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These J-style cradles let you transport 1 or 2 kayaks on your roof rack. Integrated ramps help you to load a kayak from the side of your vehicle. Padded arms fold down when not in use. Clamp to most crossbars without tools. 4 Tie-downs included.
Features:
Specs:
This Yakima J-style kayak carrier can be adjusted to hold 1 or 2 boats on your roof rack. The space-saving design holds your boats on their sides to free up roof rack space, and built-in ramps make it easy to load from the side of your vehicle. The lightweight, rust-resistant aluminum rack includes tie-downs for securing 1 kayak. The padded cradles protect your kayaks during transport, and the upright arms fold down when you're not using the carrier.
When you're ready to go on the road, lift your kayak up and onto these J-style cradles. The integrated ramps will help guide your boat as you load it from the side of your vehicle.
Each cradle has an integrated cam lever that allows you to adjust the upright arm. Simply release the lever, rotate the arm to the desired position, and close the lever. These levers allow you to move the upright arms from the J-style position to the vertical position, and they allow you to fold the arms down for storage when the carrier is not in use.
This carrier holds 1 kayak in the J-style position. To carry 2 kayaks, just move the upright arms from the J-style position into the vertical position. In this configuration, one kayak will rest directly on your crossbars.
Foam padding on the arms and rubber on the base helps to cushion your watercraft during transport and also protects the hull from scratches and scuffs. Grooves in the base help grip your boat.
Two nylon tie-downs are included to secure 1 kayak to your roof rack crossbars. Loop these straps through your crossbars, around the hull of your boat, and through the arms. The straps have cam buckles that let you tighten the straps and secure your boat. The cam buckles are rubber coated to prevent damage to your kayak or vehicle when you're using the straps.
Two bow/stern tie-down straps with stainless steel hooks let you anchor your boat to the front and rear of your vehicle. Tying down your boat's bow and stern helps to prevent the boat from shifting forward or backward during transport. And ratchet pulleys allow you to easily adjust the tension of the straps to ensure the boat is secure on your roof. A protective sleeve on each strap helps protect your bumper from scratches and friction damage.
You will need additional tie-down straps and bow/stern tie-downs (sold separately) to secure a second boat to your roof rack and to your vehicle.
The mounting clamps on these cradles fit most crossbar configurations without the adapters. To install, simply place the cradles on your crossbars and turn the integrated handles until the mounting clamps are tightly secured. If you have round crossbars, the included adapters will provide a secure fit, preventing the cradles from twisting or sliding on the bars.
Each cradle has a removable plug that you can replace with a Yakima Same Key System (SKS) core (sold separately) so you can lock the system to your roof rack. Yakima's SKS cores can be swapped out to make all your Yakima locks keyed alike.
Customer Satisfaction Score:
91% were satisfied with this product
9% of customers were not satisfied
Ratings & Reviews
Chris
4/12/2026
The yakima kayak rack has held up to heavy use without any issues. I would highly recommend this product!
Gwendolyn Y.
4/13/2026
Paul
6/29/2019
Careful if it is windy - We took our Kayaks up the 395 from Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe and back. On the way back we hit wind gusts from the side and it ripped the factory Jeep rails right out of the roof. Because of the straps provided from the boats to the front and rear bumper they did not blow off the car entirely. It seems like the boats on their edge just catches too much wind if it comes from the side. From now on we just put the boats basically flat on the Yakima racks and that seems to work well. You have to be careful when you tie them down but I think it would have saved a $3000 repair bill to fix our roof.
Adam
3/4/2025
Its still working great after one year! Weve got better at taking them on and off, and putting kayaks up, with experience. We bought a small fold-able stool to help too.
Jon G.
3/4/2025
Joseph
9/21/2019
Theses have been great and the down style when not in use means I can park my jeep in the garage without removing them from the bars. They have help up well and I have only removed them during the winter season otherwise it stays on the roof top.
Chris G.
8/9/2017
Tie-down straps permanently attached to the rounded top of the rack sure would be convenient.
Tom B.
10/27/2017
The Yakima Kayak Carriers that I purchased are a very effective product. I had previously purchased and used Yakima products dating back to 1995. Im an avid skier and purchased 3 different ski racks over the years for different vehicle applications and I was never disappointed. The Kayak Carrier is easy to install and load. Great product! Thanks for the follow-up.
William
5/23/2020
I actually bought a new car, so this rack does not fit it. Im thinking of purchasing a suction cup type rack to avoid the difficulties with the friction type racks that kept sliding around.
Do you have a question about this Watersport Carrier?
Info for this part was:
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Sierra K.
5/3/2022
The Thule Hull-a-port item # TH849000 is recommended with Adarac racks. Or you can get tie downs like item # A4000882 and load stops, item # A4000880, and use ratchet straps like item # EM34416. If you have a rack like the Adarac Aluminum Series Custom Truck Bed Ladder Rack item # A4001234 then you can use item # RRS520 with the channel.
Helpful Links
Accessories-and-PartsAdaracA4000880.html
Accessories-and-PartsAdaracA4000882.html
Ladder-RacksAdaracA4001234.html
Ratchet-StrapsEricksonEM34416.html
Watersport-Carriers/Rhino-Rack/RRS520.html
Watersport-Carriers/Thule/TH849000.html