I recently purchased and had installed - from a very trusted source - a new set of Yakima towers. I had them installed with my existing round cross bars on which I put a set of hully rollers (back) and regular cradles (front). I’ve used these bars, rollers and cradles for decades - up to now with Q towers that Yakima doesn’t make any more. I had them put on a ‘naked’ roof of a 2020 Prius. All good for several trips of roughly 50 minutes each way to/from the put-in. Then I drove down to the Ga coast - all good - with my 17ft Stellar on the rack. Then, halfway between the Ga Coast and Macon, Ga., on I75 going around 70-75 mph, I heard something and suddenly I saw the bow of my kayak swivel to the left, along with the left tower. I was fortunately in the right lane and could turn off on to the shoulder. The right-hand side (passenger side) tower had popped off. I put it back, tightened it down with the special screw driver on the main screw, but it kept on popping off. I fortunately had an extra set of straps, so I used one to attach the right side area where the tower attached to the cross bar to the side view mirror. I made it home - flowly - and took it into the seller/installer the next day. The tower itself checked out but what might have happened is that the screw that holds the clip flush against the hood of the car (the screw is the upper-left of the mechanism. I’m going to use the rack again this weekend for the 45 minute trip, but I’m nervous. And I’'m scheduled to drive down to the Okefenokee Swamp with my 10yr old granddaughter and two boats. I’m nervous, frankly. I may take our other car - an older one with a high roof that has a build-on rack.
Frankly, I’m scared and nervous to take the Prius with the new rack, even though the guys at my place checked it out and reinstalled the towers. I should note that I had a bow line but not a stern line on the boat.
Questions: 1-Has anything like this ever happened to anyone? 2-What would you do in my place? Check it a lot? Drive under 75 mph (the installer guys emphasized that increased speed leads to increased lift exponentially.
I’ve had a tower/clip of a Baseline system rip off a naked roof car on a day when there were two kayaks on top and crosswinds were blowing 40 mph + (there was no option but to stay on the road). It’s a fine system for local travel of average speed, but for traveling over 60 and carrying items with a lot of windage (aka canoes and kayaks), check the fit every few hours, use every tie down point, and moderate the speed.
You are going to go 75 mph on an open highway with potential cross winds with a kayak rack, with a kayak perched on top of it, that attaches to the car with side clips?
When pulling a travel trailer on I-95, I-75, I-40, I-26, I-20, I-16, and I-4 I don’t drive over 62mph for several reasons.
I see no reason to “have to drive” 70-75 mph traveling with two kayaks on the roof. I also tie both the bow and stern to two tie-off points one too each side preventing side to side movement. The lines front and back are tied to prevent any possible give forward or back. In fact, it prevents the boat from moving in any direction. I would think this would also take some of the strain off of the rack by countering the potential leverage caused by a cross wind.
I once just tied these lines at the takeout and was called away before strapping my WW canoe down. Then later got in the car and drove 4 hours home in the dark. When I took the boat off the car the next morning, I realized I hadn’t strapped it down and to my surprise the boat never budged.
I’m very appreciative for all of these responses. Having not had a problem like this before, I realize I’ve been both complacent and lucky. I appreciate hearing more suggestions and experiences. Thank you.
That Baseline System is a well designed and engineered system, but it was not designed for those types of highway speeds at that distance. As the market demands, it is designed with a great deal of aesthetics in mind, they really look good and don’t detract from the appearance peoples’ new cars. But they have their limitations. I mean, they are held on by side clips. The forces generated by going 75 mph with a cross wind with a kayak on top of it are absolutely tremendous. Aesthetics are not going to help you there.
If you want to go 75 mph, you need nuts and bolts, a welding machine and Pick-Up Truck.
We are lucky that is not more common.
solar panels on the roof are another hazard.
I like boat trailers for kayaks and canoes and tying them with rope and a trucker’s hitch.
I know people who have driven cross country with Yakima racks. Yakima says they are safe at posted speeds unless the weather is “extreme”. They also recommend tying both bow and stern, but no welding required.
Yakima Racks in general or Baseline? Posted speed is a broad category. There are 75 mph posted speeds. You go 75 mph with a Baseline, you have no margin for error, you are at the rack’s ultimate limit or a little beyond it, like what happened to @rickd and @chicago_paddler. Any cross wind, tie down deficiencies, strap failure you could lose your boat and/or possibly cause a terrific accident. Its not worth it. Tie the kayak down properly with bow and stern cross lines with independent end ties like @castoff said. Keep it around 55 mph and you have a nice margin for error. I think it is a good rack, but not a 75 mph rack, it is built around end clips.
When we travel high speed/long distance we double up on all the lines. Two bow and stern lines to opposite corners and also double up on the main tiedowns. Probably overkill, but this will generally keep both the kayaks and rack on the car even in the case of a rack failure.
If you are talking about the Yakima Baseline, there are detailed videos of the installation on YouTube showing all the components, procedures and attachments. Just have to Google “Yakima Baseline Installation.”
I realize that, but mounting is the same as shown in the videos and is much more detailed then a single picture would be, it shows how the whole design mechanism works to attach the towers to the naked door jamb. Gives you a real understanding how it works, its weak spots and strong spots and how it may come off.
The second paragraph was a joke.
Edit: The video was the official Yakima Installation Video, not just someone on YouTube.
If bow and stern lines are attached to the front and rear carry handles, I have seen carry handles attached with two small rivets on each side through a plastic mount. I have broken two straps on my kayak. Strong enough to prevent uplift with a rack failure?
@rickd - in reading through this thread, I didn’t see where it was said what specific tower you are using, besides that it is Yakima and you have a bare roof. Can you send details? Simplest would be a photo showing the rack on your roof (maybe a close up of the tower area). Without knowing this, we may be making assumptions that would provide answers that aren’t helpful for you.
With a working load of 250 lbs each and a much higher breaking strength for the Thule bow and stern tiedown, and other tiedowns with a higher breaking strength, doubled for long distance/high speed transport it’s highly unlikely that these will fail even at 75mph in the event of a rack failure. In addition, these tiedowns, doubled up to opposite corners will keep the kayak faced into the wind where the affected surface area is probably less than 2ft2 .
As far a carry handles, if the kayak is transported upright the force on the kayak would be on the kayak, not the handle if you wrapped the line around the bow and stern. We use a poly strap around the bow and stern and clip the tiedowns to that. The carry handles only help to keep the strap in place.
