Yakima load stops to avoid

[gumpus]

I don't know if they still sell these or not, but I recommend that you avoid the type of Yakima load stops shown in the pics. These load stops actually folded over and let my canoe slip during extremely high crosswinds. My racks are Thule and the Yakima load stops also fit on Thule bars (and were advertised to work in both round and square bars) but I've never had fear of failure with either the older or newer type of Thule load stops.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I'm having trouble visualising the way they folded. I have the talker load stops from years ago and while the tower broke the stop held the canoe tight

 

[NorseScotsman]

No Title

I had the same issue when I travelled with two canoes from southern Ontario to Quetico last summer. One of my Yakima Gunwale Brackets failed. The vertical portion completely bent over (see picture). This caused the whole canoe to shift as I was driving. Luckily it stopped against the second canoe. The second canoe was secured with Yakima LoadStops and I had no problem with them. I have since replaced the Gunwale Brackets with another set of LoadStops.

FYI, I was told by my Yakima dealer that Yakima has discontinued the LoadStops, so if you want some, get them while dealers still have them.

 

[gumpus]

Mine failed in exact same way, on a day with crosswind gusts around 50 mph. I have Thule bars and now have the older Thule gunnel brackets on my vehicle and a set of the newer ones for my wife's vehicle in case it gets used for longer distances. The newest design looks good with very stiff vertical supports and metal for the part that wraps round the bars.

 

[Guest]

I don't know if they still sell these or not, but I recommend that you avoid the type of Yakima load stops shown in the pics. These load stops actually folded over and let my canoe slip during extremely high crosswinds. My racks are Thule and the Yakima load stops also fit on Thule bars (and were advertised to work in both round and square bars) but I've never had fear of failure with either the older or newer type of Thule load stops.

I have a 4-set of those Yakima gunwale stops, likewise on a Thule Bar. I detest the dang things.

Mostly because our 78 inch racks will not accommodate two wide tandems with the CR-V or Taco rack spacing in the usual stops-against-the-outwale position. So I just turn the Thule gunwale brackets or (DIY padded) Thule Load Stops around and put them inside the hull facing in the other direction.

With four gunwale brackets/load stops per crossbar that provides an extra 16 inches of free gunwale space. The Thule stuff is easy to take off and reverse orientation.

That’s an easy solution with the Thule stops, but the Yakima gunwale brackets are beyond a near impossible struggle to get off and put back on a Thule bar. Gawd how I wish I had spent the extra $10 for Thules.

Luckily (farsightedly) those irremovable Yakima brackets are on a rear crossbar, and I can cantilever tandem canoes far enough forward to make them work without removal/reversal.

Norse Scotsman’s catastrophic bracket failure photos make me glad those awful things are at least on the rear rack and less subject to highway driving sheer forces.

I’m sorry I ever bought them, and more so now seeing that failure fold.

 

[gumpus]

Yes, I forgot to mention that in addition to folding over in crosswinds, the soft material let's the fasteners burrow in and makes them extremely difficult to remove, and if you pull them all the way to one side to brace against the tower then you can't turn the hand screw to tighten them.

Other than that they are great and the soft material will not scuff wooden gunnels.

I never thought about using the "inside out" approach, that may come in handy some time.

 

[bcelect]

I see how the Yakima is not as robust as the Thule. Now 30 years later I know that I chose the correct brand with Thule, although they are being made in Asia instead of Sweden now.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I've had an older model Yakima gunwale bracket since 1991. No way will I part with them. Some half a million miles and they are fine.

 

[gumpus]

I'm no big advocate of Thule either. It also seems way overpriced. The Thule rack that is on my wife's car served well on my Subaru for almost 10 years, but a few of the nubs on the ends of the rubber straps have cracked and started to fail so I do not expect it to last 30 years. I got a second set of Thule towers for free from the wife of a friend that passed away so all I had to get was bars and end caps and gunnel brackets to set up my 4Runner. Found bars locally for 50 percent off from a dealer liquidating Thule and moving to Malone...so "only" $25 per bar instead of $50...and managed to cut myself on the unfinished ends. Still had to buy end caps from Amazon for $18 I think, with one reviewer saying "feel good because it's the cheapest thing you'll ever buy from Thule"...then cracked one on installation (so put that one on my wife's car). Somehow felt good about the $75 gunnel brackets since all gunnel brackets seem to cost $75. If I didn't get the free towers I would have bought either a Yakima or Thule aero rack...and taken a random chance about quality (and probably paid over $500 for a full set-up). All I know for sure is that the Yakima gunnel brackets in the pictures suck, and I will tend to go to craigslist in the future if and when I need a rack.

 

[Guest]

Found bars locally for 50 percent off from a dealer liquidating Thule and moving to Malone...so "only" $25 per bar instead of $50...and managed to cut myself on the unfinished ends.

Somehow felt good about the $75 gunnel brackets since all gunnel brackets seem to cost $75.

I agree that Thule and Yakima are pricey as an all-new retail rack purpose. But we have two sets of Thule racks going on 20 years old that have hauled canoes for many thousands of miles, locally and cross-county at highway speeds. Kept tightened and tuned up I have a great deal of confidence in those racks.

I managed to find shorter bars used/cheap for my son’s Corolla, and a set of used towers from a different seller. Folks seem to hold on to their longer crossbars or having no problem selling them to paddling friends. The CR-V and Tacoma both have 78 inch bars so the vehicles can carry two canoes, and those have moved from vehicle to vehicle over the years (re-used the towers once as well)

Thule Load stops pop up used from time to time. $35 on Ebay for a 4-set

https://www.ebay.com/i/302393625971?chn=ps&dispItem=1

(If I did Ebay I buy-now those and chuck the hard to remove Yakimas in the box of spare roof rack parts)

I prefer those to gunwale brackets, even though the gunwales are not sitting on the foot of an L. For one thing the stops are all metal and unlikely to fold over a la the Yakima plastic.

For another the / | shape works well on canoes with lots of shouldered tumblehome. On a slab sided canoe a vertical stop works fine, but on a boat with shouldered tumblehome a vertical stop ends up being this |(, with the stop presses against a small point of the hull below the gunwales.

The angled side of the load stop allows me to put the stops on \(, with a better connection against the gunwales and hull.

I just contact cement a thin strip of exercise flooring minicel onto the /| parts of the stops for some cushion.

 

[latremorej]

Wow! Good to know. I've been using the same yakima bars and gunnel blocks for about 15 years now. I love them! When using yakima bars and towers, you can easily turn the knob when the block is pressed up to the tower. I suppose that my tie down method would always prevent the type of failure you experienced... I bring my straps down around the inside of the blocks so there is no way the boat cam shift without the blocks actually moving.