for any of you paddlers that use Yakama landing pads.
I made my annual inspection of the hold down bolts,(set screws) and per usual they each required about an eighth of an inch of tightening.
I am not sure if they would loosen up more than that, but it seems that in the years I have had them, I have to tighten them at least once a year.
Cheers,
JackL
I always check racks…
…one of the advantages of paddling.
I don’t feel so bad
I checked my Landing Pad mounts about a month ago, and over a year the mounting bolts only loostened about a half turn.
Jim
Loose Bolts
It’s a good idea to check all Yakima bolts & screws for tightness wherever they are in the rack system. I’ve had the set screws loosen up on my front towers and on my Dry Dock. In both cases, they loosened enough to allow the crossbars to slip sideways in a strong crosswind. Pretty scary on the interstate with two 16’ solo canoes on top. Now I tighten every screw and bolt each time before I head out.
Nylocks?
Can the nuts be replaced with nylocks? Or maybe add a lock washer to keep things tightened up.
jim
What is a “Nylock” ?
I don’t think I would want to screw around with a lock washer, since they sit in a recessed hole, and you would need a custom one.
On my Thule “junk”, I did replace all their hardware with stainless steel bolts, nuts, washers and lock washers, and that is another story.
cheers,
JackL
Landing Pads do not use nuts
so nylocks are out of the question. Bolts normally insert into OAEM fixtures or square nuts sliding in channels (where LockTite rules).
Jim
It’s a
stainless steel nut with a nylon inset in the threads that resists loosening. All my boats’ foot peg tracks and pad eyes are secured with them.
Tiedowns
Check them too. Sun and abrasion do a number on straps and lines.