June 15, 2010
Rack Attack Team
Today we had a customer with a 2001, 2 door Honda Accord who wanted to carry a 12ft Kayak on his roof. He was actually on the way to pick up his brand new Kayak at a local water sports retailer, so we were able to complete the custom install in about an hour. We went with a fixed point custom install option using the Yakima Landing Pad 7, with Control Towers and 48" round crossbars. We used this option to fit a longish load on a short roof.
At our recommendation, the customer chose the Bowdown J Cradles for carrying the Kayak vertically, and have room for adding 1 or 2 bike trays in the future. The traditional clip-on towers would allow a bar spread of only 16"--barely enough to carry a bike let alone a kayak. Of course, with the Yakima Q Stretch kit, the bars get to 27" but with this custom fit, the bars are a healthy 36" apart, ample room for his kayak, or even a canoe or cargo box in the future, and without the 4 ugly clips in each door jamb.
With this sleek, versatile new setup, he can mount any Yakima or Thule carriers to hold bikes, boats, skis and more. Plus, thanks to the custom installation, the rack is elegantly mounted directly to the roof, keeping the doors clear and clean, with no metal clips to scratch the paint or leak rain-water into the car. Plus, the rack itself is quickly removable. Just unlock the towers, pop them open, and lift off the rack. Best of all, none of the rack hardware hinders the smooth operation of the sunroof.
The Yakima Bowdown J Cradles are also perfect for cars that need to be parked in small garages, since with the turn of a knob, they can fold down from their up position (above) to a down position (below). When down, you can't carry a kayak, but the J-cradle lays out of the way, and you can pull it in and out of your garage without pulling off the whole rack.
Next time you're stuck loading your kayak into your trunk, or taking your bike wheel off, praying that it might fit, just swing into one of Rack Attack's 9 Convenient locations and get hooked up with a rack system for your ride.
Another boat-lover is ready to hit the road and carry his kayak safely to whichever of our 10,000 lakes he sees fit.
