Re: [Paddlewise] rolling Yakama bars

Although it does not entirely solve the rolling bar problem, a lot of people in
our club have improved the clamping friction of the racks by taking some sand
paper and roughing up the plastic coating on the bar so it is not quite so
slick.  They can still roll if you are not careful, but scuffing up the surface
helps reduce the problem without having to apply to much crushing force to the
clamps.

Bill Leonhardt wrote:

> In sort of a spirit of "me too" ism, I've also had problems with Yakima
> bars rolling.
>
> I have saddles in the front and rollers in the back.  The bars are the
> "double cross" version mounted to the factory rack rails on a '97 Dodge
> Caravan.  In the beginning, I assumed that the Hully Rollers were rotating
> around the bar.  I replaced the factory nuts with ordinary hex nuts (more
> to slow down thieves than anything else) and tightened the hell out of them.
>
> It was then I learned that the bars were rotating in the towers.  I would
> tighten the towers to the point of almost breaking the little red levers
> and, in a few months, the rubber would extrude out and things would loosen
> up.  I DO NOT like having to tighten my whole roof rack with those fragile
> little red levers.
>
> My wife actually hurt herself seriously while unloading some boats alone
> once because the bars rotated and the rollers moved enough to allow a boat
> to drop.
>
> Yes, I've read of other people fixing the problem with sand paper and, no,
> I have not taken the bars apart to do that yet.  I also haven't talked with
> Yakima.  I suppose I'm feeling lazy but also feeling very disappointed that
> a system from a company such as Yakima should be so much of a hassle.
>
> The set-up on my van has the front saddles straddling the front bar towers
> and thus the whole set-up is a real hassle to put on and take off the roof.
>  So... my set up lives on the roof 365 days a year.  I really, really,
> really miss the old set-up I had when my old van had rain gutters. Easy on
> and off and they stayed tight.
>
> I've also been disappointed with the performance of the rollers.  Just
> looking at them, they have so much promise but they really don't perform
> that well.  There are times they choose not to roll (yes, I did unlock
> them).  They would probably work better if our boats had a much more
> pronounced "vee" shape.
>
> In fairness, though, the rollers do (most of the time) make it easier for
> me to load boats alone on such a high vehicle.
>
> I too have been thinking of a trailer.  It would certainly make to
> loading/unloading part of paddling a lot easier.
>
> The bottom line for me now is I have what i have and will live with it for
> the forseeable future.  When it come time to look at a new rack set up, I
> will probably not go again with Yakima.
>
> Bill Leonhardt
>
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