Ouch…Bad review on pnet. 1 out of 10 points. Another reviewer gave it a 10/10 score. Now I am confused…I was going to buy these this week. Anyone else have a problem with these. Please advise before I spend $150.00.
Thanks
I can give you half and answer
I use the 878XT on my front rack and a set of rollers on the back. The 878XT have given me no problems in the 2 years I have owned them. I use them year round so they stay on my car all winter in the N.E… I went with rollers on the back because I have a tall SUV and it allows me to load my yak by myself.
another half of an answer…
I had the two of the saddles rather than one saddle and I glide section. The saddles had a nice soft non-marking pad and the adjustable angle seemed like a nice feature… in theory. The reality is that the adjustable angle thing was more of a pain than a benefit as it tended to get loose and it was impossible to tighten enough so that it would stay in a particular position. I eventually cracked off the screws and although Thule was good enough to send me replacements, I have since thrown those saddles in a corner of my garage and am using Malone Autoloaders which mark the heck out of my kayak but don’t move around on me. Still for the three years I used the saddles, they worked great. I’d give them a 6/10.
9 out of 10 so far
We’ve had four sets for two years (perhaps not long enough for anything to break). They stay on year-round in Portland/Cascades weather. I do have to re-tighten the adjustable joint every now and then, but that’s neveer been a big deal. (I can see, however, that one would not want to over-tighten.) I find that they stay pretty much where I put them, but perhaps they like the shape of our hulls.
No problems.
I have only had the set for a few months,no worries so far, I did put a little loc-tite on all the plastic covered nuts once i had them adjusted for my boat…Time will tell.
Similar notes
Front end didn’t hold it’s shape/adjustment shape well. Boats slipped off to one side or the other of the back end during loading. Once boats were in place and adjustments locked in tightly, it seemed to hold and ride pretty well. Not recomended for flat bottomed SOT’s or some rec boats…even worse about slipping off the back set. 5/10 from me. I’ve been leaning towards purchasing some Malone’s recently myself.
Plastic, but they work
yeah, they are plastic, and made to fit both Thule and Yakima racks, so they are a compromise in design, and yes, they should cost maybe $20.
But, I’ve had a set for a year and they work great. Very easy on the back when loading the heavy-whale plastic Tempest 17 or the almost as heavy Aquanaut glass boat. If you strap them right, the glides hold the boat fine (loop straps inside of the hold-on wing nuts under the bar.
I recently got the older H2Go saddles and older glides on eBay - superior to the new ones, if you have Thule bars - they fit only the square bar and hence fit it better.
AAM
Not the 883 but the 881
I recently ordered the 881 Top Deck set of saddles from Amazon. When installing them on top of my Pathfinder luggage rack, the top of the plastic clamp cracked on both sides where the bolt went through (top of clamp is plastic, bottom is metal). I sent them back and I am awaiting a refund. I wasn’t too impressed with the four $80 pieces of plastic that I purchased.
I am not looking into a set of Malone Seawings and I’m hoping for better results.