If you checked out our video covering how we attach the kayaks to the roof of our truck, you’ve seen that we used these Malone J-Loader Kayak Carrier mounts.
Although I’ve had to use different roof rack systems on the different vehicles I’ve owned, I’ve always used these Malone kayak racks to attach the kayaks to the roof. These are a great alternative to the super expensive J style racks you can purchase. They are also a great alternative to the super cheap J style racks that probably won’t last nearly as long as these.
As I stated in the kayak install video, I try to stick to mid-grade products for all of the outdoor gear I use. Some products you can get away with using something cheaper, but when it comes to securing something to the roof of my vehicle, I want to make sure whatever is mounted is going nowhere.
To be fair, I think the key to the longevity of my kayak racks have been the way I treat them. I’ve not left these on top of my vehicle’s roof for extended periods of time. Whenever I am done using the kayak racks I take them off and put them back into storage.
The older model of these kayak racks had a hard rubber padding meant to keep the kayak from sliding back and forth. However, I noticed these were scraping the bottom of my kayak whenever I sliding the kayak into place. I am glad they made a change to use a felt like material for the newer model in order to prevent the scraping.
As I mentioned above, I’ve used these kayak racks on different roof rack systems. They obviously work best with Malone’s own roof rack system, but I’ve also used them on some Thule round bar roof rack systems. The only issue using these with round bars is the fact that they will want to slide around a bit more. In order to secure your kayaks, just make sure the kayak rack is secured tightly to the bars. We never had any issues with the kayaks coming ajar driving down the road when mounted on round bars.
Based on the particular design, I don’t think these kayak carriers would work well on the more aerodynamic crossbars. There is a square shaped notched out of the bottom of these things that work well on square and round bars, but not so much on the wider bars. They may have modified the design since I purchased these, but I can only recommend the round and square bar roof rack systems.
If you already have a roof rack system installed on your vehicle (not to be confused with factory vertical bars) and wish to purchase these Malone kayak racks, click on the link below. (Comes with one pair of kayak racks meant for one kayak)
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Adventure On!
