Hi Celia,
Guess the side of the car where boat travels is an individual decision. Was thinking if the crossbars extend on the passenger side, they will hit the U-bars where the kayak rests … WRONG! Crossbars would have to extend more than a foot, because of the slope of the side of the car.
Almost never park on the side of a street.
Fourrunner,
That’s stool’s steps are too high, plus it cannot hold my weight + kayak.
Recheck those measurements. The cradles stick out beyond the end of rhe crossbars some. So the entire length to clear the side of the vehicle does not have to bevfilled by the cross bars.
Thule says max of 8 inches of cradles beyond the end of the cross bar. 4 inches a usually the least. I trnd to keep it around 5 unches.
Do you have saddles front and back, or just the front? Hard to tell from the videos.
Raosborne, I am looking for a kayak roller and have posted a question. Please let me know why you chose the expensive, $62 Malone Channel Loader. It is about $15 - $20 more than others, but then you get what you pay for.
I have not tried any others, so cannot comment from actual usage.
I was looking for a roller with a v shape, so versus the other model I saw, I liked this one. It seems to work ok. The v shape could be even deeper to help more. The flat shaped ones just look like they would be even easier to roll off of, but again no actual experience with them.
I have a no longer available Amagansett Roller Loader where the boat is between wheels. Hence it tends to sit down into the wheels a bit. It is enough fun keeping some boats straight with this. Agree, would not want to deal with one that was fully flat.
If you get the Thule Pro bars you just cut them to fit with a hacksaw. I did a test run to see how close I was to the side of the Subaru without touching then added 2 inches for bounce! Then I cut them, and then I found out the Subaru is wider at the rear, or is it the front, can’t remember. So one side is closer than I’d like it to be.
That is not fatal. I slightly over adjusted for the fat ass in the newer Rav4, so the boat in the Hullivator points slightly in. I could take the time to pull the foot pad loose and shift the bar in the less than half inch involved. But that is a lot of fuss and the boat isn’t going anywhere.
two boats, two hullavators. We just try to be careful on the bounce. I wanted 6 inches of clearance, I got 5" and 6", so we’re good.
There were saddles front & back. Not sure how you’d do it securely otherwise.
If you think an SUV is tall, try a one ton truck. Load from the rear and then one person can handle the job from the ground with no aids at all.
One person who is probably taller than me at 5 ft 3.5 inches.
Taller guys tend to forget that there is a point even when going up or down on an angle where the end of the boat is above the reach of a shorter person. I have had similarly sized women to me try to help and not follow my instructions with the Rav4. Result is usually being stuck mid-down or up and having to call to someone taller to help.
Double checked, and the factory rails are a little over a 1’ from the U-brackets that hold the kayak.
Googling images of the Hullavator Pro, it’s getting most of sideward extension from itself, not the crossbars being extended.
But this is another reason why I feel better about having REI do the installation. However, I will relay your 4" to 5" numbers, when they install the crossbars.
What happens when you bring it down with weight in it is that it tends to bring the cradles closer against the car. Some people just run it out to the max, I never run anything to the max if I can help it. But I like a few inches, and that doesn’t leave the cradles sticking way further than the fattest part of my car. With the cradles off the side of the car.
Each vehicle is a slightly different fit. I settled on this rough arrangement a Rav4 ago.
Agreed. Never liked pushing anything to its stated specs: You don’t know if the company is bragging, or the designer overengineered the item in question … rather play it safe.
I use the Malone Sea Wings saddle, with the Malone Stinger load-assist. I had tried a suction roller first, which was a pain to use. The Stinger is attached to the Sea Wings, more stable, and very easy to use.
I have this gorilla work platform. I’m 5’7” and 71. I have a 4wd 4Runner and a 4wd Suburban and this platform is indispensable. Life will be so much easier and it can be used for other things, painting in the house. I got my money’s worth out of this thing pretty quickly. I also have an aluminum trailer but then parking in some places or turning around becomes and issue. Folds flat. Bought mine on sale at home depot for about $50. Happy trails
I used this method for years. I beat the back of the SUVs up pretty good but it works. Now I use a platform…