YAKIMAEvenKeel Rooftop Mounted Boat Rack for Vehicles, Carries 1 Boat

These mounted on my 2012 Honda CRV crossbars with no problem. Maybe 15 minutes to install, a little longer to adjust. One kit carries one kayak (includes front and rear saddles).The kit comes with soft "rubber" inserts for each bracket. Install these to keep them from sliding on the crossbars.Loading and unloading my kayak was challenging at first due to the grippy pads on the saddles. I put a small towel over the front saddle to allow the boat to slide. Simply removed it before strapping down, worked great.Kayak was nice and secure once strapped down, no wiggling or sliding at all.If you don't use your saddles constantly, and your boat doesn't need special treatment (carbon fiber hull, hand made wooden boat), these make it hard to justify the alternatives costing more than twice the price.Definitely recommend these saddles.

Does what it's supposed to, cheap, easy to mount, move, and figure out, but didn't really fit either of my kayaks very well.

This is/was the easiest kayak carrier/mount I've ever used. Took me 5mins to mount these to my rack. And for budget conscious buyers, this is for you. I have several racks, bars, mounts and carriers by Yakima and the quality is inherent is this product as well.I loaded a 70lbs Islander Festiva 12.5 Expedition tandem kayak without any big issues. As with all carriers a little slight adjustment in the spacing, but what is great about these is that they clamp on and off easily enough. You can also just loosen them a bit and slide them where you need them. It took me longer to load my kayak on top of my truck than it did to make the adjustments on spacing for each mount. Overall, with the time to attach the mounts to my rack and including solo loading my kayak, adjusting, strapping down and adjusting some more, it took me 20-30mins the first time. Now it's, load, strap and go.When strapping it down, this is also where you will spend a little bit of time figuring out your tension and also how much pressure these mounts and your kayak will take. Depending on how hard you crank down AND the spacing width, these will "squish" or flatten down a bit.Unfortunately, one big CON btw, the strapping is junk, tension clips failed at the metal clips. This happened on all of the provided Yakima straps. I use my own ratchet straps anyways, but just keep this in mind, and be careful of your tension of course.NOTE: For my truck setup, I have the Yakima Jetstream aero bars, so I cannot speak for the stability on round bars. IPO, I wouldn't use the kayak mount with round bars, especially with a heavier kayak like mine, they are going to rotate when loading. I haven't needed to drive on the interstate yet, but my setup was stable at 50-55mph, without any problems at all.

I settled on this system because of Yakima's reputation and the price point. I recently purchased my first kayak and wanted something cheap to transport it with. I drive a 2019 Subaru Impreza Wagon that did not come with raised side rails. I ended up buying the OEM fixed crossbar set because I couldn't justify spending $500 on a Yakima or Thule set. The claim of universal fit held true in my case, and I have had no problems with the saddles shifting during transport or rotating around the bar. My kayak is manufactured by Pelican and has a somewhat unusual hull shape and I was initially worried that the saddles might not conform. My concerns were unjustified and they have done an admirable job. I haven't driven on the highway with it yet, but had no trouble at speeds around 50 mph. My only complaints are that the saddles take some fiddling to find the optimal position and the included straps are far too long. I have a good 4-5 feet of excess that I then have to deal with. This is an especially great pain with the bow and stern tie downs.

Solid and secure. No slip pads work great. Clever design.

Although these worked great on original purchase they wore out quickly. The top flexible plastic part began popping out of the base. Over time the holes which go through the rack mount screws to keep it in place ripped apart. I now have these held in with screws and epoxy Which still occasionally has to be remounted. For the price I expect a product that holds up perfectly for at least 3 years even if its taking daily use.

I purchased theYakima EvenKeel cradles to replace my 16-year-old Yakima LandShark cradles (discontinued), which started to break into sections due to age and the Arizona heat. NO COMPARISON TO THE DISCONTINUED LANDSHARK CRADLES! The new cradles are flatter and not as cupped on the outside, the boat slips to the side/cocked, and I have adjusted the cradles on the crossbar multiple times to try to get a good fit for my Perception Carolina 13.5 Touring kayak. I have driven down the Baja 6 times with kayaks on the roof with high crosswinds & the boats did not budge with the LandShark discontinued cradles. UI have used the new cradles all summer and when hitting a bump on a paved road or driving dirt roads the kayaks shift to the side. The boats are also tied down with bow & stern lines. Cradles aren’t cheap so I am now stuck with these. If I could, I would give this review no stars as there is nothing good about these cradles. YAKIMA PLEASE BRING BACK THE LANDSHARK CRADLES!

These are easy to install and have Yakima quality written all over them. Never a problem.