhere. Unless you are tall enough to lift the kayaks and install them from the side, the loading of a kayak on it's side is unwieldy and somewhat frustrating to keep the kayak from flipping to a horizontal position. I am using the factory racks with crossbars on my 2006 Toyota Highlander. I was looking for a solution that would allow me to load 2 kayaks with the keel down. Using a large bath mat to protect the paint I was able to load the kayak by myself and I am 5'6". The one thing that they could improve is that the rubber pads on the wings are very tacky. Once that you set the kayak onto the wings, the kayak will not move back and forth. You will find it very hard to move the kayak front to back once it is set in the cradle. This is a good thing since the kayak could slide off should a strap fail. The Pungo 120 has multiple angles so the contact with the wings are very minimal. The rubber does keep it in place before strapping them down. Once you load the kayak onto the wings, it will stay where it is.. it is a kind of a struggle to move the kayak.. a solution is to throw large beach towel on the wings before loading your kayak and you can position the kayak with ease. Once you have centered your kayak, lift the kayak one end at a time and remove the towel. Bow and stern tie downs are necessary to completely secure your kayak. The wings are 28" across and will rise 6" above your crossbars that you attache them to.
Bought two sets for two boats. Installed on a 2020 Forester and will be able to carry two boats side by side. Sturdy racks and easy to assemble and install and will be easy to remove when not in use. They will also fit on truck racks so the ease of install/removal will be a real plus. Side by side mount on this vehicle required placing the racks a little more outboard than I like but should not cause any problems. I will strap the boats to the crossbars as suggested in the instructions for additional stability. PS. one set was returned merch. Got a better price and can't tell that it was ever out of the box. Yay me.
# 14
Yakima SweetRoll Kayak Roof Rack w/ Tie-Downs - Saddle Style - Clamp On
Excellent product, easy install, secure on the crossbars, a bit lower ride height and a simple rolling mechanism. A significant improvement over my older Yakima Handroll racks.
The Sweet Roll will not support my Old Town Topwater 10.6. The brackets spread out on the crossbar under the weight. This year I will try a Yakima Big Catch. The Sweet Roll works fine with our Old Town Loons.
# 15
Swagman Tajo Wall Mounted Kayak Rack
Ordering was very easy and I really like the fact that I had reviews from others "with pictures". That helped me tremendously. The items came within 2 days (WOW). I didn't expect that. They are exactly like show and I will be installing them today. I don't expect any problems. (update after installation) I have now installed and I would have given a rating of Excellent, but I did not because of 1 problem I had. The screws that come with the product are soooo cheap that they all began to strip out as I installed them. And yes I was using the right Phillips head bit and I even had my drill set to stop if it hit resistance. The Phillips head has very small cross threads. If you look at the pics you'll see what I mean. This Phillips head is too small of threads for a larger 2" screw like this. As such, I ended up having to spend $20 on a screw extraction product (Grabit drill extraction) to get 1 of them out. I since replaced all these crappy screws with ones with better heads that are made of actual metal, not paper-mache that looks like metal. By the way, the Grabit screw extraction tool works great... Now that they're up, they look great and do perform exactly like I expected. I would definitely recommend these...
Works well except the screws need to be stainless steel
# 16
Thule Top Deck Kayak Roof Rack w/ Tie-Downs - Saddle Style - Clamp On
This kayak carrier works great with my factory Rav4 roof rack and 10' Tamarack Angler kayak. I did break one tightener knob but probably over-tightened it. And it was replaced for free. I can load and unload the kayak easily and it doesn't budge going down the freeway. I can even drive in and out of the garage with the kayak on the rack for easy storage hanging from the rafters.
Installed this Thule Top Deck Rooftop Kayak Carrier System with tie onto our Thule Roof rack system. Easy to install and this will carry our handmade 17' Wooden Sea Kayak. Very well made.
# 17
Swagman Contour Kayak Roof Rack w/ Tie-Downs - J-Style - Fixed - Clamp On
The product is of good construction but probably due to how it fits on my crossbars it needs additional support. The crossbars for my Honda Pilot are wide blade type and these racks seem more appropriate for narrower square type crossbars. Even with the rack fastened very tightly, the rack can twist back and forth. Last year on a trip across Montana the wind was pretty gusty and it caused the front one to pivot quite a bit and we had to pull off and apply a ratcheting strap over the kayak and under the factory rails to ensure it was held tight and wouldn't move again. This year on the same trip we had bad winds but had a roof rack mounted behind these racks giving it support on the tall side. We had to strap it real good to make sure it didn't move. If we hadn't had that additional support behind it and add'l straps we probably would have had more problems. I think if the top metal bracket had a wider channel to fit our crossbars it would be much more stable. The way it is now it just sandwiches 2 metal plates between my crossbar which allows it to pivot under stress.
Loved the racks, seem very durable. Only downside was that the groove made for the crossbeam was quite a bit smaller than my crossbeams, but they still secured down great. You'd have to have a pretty funky set-up for these racks to not work on your vehicle. Having all the straps/tie-downs included was awesome too. Reccomend!
