# Yakima + 80mph = Flying Boats



## windriver (Mar 26, 2009)

I'm posting this so others can learn from my experience this weekend, and also to see if anyone else has had similar incidents. 

I drive a Mazda 3 with a yakima roof rack installed on top. I had two creek boats on top and was heading down the interstate doing 80mph. (Speed limit was 75mph) I heard a loud pop and in my review mirror saw the two kayaks flying 15 ft in the air. They crashed violently on the pavement and then slid off into the grassy median. Super lucky no one was behind me or it would have caused a very serious accident. Initially I thought I must have done a poor job tying down the boats, but when I got out of the car the boats were still tied to the rack. The whole rack just flew off. Luckily the boats just had some minor road rash, no cracks or dents. 

I've had the rack for almost a year and hauled all kinds of things on it at various speeds without issue. I carefully followed the installation guidelines ensuring that all the measurements were correct. It's possible I made a mistake somewhere I suppose, but every time I load anything on the rack I give it a few hard pulls and it always seems solid. I have no idea what caused this to happen. Maybe high speeds with two creek boats is just too much to handle. Has anyone else experienced this type of catastrophic rack failure? I doubt Yakima will warranty anything, but I'll give them a call tomorrow. Not sure about what my next move is, but I'm certainly going to be paranoid about hauling boats on top of my car for the rest of my life. I will never drive closely behind a car loaded with boats either. Anyways, if you drive a Mazda 3 with a yakima - beware!


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## mania (Oct 21, 2003)

Speed Limits

guess you were 5 mph too fast.


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## nessles (Sep 8, 2011)

Same thing has happened to me with a Prius. I had a Yakima roof rack and was driving around 50mph with a Nomad and Green Boat on top. Heard some ridiculous noise and saw my boats cartwheeling down the road behind me.

I noticed that the racks would slide forward and backward some during regular use and I assume that the racks lost their grip on the frame eventually. Installed everything perfectly, but apparently I'm not the only one this has happened to. Glad no one got hurt.

Just got new Thule racks. They seem pretty bomber.

- Nessles
Fluid Glass Network


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## Outlaw (Mar 8, 2010)

Yep, I had this happen on my Honda Civic Hybrid back in 2007. I was driving along on the Salmon River Highway outside Riggins, ID when the whole Yakima rack came off with 2 creek boats and a paddle attached! I called Yakima and they said that I should have been using tie downs. After another 4 years, I had enough and took the whole rack back to REI. They refunded my money and I bought a real rack (Thule). I've had no problems since and the rack never slips on my car. With my old Yakima, I set it up with all measurements done correctly and it would still slip if the roof was wet. Thules are SO much better than Yakima!! To boot, a few month later, the flimsy Yakima paddle holder broke on I-84. The paddle came off, scratched my trunk and my $350 paddle got run over by a semi truck. Yakima SUCKS!


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## Duckins (Nov 7, 2008)

I wouldn't necessarily blame it on Yakima, and I wouldn't blindly trust a Thule rack to not fly off either. One of my friends had a rack fly off before on I-70, and I've noticed mine get loose with kayaks on it as well.

You probably set the rack up right. It's the kayak rigging that makes the rack come loose. Most other racks (like bike trays, ski racks, or Rocket Boxes) hold the bars a set distance. When we put kayaks on and crank down on cam straps to hold 'em down, we are forcing the racks together (or apart, depending on how you strap them down). This can cause the rack to push the car's roof down and make the rack's clip loose.

I think it's a problem inherent to any of the rack systems that use clips to hold onto your roof or rain gutters. It's important to do a quick check of the rack, especially when you're loading up kayaks.


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## GPP33 (May 22, 2004)

Damn, lot's of boats flying about. 

Can't say I have ever had a problem with Yakima and have certainly driven faster than 80 with more stuff on the roof. 

I know there are different types of mounts but all of the ones I have seen would give you some pretty strong clues they are about to go before actually going. Hard to say without seeing the left over pieces though. 

I saw some guys picking up pieces of snowboards and racks from I-70 on morning on my way to the hill.Didn;t see if it was Thule of Yakima.


