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This J-style kayak carrier allows you to transport 1 kayak safely and securely on your roof rack. The space-saving cradle system mounts to most crossbar styles and folds down for storage. Includes padded anchors and tie-down straps.
Features:
Specs:
The arms on this J-style kayak carrier are adjustable to fit a variety of boats. There are 2 levers, 1 on the outside of each arm, that are used to adjust the carrier. Depending on the size of your kayak's hull, simply rotate both of the side levers forward and pivot the arm to the appropriate angle to ensure that your boat sits properly in the cradle. Then rotate the levers back to lock the arm into place.
When the carrier is not in use, the upright arms fold down flat and out of the way. Again, simply rotate both side levers forward, pull the arm down so it's parallel with your roof racks crossbars, and then rotate the levers back to lock the arm into place. When in the folded position, the carrier extends just 4-5/8" from the top of your roof rack's crossbars.
The 2 included load straps secure your kayak to your vehicle's roof rack. Run each strap underneath the carrier arm, around the hull of your boat, down through the cradle and underneath the roof rack crossbar. Then pull the strap back up and through the integrated cam buckle. Use the buckle to tighten the strap and secure your boat. Each strap includes a padded sleeve that slides over the cam buckle to ensure that it won't scratch or damage your kayak or your vehicle.
Unlike many other kayak carriers on the market, which typically use metal S-hooks as anchors, this unit includes padded hood and trunk anchor points to secure the bow and stern of your kayak. Not only does this make for a quick and easy setup because you don't need to search for a safe place to secure a hook, but it also ensures that your vehicle's paint job remains intact. Tying down your boat's bow and stern helps to prevent the boat from shifting forward or backward during transport.
Simply open the hood of your vehicle, insert the padded anchor point, and close the hood. Then attach the strap to the bow of your kayak. Use the ratchet pulley to easily adjust the tension of the strap. Repeat this process at the rear of your vehicle by anchoring the strap in your trunk and attaching the other end to the stern of your boat.
Installation is quick and easy and doesn't require any tools. The included mounting clamps fit round, square, aero/elliptical, and most factory crossbars. First, position the cradles so that they are lined up correctly and are sitting at least 24" apart. Then slide the mounting clamps underneath your roof rack's crossbars and attach them to the cradles with the included screws. Use the included hand knobs to easily tighten and secure the clamps around your crossbars.
Average Customer Rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars (35 Customer Reviews)
This J-style kayak carrier allows you to transport 1 kayak safely and securely on your roof rack. The space-saving cradle system mounts to most crossbar styles and folds down for storage. Includes padded anchors and tie-down straps.
These kayak carriers work very well, plus the manufacturer includes the straps. The racks fold down, so my Tacoma fits in garage. They were in the sun for 3 months and thick foam padding is holding up very well. I traveled them 5,000 miles with no problems. They are attached to a round crossbar on my Yakima rack. 782543
Victoria B - 04/21/2020Arrived as advertised, and the quality looks great. Can wait to get these kayak carriers mounted. Had a little administrative problem on our end, and Christy handled it at etrailer's end. Great customer service! 700072
Ok... It's the middle of winter in Colorado, but I'm getting ready to put the kayaks in the water. Shipping time... Great! Three days. Packaged perfectly. Mounted easily. Mounted the kayaks. The only hard thing was putting the strap around the back of the bracket. A stepladder will need to go with me to the water! I drove around to make sure all was secure. Perfect! 60 plus mph.... All is fine. Nice to have the front and rear tiedowns included. All hardware is heavy duty, and well supported by my stock Outback racks. Need to take them for a trip to the mountains! (After the snow clears out...) . 751510
Victoria B - 02/26/2020Good product,very easy to install. 604490
Myles D - 02/13/2020I've used this kayak carrier for almost a year and I really like it! The etrailer J-Style Kayak Carrier is easy to install, holds my kayak really well, and offers so many features at a low price tag. The folding feature is great for those moments I need extra overhead clearance without much warning - sometimes a parking garage is the only option. I really appreciate that this carrier comes with all of the straps I need to secure my kayak, plus the anchor straps to make securing the bow and stern so much easier! The padded covers for the buckles are a really great bonus to protect my roof and my kayak from the metal cam buckles while securing my boat. I've had this carrier on my car for almost a year and the aluminum construction means they look just as great as when I put them on the first time. 613115
These J-racks and the straps that are included are of some of the best I've seen. Very high quality and value for the money. Etrailer has been very helpful and and a GREAT company to deal with. I had an issue with another order that the part wasn't compatible with the other parts and they took care of it quickly. Appreciate the great staff at Etrailer. 652235
Great product for the price - The cradles were very easy to mount (and lay flat once folded). The videos were helpful in showing how to set the straps in the most efficient way. I test-drove my car today with my fishing kayak on top on a 80-mile round trip (a mix of freeway, country road and dirt tracks). The kayak was perfectly still, no particular wind noise and I was able to muscle to kayak up the roof and take it down on my own (it's a 52 lbs boat). I really recommend that product and I'm glad I went for J-Style cradles! 662039