# 18
Rhino-Rack Nautic Stack Kayak Roof Rack w/ Tie-Downs - Post Style - Folding - Universal Mount
've previously used the Yakima Kayak Stacker (old style), which worked fine but I always worried the straps would slip off the hook at the top while I was loading boats. They also didn't fold down, so had to be removed after use unless you wanted to look odd and cause a whistle while you drove down the road. They didn't have a universal attachment option, requiring adapters depending on the style and make of your crossbars. More recently I got the Thule "The Stacker", which is a superior solution. You thread the strap through a closed loop at the top, so you don't worry about straps slipping off while you're loading boats. They fold down after use and have a universal style attachment that fits around most styles and makes of crossbars. Good stuff. I really like the straps that come with these, as there is a rubber cover that slips over the metal cam buckle to protect your car's paint while you're tossing the strap over your boats to strap everything in. In order to shuttle our boats for river trips, we needed stackers to fit on both our cars, so it was time for another set. I had never heard of Rhino Rack before, but the lower price than Thile caught my eye, so I read about them and decided to give them a try. The Rhino Rack Nautical Stack used a closed loop at the top, which I liked better than the Yakima or Malone options, and came with the hardware necessary to install them into the C-channel of my Malone aero crossbars, which I wanted to try. I remember that with the Malone stacker, you had to buy the C-channel mount hardware separately. I really like the Rhino Rack Nautical Stack. They are a single post design, unlike the loop style of the Thule "The Stacker". I don't know if this cuts down on vortex drag, but it definitely saves you a couple horizontal inches up where the boats stack. The Rhino Rack Nautical Stack has textured rubber strips on either side of the post, which I believe is intended to cut down on vortex drag, but is also quite helpful in that boats tend to slip much less when you're just leaning them up against the post as you load up before you strap them. That's smart. The Rhino Rack Nautical Stack feels really solid. The mechanism for folding them down and locking them upright is easy to use and feels solid. Installation instructions were good. I tried to install into the C-channels without removing the rubber tubing in my Malone aero crossbars, but couldn't get the little squares to slide into the slots with the rubber tubing in place, so had to cut the tubing, slide the Nautical Stacks into place, then cut down some of the tubing I had removed and replace it in the remaining unfilled crossbar slot. That's not a knock on the Nautical Stack; just a tip in case you're trying to do the same kind of install I did. The one area in which I was less impressed was the tie-down straps that come with this kit. The metal cam buckles have no covering at all, so I'll probably still use my old Yakima and Thule straps instead and use these as backups. But overall, I think these are going to work at least as well, if not better, than the Thule option, and for quite a bit less money.
So much better than the 'C-shape' kayak holders. These things allow you to fit inside a garage, and add up to four kayaks. Very easy to use.
# 19
Malone DownLoader Kayak Roof Rack w/ Tie-Downs - J-Style - Folding - Clamp On
I had the moulded downloader and needed the folding in order to fit in the garage. The top feed for the tie straps isn't as good as the moulded J-style rack, the strap came out of one, but the kayak stayed where it needed to be. It is easy to raise and lower the rack, but I am not always sure at what angle I am supposed to set them. With the moulded J-style, they are at the perfect angle for holding a kayak. I wish the clamp that goes under the bars were a better fit for the oval bars, but they do send two different size bolts and the longer ones work.
The Malone DownLoader is very good value for the money. The J-style cradle is nice when you have to muscle a kayak on top of a tall crossover or SUV. You can hook the edge of the cockpit onto the base of the cradle and flip the kayak up onto the metal hoop support. Carrier installation and removal is easy and doesn't require any tools. Materials are good, but not great and that's what prevents this product from getting 5 stars IMO. The foam padding is nice enough and has been durable, but the metal plate that attaches the carrier to the roof rails is plastic coated steel and the plastic cracks over time, and leads to rust on the steel plate beneath. Not a big deal, but it might compromise the plate over time. I also wish that the provided nylon straps were longer, and that the ratchet buckles were covered in rubber to protect the roof of the vehicle and the windshield when you're trying to get them around the hull of the boat. We quickly replaced these with longer aftermarket straps that have rubber covers over the buckles. Those minor points aside, the Malone DownLoader kayak carrier gets the job done easily and safely, and does so at a very affordable price point.
# 20
Rhino-Rack Kayak Roof Rack w/ Tie-Downs - J-Style - Folding - Clamp On
These work great and I was able to install them on the OEM rack for my truck. The only downside is that the threads for the clamp hang down a little too close to the roof for comfort.
The Rhino-Rack 2 Kayak Carrier I ordered from etrailer was easily reviewed and ordered from their website and ALL communication relative to order confirmation and extreme detail included in their tracking was nothing short of phenomenal! The items were packaged with care and arrived intact. These fit our basic Lexus crossbars and is the perfect product for carrying our two (2) kayaks. My hat goes off to the great folks at etrailer -- It doesn't get any better than this!!!
What our customers are saying:
"I was very happy with the service and speed of shipping. The products are great and at a great price."