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## Redpaddle (Jan 10, 2007)

Just an observation, but all the problems cited here had to do with cars without factory roof racks. I had a 96 Subaru Outback with Thule racks and have routinely loaded it with lots of kayaks, canoes, bikes etc. The most ever was 2 canoes and a kayak (all stacked) and a bike, driving across the cascades in Oregon (Bend to Newport) in some terrifying winds. There were some gusts I was certain would either rip off the canoes or flip my car but the old Subaru/Thule combination held strong! only damage was strap rubbing on the canoe hull. 

So it makes me wonder two things: did the rack failure happen at the attachment point with the car (rain gutter clamp)? do people have experience with rack failure on cars that it attaches to factory pre-installed racks (bolted to the structure of the car)?


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## okieboater (Oct 19, 2004)

One of my boating buds has a rule:

"straps hold boats to the roof rack
bow and stern tie down ropes to the vehicle frame hold the rack to the vehicle"

I know of no rack company that will cover rack failure unless front and rear tie down ropes are used.


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## Redpaddle (Jan 10, 2007)

Agreed bow and stern lines are a good idea for larger boats to keep them straight and their bows down so they don't become a sail but for a 6-8' kayak? I don't think they will help much. 

I agree, however, that no rack company is going to be easily convinced to assume fault for these types of accidents. There are too many variables and "user errors" that they will be able to cite as cause of failure. Best to just check the rack before use but I know I forget after a few takeout beers.... 

heck just buy a pickup and throw em in the back. 'Merica!


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## openboat (Jul 13, 2004)

I've never seen a kayaker with bow and stern ropes attached to the car, but with canoes, we usually use these ropes to assure this doesn't happen. I've had good Yakima racks with real towers directly on the roof (not on luggage racks) pulled over 6" from their original position in high crosswinds when my canoes were on. The bow and stern ropes saved them.


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## gannon_w (Jun 27, 2006)

I was driving up Big Thompson canyon after running the river. I have a blazer with factory racks...Well I got up to about 20 miles per hour when my creek boat flew off, well actually slid off the front scratching my hood. I was gonna call Chevrolet to see if they could do anything since it did scratch my hood but I didn't decide to since I forgot to tie it down.


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## NathanH. (Mar 17, 2010)

I'm not sure but I think Yakima has a policy with their snowboard/ski carriers. If you equipment comes off the rack they assume the liability for it. You might look into that.


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## yak1 (Jan 28, 2006)

37 years boat'n and I use to loose boats all the time. Not since cam straps. However I do not use one long strap that runs to each rack. I tie the boats to each rack with one or two straps per rack. Also if you notice that the rack is loose you may want to tighten it. I've had up to 8 boats on the rack on nasty roads and high speed roads. Good luck.


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## latenightjoneser (Feb 6, 2004)

I use Yakima q towers. They can be loose, making me nervous. I recently had to replace the little rubber pads that sit under each tower. The pads had rotted in the sun to the point that they were like jelly. This could be the problem?


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## Favre (Nov 17, 2010)

I've had problems with Yakima as well, and from what I've heard, I would put more trust in Thule racks these days.

I had a 2004 Hyundai Elantra with Yakima racks PROFESSIONALLY installed (on two different occasions, a second time after problems as described below.) Not long after installation, the rack began to slide. The sliding rack caused damage to the side roof area of my vehicle and also got worse, making me fear that boats would go flying off of my vehicle. I no longer own the vehicle or use that type of rack, and I never contacted Yakima about it.

I would suggest using one strap per cross bar on your rack. By using one long strap through both bars, you are essentially pulling them together (or at least putting pressure on them in such a way.)

After reading this thread, I do believe Yakima is at fault. Their website clearly stated that the rack was good for my model of vehicle, and it was not in my situation, and it sounds like other car owners have experienced the same.


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## seedubs1 (Aug 2, 2011)

So did the stackers come off, or was it the entire rack?


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## Awoody (Nov 15, 2006)

I definitely agree with the comments on here about using only one strap per cross bar. THe one strap system is slick and handy, but definitely has a tendency to pull the bars together. Especially with Yakima Q clips, as soon as those towers are anywhere besides their precisely described positioning on the car, the clips don't match the contour of your vehicles frame and they're ripe to come off. If Q clips and towers are your only fit for your vehicle, it is probably worth keeping your installation instructions and remeasuring the Q tower positioning once a year or something.