Pierre D - 06/24/2020I purchased two etrailer J-Style Kayak Carriers. I have used them on and off through out the year. Easy to setup on to the stock Kia elliptical crossbars. What is extremely nice about this carrier is all the straps are included. They are easy to use and if your not sure how to attach youtube has many videos about strapping your kayak. The only problem with the straps is the excess length. I tried to wrap, roll, and tie but the wind manages to uncoil. So I wrap up then use a little duct tape to secure. My first trip using the carrier was a 3 hour trip with some heavy crosswinds. Nerve-racking but the kayaks remained secured. Solid rack and convenient with everyhting included. 749824
Victoria B - 02/26/2020Bought two of these kayak saddles for my Toyota Highlander and installed them onto the factory racks. I don't have the name-brand equivalent products from Yakima or Thule to compare against but I have a hard time imagining that they are better quality or better thought-out than these etrailer saddles. They are very high quality gear. They are adjustable from vertical to horizontal so you could carry anything from canoes to surf boards horizontally to kayaks vertically. The accompanying webbing straps are nicer than any others I have ever seen and come with hood and window anchor points and eveything you need to tie just about any boat shaped object on top of your car. Great job etrailer. You won't find a better product at a better price than this. 651797
Fits great on my 2019 Subaru Crosstrek. Great quality product and the straps are a bonus! This is the third car we’ve outfitted from this company and I can’t say enough good things. The car looks awesome with my 2 vapor 10 kayaks on top! 672626
Got the product installed. Haven't got the Kayaks in them yet. So far they seem like they will work well. They look nice. The only thing that I am concerned with is the tightness of the plastic handle you turn to lock and unlock the fold down feature. Very tight and nervous it could break as it is plastic. So far so good. 654751
Ordered etrailer folding kayak j-rack to transport kayak on 2010 Toyota Rav4 with factory racks. After a lot of research, I opted for these to give them a shot, and glad I did. Aluminum frame, stainless steel bolts and nuts, rubber coated bracket, all straps for 1 kayak, easy to install. Took longer to unbox than place on rack. Folds down nicely. This rack makes it very easy to transport a kayak ( or 2 if you order extra straps). Very satisfied with this purchase and etrailer’s service. 643253
I needed a low profile retractable J bar kayak rack that could install on an Aerobar to hold my Wilderness Systems Tempest 170. It just arrived, shipped super quick in excllent protective packaging. I went through the box and this is well made, quality construction and design. Everything professionally and expertly packed in the box. I look forward to installing it and will update my review after a few uses! So far impressed with the ordering, shipping and equipment! 611771
Excellent. Exactly as described and shown in video. Was able to use the day it arrive. If you have doubts about what to buy the videos on this site are really good. Have recommended to others. 656786
Great Kit works well 825576
very satisfied with etrailer. i am a repeat customer and would recommend them to anyone looking for trailer equipment. 823077
Great product comes with everything you need to haul your kayak properly, had an issue with a couple parts failing on a long road trip, but contacted etrailer and they shipped me replacement parts. 822456
Smooth install. No issues. Look forward to using it. 822314
If I could give 4.5 stars I would! These J-Racks were easy to install and are sturdy and easy to use. The ability to fold them down when not in use is so convenient, especially during the summer months when they will be used a lot. The one minor complaint that we have is that the straps that are included could be a lot better. The bow and stern straps are great, however the straps that go around the J racks and kayaks themselves are a bit thin and hard to get tight. We ended up buying a set of ratcheting straps for this purpose. We actually use two sets of these to attach to tandem kayaks to our Subaru Forester and they work great! 820260
Looks great quality 819271
Exactly what I needed when I traded my 2005 F150 for a 2012F150, etrailer was very helpful as always. Fast shipping 819933
Overall I think this rack is a good purchase. It comes with everything I needed to do tie down my kayak. 815676
Have truck rack on my F350 and kayak often. Got tired of taking standard J-Bars off to be able to park in my garage. These E-Trailer j bars are great. Much beefier then standard and fold up perfectly, which allows me to keep them on all the time. Have used them multiple times and do a great job. 815310
Great customer service from Stacey, and very fast shipping. 809782
This is a great product with some minor issues. The rack came partially assembled. The first issue I had was that the top mounting bracket was already attached to the carrier but the holes for the mounting bolts were not lined up so I had to disassemble the pre-assembled bracket to get the mounting bolt holes lined up. Even then, because of the rubber coating, I had to use a hammer to get the mounting bolts through the carrier and top bracket. Not really a big deal, but it did require a little extra effort. The carrier fit nicely on my aero style bars and the nut/knobs used to tighten went on smoothy. I will say you have to contort yourself a little to tighten them fully. The carrier was easy to adjust and easy to use after this. I will also add that if you have a sun roof, you can't open it with this on as the window will hit the bolts. The included straps are fantastic. Unfortunately, I have a large kayak at over 13' long and 70 lbs and I saw a lot of movement of the kayak at speed above 40 mph. I made sure that the bow, stern and kayak straps were secure, but due to the size of the kayak, it moves a lot. I know the manufacturer rating is for a heavier kayak, but I think a rear loading saddle style rack is better for my needs. Unfortunately, I did use it so I can't return it and will try to sell it locally. 809152
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