I’m changing the mounts on my trailer from saddles (Landsharks) to J cradles (Malone Autoloaders) so I can haul more boats around. One thing about the J cradles is that the back deck of each of my boats, being significantly lower in volume than the front deck, does not fill the “J” as completely as the front. Even strapped in, there appears to be some potential for a stiff cross wind to blow the rear around like a fish tail. I’ve never used a vertical system before, but I don’t think Yakima or Thule "J"s would be much different–more a function of boat geometry than “J” I think.
I’m thinking of adding some foam padding or something to fill this space in the rear cradle and create more surface area contact between the rear of the boat and the cradle. Any suggestions?
Also, the primary contact point between the boat and the vertical part of the front “J” is the keel ridge. I know the Malones flex and the ridge is probably stronger than the flat portions of the hull. I wonder, however, if I should consider adding extra padding to spread that contact across more of the hull. I’m not too keen on cracking glass boats. Both front and back of the boat sit nicely and squarely in the horizontal part of the “J.”
Thanks for your thoughts.
Don’t use the slots
To hold the boat right up against the j-cradles feed your strap through the top slot as normal but don’t use the bottom slot. Just put the strap under the entire cradle.
I do this with my autoloaders and it holds the boat nice and tight. It was recommended to me by the shop I bought my kayak at.
Great tip!
I have the same situation with my BBK Recluse, and my better half’s NF Silhouette – the rear decks are too low to be tight if you use the slots. I’ll have to try that!
All of our other boats fit fine, so we’ve been using saddles for the ones that don’t fit.
On my Yakimas
the same thing happened. Once I strapped them in, all was well. I haven’t had a problem, even for extended interstate speeds.
Thanks for the tip.
I’ll definitely give it try.