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Great concept but the mounting clips are made of plastic, i.e very cheap and the price is a little excessive for that reason. Also, the mounting equipment only hand tightens and no matter how tight you think you are getting it they tend to slip, i.e twist or rotate around the bar, from the weight (only 65lbs) and force of pushing the kayak up onto them. From my experience this is in combination with the round bar from Yakima but I have heard wrapping some black electrical tape around the bar underneath the clips will help. I would recommend Yakima include some foam tape for this purpose or figure out some other method of insuring this doesn’t happen. Perhaps using some other type bar such as a square design would eliminate this issue but I bought Yakima Brand bar so I certainly did not expect this.

Moving on…

I decided to use the locking mechanism (sold separately) and in the instructions it states to use a hex head bolt rather than the original hardware; unfortunately this hex head bolt isn’t included. Furthermore, the instructions do not indicate what length hex head bolt to get, only the diameter 5/16″. They have a rather poor illustration that certainly does not indicate length only that it has the hex head. So I took the carriage bolt (original hardware) to the local hardware store and found the length to be 2 1/4″. I was unable to find a 2 1/4″ hex head bolt so I used a 2″ instead. My point is…include whatever hardware is necessary for this to function correctly or at least correct the directions; again especially for the price. I realize this isn’t part of the hullyroller product per say but it is an accessory for it so I am including it just in case someone else is also thinking along those lines.
It took me an honest hour or so to get these lined up correctly and to get the mounting clips tight enough to not slip but I have very deep concerns they will still fail. I certainly hope that does not happen and especially does not happen while in transport. Lastly, the wheels could spin a little more freely but I can see how you don’t want too much spin so your boat doesn’t move too quickly and potentially cause loss of control so, I will let that one slide.

For the price Yakima commands and the reputation I thought they had, I would expect more. As I mentioned in the beginning, it is a great concept but it needs a little more thought to the design. The ability to lock the wheels is nice so the boat doesn’t continue to roll but I would not expect to have the problems and doubts right from the start that I have. Hopefully Yakima listens to their customers and I guess only time will tell how well they actually perform; that is if I decide to keep them. I feel that I have too much invested in this system to not give it at least an honest evaluation so stay tuned and wish me luck!

Sincerely,
An honest customer with a lot ridding on Yakima

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