TMS J-Bar Rack HD Kayak Carrier Canoe Boat Surf Ski Roof Top Mounted on Car SUV Crossbar

I ordered two sets of these J-racks and they arrived in perfect condition. They must have addressed the issues with holes not lining up and difficulty getting bars through rubber sleeve because they were super easy to assemble and everything lined up nicely when waiting to fully tighten all bolts at once (this is key). I mounted the J-racks to my 2008 Yukon Denali factory roof rack. Like many others, I had to shorten the longest bolts by almost 1/2 inch. I used a dremel rotary tool with a cut-off disk (mark bolt, screw nut on past cut-off point, cut bolt, screw off nut to align threads -- with all common sense safety measures). I opted to keep the same hardware but change the washers on the long bolts to locking washers (.11 each). There's not enough clearance below my roof rack to use the plastic knobs, so the locking washer works with existing, non-locking nuts. This allows me to finger spin them on up to the locking washer versus a locking nut that would require using a wrench the whole time. I also cut strips of that rubbery, non slip mesh used to line cupboards, and put that between the bottom metal bracket and roof rack cross bar to help prevent scratching/chipping while creating a bit of a "grip" when tightening the J-racks to roof rack. Despite what others have said, the straps that come with the J-racks are perfectly fine for their purpose, but be sure to also use bow/stern safety lines. I bought 4 separate 12' light-weight lashing straps with cam buckles and use hood loops on the front and hitch area on back to strap through (see photo). Bottom line: You won't find anything less expensive for the nice quality of these racks, and anything slightly nicer is WAY more expensive, BUT like others have said, expect to modify/change hardware for your situation (only on the long bolts) and be patient with mounting them if you don't have the luxury of space between your roof rack crossbar and roof. With some tweaks, they work great for the casual kayaker who doesn't want to spend more on a carrier than the kayaks themselves.

The media could not be loaded. I'm pleased with my purchase of two sets of these J-Bar racks so I could carry two kayaks on my Honda Odyssey, one on either side with a canoe in the middle. The J-Bars attached easily to the 78 inch-wide Thule bars I already had mounted to the factory roof rack. Although the canoe fit fine I ended up puting it on another car so I could put two extra bikes on top of the van. We traveled 5 hrs round trip to a mountain lake sometimes at highway speeds with no issues. Some other reviewers said these J-Bars were difficult to assemble and had poor or non-existent instructions. They came with just a piece of paper showing the parts and a diagram of how they fit together, but no step by step narrative. I thought the diagram was easy enough to understand but the "difficult" part was getting the bolt heads through the bottom black plastic part of the mount. The bolt heads are a tight fit in the plastic and the underside of the bolt heads have a square shape that fits into a square shape down inside the mount. I solved this by pushing the bolts in until the heads stopped at the plastic, then screwed on the self-locking nuts finger tight (they screw on a few turns before you need a wrench). Then I used pliers to grab the nut to pull the bolt through, while turning it until it seated in the square hole, then continued to turn the nut with the pliers while pulling so the bolt couldn't pop out of the square hole. Finished tightening nuts with a wrench. I also cut a small piece of wood to fit between the bars at the bottom, to hold them apart while assembling the bottom of the mount. The plastic is flexible and the wood helped stretch it a little to get the black metal plate in place. Other than getting those bolts in place, the assembly was easy. The J-Bars were priced right and decent quality. I would buy them again. Like other things I've purchased that were made in China that needed assembly, there can be a glitch or two but they work ok if you're careful, like the patio set I bought with propane fire pit...but that's another story!