3/19/2023 0 Comments Yakima easy rider![]() Everyone in our club who has this trailer has purchased the heavy duty shocks and has made a stop on the swing arm so that if the shock breaks, it can not go through the fender up into a kayak. The trailer was far from being overloaded, and it happened at highway speed. I saw this happened on a friends Yakima trailer on a club trip. They will break in normal use which causes the tire to go through the fender and destroy any boat that is above it. The most significant flaw is with the standard duty shocks. After eight years of use both my fenders have lost about half of their silver paint. The paint on the plastic fenders chips off easily. After eight years of use mine has a significant bend. The tongue extension Yakima sells is not strong enough for its length. I did $600 worth of damage to my car this way. When you try to back up it is very easy to turn sharp enough that the kayak hits your rear fender. The standard tongue is not even long enough to handle 14 ft kayak if you mount it on the end of the bar. This trailer does have some significant design flaws that lead me to only give it four stars. Many small boat access sites are on bumpy dirt roads and this trailer rides better than my car. It is the only trailer that has independent suspension that includes a shock absorber. What makes it so good is the suspension system. This trailer is the best I have seen among kayak trailers. I am an active member of our local paddle club and paddle about a hundred days a year so I not only see how my trailer performs, but I get a chance to see how others perform. I have also taken this trailer with kayaks from northern Michigan to southern Missouri a couple of times. I have pulled it from Michigan to Florida on Interstates more times than I can count. I have owned this trailer for about eight years. It's a small annoyance, when you consider you've got a trailer so light, you can tow it behind a motorcycle. An oval bar would have been a much better choice. When there is no kayaks resting on the J-Saddles, they tend to flip forward and backward, no matter how tight you clamp them down. My only complaint is that Yakima opted to use a round bar. Other equally important factors are the large, rugged wheels, which allow for highway speeds, without excess wear, and the high clearance, allowing it to be pulled practically anywhere, without fear of getting hung up on an axle. I think what sold me, was the fact that the trailer was designed so that the whole thing could fold up, and be stowed against my garage wall. I was immediately impressed, with its sturdy build and light weight, and looked at it seriously, as a contender. My wife, being the smarter half of our union, decided I needed a trailer, so this wouldn't happen again.Īfter a couple weeks of research, comparing several different models, (and a short stint considering building one), I happened across a Yakima RackandRoll trailer, at my local kayak shop. The torn rotator cuff which resulted from doing so, was as painful as it was predictable. Many years ago, my only means of hauling my rather heavy sit on top kayak, was to heave it onto the roof of our minivan. ![]() We have still to kayak in Alaska and Hawaii and are making plans for an Alaskan Cruise with a kayak excursion included. I have been able to deal with the wiring (rather fragile and not really water proof) and Yakima did send me a new set of fenders which look much better. My only reason for the four stars relates to some wiring issues and peeling fender paint. lifting the kayaks above our heads began to be problematic and so this trailer has extended our ability to enjoy this wonderful sport. For years we secured our kayaks on the top of our car with Thule J racks. Whether it has been 80 mph highways in Utah or rough dirt roads under construction in the Sierra Nevada Mts, the trailer was easily up to the job. ![]() With all of the miles we have replaced the tires once and we did use the spare tire in Illinois on our first trip. When we bought the trailer we did get the spare tire and kickstand options, and they have come in handy. With all of this travel, the "Rack and Roll" trailer performed like a champ. In addition we have done countless kayak trips in all of the New England states. The second was out to the west coast and back (8,600 miles) hitting all the states we missed the first time, mostly across the middle of the country. The first trip was around the perimeter of the USA traveling 10,500 miles in 57 days. At this point (2019) we have paddled in all of the lower 48 states and have done two round America trips starting in our home state -New Hampshire. We set up our trailer with two Old Town Loon kayaks ( 12' and 13' 8") with a Thule Box in between. After we retired, we set a goal of kayaking in all 50 United States. My wife and I have had our "Rack and Roll" trailer for approximately 8 years and we think it is great. ![]()
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