Other rack set ups than the Q clips seem stronger too. If you like your cars cheap, and your kayaks to stay put, use old school 1A raingutter towers, they've never been anything but solid for me. 

Q towers in particular are just kind of a finicky design. I'm not sure what Thule makes to fit the same vehicles, but I can't imagine it's way more foolproof. I worked at a shop that sold Yakima for a lot of years, we did see some Q towers come back in that had failed dramatically like you're saying, but I never saw any type of failure on any other variety of Yakima towers.


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## JonasJ (Nov 10, 2006)

*Flying Mazda 3*

It's a good thing those boats came off. Landing a Mazda is tough without air traffic control support.


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## FatmanZ (Sep 15, 2004)

A Mazda Protoge I had years ago also suffered some roof damage from Q towers sliding under a load of 4 playboats and highway speeds. I ended up using bow/stern lines on long drives in that car after noticing the damage and potential for failure. 

If you want to use A1 raingutter towers (Yakima or Thule) but your car doesn't have raingutters, you can bolt some "Thule Artificial Rain Gutters" or "Yakima Bolt Top Loaders" to the top of your car. These will allow you to use the Rain Gutter towers/feet. I've used them on two vehicles in the past and they're bomber. The A1 towers can slip on a regular rain gutter, but the artificial ones are crimped on the ends and prevent the towers from slipping off.


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## H2UhOh (Jul 27, 2010)

*Kayak position makes a difference*

All these boats and/or racks that flew off--were the kayaks sitting on their sides (as with J-cradles or stackers) OR were they sitting flat (either right-side-up or upside-down)?

If the kayaks are on their sides, they act like sails with big scoops (cockpits).

If the kayaks are sitting flat, they present less of a wind wall.

Not saying that is what caused the OP's failure, but it could contribute to overstressing the set-up at Interstate speeds, especially with crosswinds. And especially if there is little spread between the crossbars, as is common on small cars. The kayaks act like giant levers twisting the mounts.

Standard protocol with rooftopped long kayaks and canoes calls for bow and stern painter lines. I have yet to see a short kayak with such lines, though it's a good idea.


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## Tele-axel (Dec 10, 2007)

Every rack on every roof can and will come loose if left long enough. They should all be checked/tightened on a regular basis as the "long enough" time-frame will vary depending on what is attached to the rack, the vehicle the rack is attached to, who installed the rack, how old the rack is, etc... I've seen friends and customers in shops I've worked have issues with both Yakima and Thule and most of the smaller brand roof systems as well. Highway speeds, high winds, and loads create A LOT of shake and shimmy that will inevitably loosen parts.


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## boonekayak (Apr 13, 2010)

I have had friends lose kayaks off their racks in similar situations. We were driving down I-40 to the Green in NC when my buddy ahead of me had the bow of one of the two creek boats on his yakima rack lift up. This caused it to become a sail, and as I tried to call him, the rack was ripped off and the boats went on either side of the highway. We were driving about 65mph and luckily no one got hurt. We then tied his two boats with my boat to my car with a home made roof rack. My home made rack has lasted over six years now, and I've carried everything from canoes, kayaks, and rafts. The longest distance traveled with them loaded was 8hrs going about 60-75mph. My rack only put me back $20...


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## brandob9 (Jun 13, 2010)

I hear of racks peeling off of cars about 3-4 times a year in the NW. Yakimas seem to come off more often than Thule, but both have the potential to go if they are the clamp and footpad style. 

My two cents on this on, and the conclusion reached by those whose racks have come off, is that drilling and bolting will get you a much more solid solution. 

I think the real problem is that these racks are designed to hold 165 lbs IIRC (+-10 lbs), which is just fine for snowboards and bikes. 165 lbs only gets us three creek boats, never mind the aero resistance of the things. I would guess that the total aero load of the boats and rack is probably something close to the car itself. The car has a larger frontal area, but a much lower coefficient of drag. 

In conclusion, I think that a rack full of creek boats is just too much for the footpad and clamp style of mount and that you are going to need something bolted to get the performance we ask of these racks.


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