Hi all…
Does anyone have the SportRack ABR511 “J Staker” kayak carrier??
I am going on a weeklong paddling trip next week, and I had ordered this carrier from Amazon…I just got it today and when I opened the box found that the "Quick on / off hardware was not included or the straps. I have other straps I can use but need ideas for the mounting hardware, I am desperately searching for photos of the missing hardware,if anyone has this carrier, do you have any photos? I tried to download the installation instructions from the website but it would not work for whatever reason…Help!
SportRack J Staker hardware
According to the SportRack page here: http://www.sportrack.com/uploads/5928/ABR511.pdf you need 2 M6 carriage bolts per J. Instructions are somewhat muddy but looks like 50 mm for an aftermarket rack or 65 mm for a factory rack with corresponding nuts.
The manufacturer specific bar that goes under your rack bars is slightly “S” shaped with one end with a hole and the other with a slot, perhaps so that the bar can be adjusted to the width of the rack bar. The bar also appears to have some indentation to get a tighter fit depending on whether your bar is round, oblong, or square and/or to keep the J from swiveling. These are a Thule product so I bet square is the best fit.
A simple flat bar drilled to fit the J’s 6 mm bolt holes may do. The instructions show the bolts inserted in the right front hole and left rear hole on each J. That may be to minimize swiveling when the boats are loaded.
May not be perfect but seemingly should do until you can get the Amazon merchant to send you the hardware, straps, and tie downs or until you can get Amazon to make good on the deal.
sportrack j carrier
Thanks very much annr, Amazon did give me a 20% refund, I will try to get this thing to work with Home Depot stuff tomorrow, don’t care if it is not pretty, just don’t want my kayak coming off at 75 mph!
Again, thanks for your time & help!