Very good product

This was better then expected. Easy to install and easy to load the kayak in. I was not a fan of J style because of the difficulty in putting the kayak into them but this one I have no problem. Can easily load and tie down. Great product!! Worth the extra money!!

This is my second Malone J-rack and I love them! Easy to use and allows you to safely transport 1 kayak. Fits a variety of kayak styles (play boat, white water, touring and sea). The best feature with the Malone rack is that it folds down when you’re not using it so you don’t have to take it off before going into touchless carwashes and parking garages. With two J-racks I can now bring a second kayak with me on my adventures.

Amazing quality bit of kit! I used to have upright bars on my roof rack, which are cheaper but no way near as good and even once had on kayak roll out of position slightly but that won't happen with these. Haven't yet set them all up as still only February but the quality stands out, glad I never went for cheaper and inferior quality j bars. Also went and separately bought the Malone t track kit, which I don't think is available for other j bars......unless you go up the next price bracket to Thule brand but they cost a lot more. 100% recommend these! 👍

I have to admit 3rd time using this product I broke one of the locks. I was stressed as in a week I was going away kayaking and it was a 3 hour drive and I needed to get a new lock piece. I emailed the company in Maine I believe and they were shocked that it broke but they sent a bunch of new ones by courier free. I kept one in my glove-box just in case it happened again. A year later and thousands of highway km's with my 2 sit in kayaks they are working great. My neighbor has flip down Thule racks and he likes mine better as the shape of the front plate makes it easy to slide them up and holds them in place. Other than the padded sleeves fading in the sun they work like new. This is definitely a great product and a good company to deal with. I have mine mounted on a 2015 Toyota Highlander factory roof rack using the long bolts and they look great even when not in use.

I love Malone and want to do all I can to support them. I bought these to go with their Telos load assist module. On their own, these are great. They are well padded, very sturdy, fold down easily (I didn't realize till I bought them how much I appreciate that they do fold down, worth the extra money). They are super easy to attach and I love that they work with my factory installed rails and crossbars (2006 Subaru Outback). In fact I'm on a mission to not have to buy anything Thule but to do all I can to utilize the existing factory rails and crossbars:). I did worry though that it's so easy to put them on that it's similarly easy to have them taken off by someone else but after asking that question about my concern on the Amazon site, folks assured me that it has not been a problem (theft that is). I did drive around with them for many weeks and they are still there. So, again, as a stand alone item, I highly recommend these. See my review on the Telos system which has its problems, sadly which prompted me to return both the J racks a well as the Telos system. .

I've had more than 10 years experience with kayak racks, and over the years have had 3 Thule styles of "J" rack, and 1 Yakima. The Malone racks beat them all, hands down. Seem to be heavier than the others, and more solidly built than the other folding styles I've used. The protective nylon sleeve on the bar padding is nice, and will presumably keep the padding intact; some of the other styles I've had just had "raw" foam pads, and would start to rip up in about a year.Attachment of these racks to the bar is really nice. It's a single HEAVY steel strap, contoured to hold round, square, or elongated factory bars. I have Yakima bars, and they attach with no problem. Other brands attachment systems have been junk plastic and have broken (Thule), or junk plastic and HAVEN'T broken (Yak). The last Thule rack I had did have a somewhat sturdier attachment than the old junk plastic ones that kept breaking. Anyway, the Malone attachments seem to be the sturdiest of the bunch, and easiest to install.Where the Malone REALLY shines is one the rack themselves; the little "ramp" with the hole in it. This is multi-purpose. First, when running kayak straps, you can feed the end of the strap through the hole, under the load bar, and back up through the hole before connecting to the buckle. This is surprisingly easy and quick to do, and really keeps everything solidly connected and neat. Second, the ramp helps slip your boat up into the cradle. I've caught my kayak on the ends of the other brands of rack enough to know this is a small, but nice, touch. And finally......This is so cool it deserves a paragraph of its own. Got a tandem kayak, or a heavy kayak, or getting a little older (me!), or you are just short? The Y & T guys make these load-assist racks, right? Monster contraptions with hydraulics in them, and cost about 450 bucks PER KAYAK, since they are mounted "permanently" to the load bars. The Malone "Telos" system makes all of that obsolete, including the cost. These are two detachable ramps, that instantly clip to those two cute little holes on the Malone racks where the straps go. Once attached, each ramp has a ratchet so that you can push up one end of the boat, then the other, until the boat is lifted from waist height up to the carrying rack. And you can lower the boat with them in just the opposite fashion. Toss 'em in the trunk when done. Best part is that you can use the ramps on both sides if you need to, or even with multiple cars, so instead of putting two of the Thule monsters on your car at a cost of 900 bucks, you can use a single Malone Telos system for about 215 (current price here). If you're in the market for a kayak loader, you NEED to go to the Malone website (maloneautoracks dot com) and see the Telos video. Warning, this video is a real tear jerker if you've already coughed up 900 beans for the Thule system!One last note - all of the Malone stuff is American made up in Maine. Nice when the best and cheapest stuff on the market is made in the USA.Ken - Author of ""

I needed to carry two kayaks on my VW Jetta's OEM roof rack so I ordered two pair of this item. The Malone system is designed to fit various shapes of bars (ie: round, oval, square, rectangular). The VW rack is an irregular shape which excludes the option of Thule or Yakima. I ordered two Malone Downloaders as I needed to carry two boats, and I wanted to fold the carrier when no kayaks were on the roof.With each pair of carriers, Malone includes two sets (different lengths) of Metric bolts for each carrier that recess into the carrier, toggle nuts, bolt covers that fit into the carrier, two straps, bow and stern lines and an instruction book. The instructions are very complete, well written and give step by step descriptions and graphics on how to install and use the carrier. I took a run to a hardware store to purchase longer bolts to fit my car rack. To their credit, Malone offers longer bolt options on their company website for less than my local hardware store. The bolts Malone provides are coated to help reduce corrosion. The carriers did not fit flush with the top of my OEM VW rack bars, so I removed a quarter inch of polycarbonate from each carrier. This was a minor adjustment to the product, and easy for to perform with a Dremmel tool.The carriers are solidly built, provide padding on the arms and the base where the side of the hull fits. The straps are 12' long, which I find to be quite adequate for any of the boats I carry. I have carried three different kayaks on the racks: Current Designs Pachena, QCC Q600 and QCC Q500. Those who have short wide boats may need to purchase longer straps.I'm pleased with the quality, fit and function of this carrier. A buyer who already owns a Thule or Yakima rack may want to purchase the carrier that is made by the same manufacturer as their rack system.Considering the quality of the product, the ease of installation, and the stability of the carriers on my car rack, I give the Malone Downloader 5 stars.