Just received my set of Malone AutoLoaders. Mounted them on my Yakima’s, and noticed that when the adaptors are snugged down there is a noticable bow in the cradle’s thick plastic. Any of you Malone users have a suggestion on just how tight you make these? Is it OK to have them loose enough to easily adjust to the curvature of the kayak’s sheer line? Or do you crank 'em down so as to be completely rigid?
Jim
Malones…
I have mine on factory racks, they are tight and don’t match the shear line perfect, they they have been fine. If you can set the boat on when loose and then tighten them up it may give you a better match… I can’t remember if the Yakimas are round or Square? GH
I considered…
the Malone J’s but instead found nicer J cradles from Oak Orchard Canoe:
http://www.oakorchardcanoe.com/rackaccessories.htm
I got the deluxe ones. They look much more padded. I attached them to my factory racks. There is no flex being made of steel.
Maybe I was not clear
When I tighten the nuts to the bracket that clamps the Autoloader to the round Yak bars it causes the plastic of the Autoloader to bow.
What I am wondering is “how tight should I make the clamp?”
Jim
Don’t worry about the polypro.
Tighen down until the cradle is snug to the bar. Polypropelene is a very durable plastic. I would recommend one thing though. If you plan on removing or moving the cradles much at all, replace the locknuts with stainless, nylon impregnated locknuts. They work just as well and will extend the life of the aluminum clamping plates.
Jim
Malone AutoLoaders
The 1/2" plastic the Malones are made from will slightly flex when you tighten them down. This will tell you that you have them well fastened to the bar.
The whole idea of the system is to allow overall flex to the whole carrier to reduce stress to the boat.
Bent metal (steel or aluminum) is ok for plastic boats but can create stress fractures in the better glass ones.