Malone SeaWing Kayak Roof Rack w/ Load Assist and Tie-Downs - Saddle Style - Clamp On

by: James 04/10/2024

I am happy with my purchase of the Malone SeaWing with the load assist feature. I use it a lot and it is holding up well. I have square crossbars, and the wing base can be flipped over during assembly to fit square bars perfectly. The load assist really does make it easy to get my 14 and 16 foot kayaks on the car by myself. Another reviewer stated that the load assist feature put black streaks on his thermoformed kayak, and I had the same experience. I fixed that by wrapping heavy duty, double sided Velcro around the areas of contact, and that has worked fine. They are still in place one year later. Four stars because Malone should have covered the load assist sliders in a non-marking material.1762329

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The lift assist would not work with a skin on frame kayak. Repeated use would damage the skin.
You can see in the pic that the load assist pushes in on the skin, and would not slide all the way into the storage position without lots of pressure on the kayak.
Etrailer would not take retuttome inern since I installed the rack, but there was no way to know without trying.
So bottom line - don't try to use this on a skin on frame kayak. And don't count on etrailer for returns when they sell a product that doesn't work as advertised.1625560

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Katrina D.

8/10/2023

Since you have a Skin on Frame kayak, I would recommend a load assist rack like part # MPG114MD-351XL. Generally, you will want a side loader kayak carrier that will not put so much strain on the body of your kayak.

by: Serdar04/13/2021

I bought these because I wanted to carry two kayaks flat on top of my car that has factory racks. Other solutions for two kayaks either required a wider bar on top, or J-style carriers. These worked great for my purposes and I was able to carry two sea kayaks easily. It was very easy to put together, and putting it on and off the car takes very little time.

One thing that pleasantly surprised me is how stable the kayaks were. I thought that they would be wobbly because of the single connection point, but that wasn't the case at all.

The rear loading clamp-on is very handy if you are by yourself and/or you have a tall vehicle. I used these on both a Subaru Impreza and a Toyota 4Runner. I was able to load the kayaks on top of a 4runner with the rear loading attachment by myself. When you have two people though, it is simpler to just lift the kayak on top of the car instead. If I was to do this again, I probably won't bother with the rear loading attachment since I never go kayaking just on my own.

The one complaint I have is when I put the piece down on the floor of the garage, the screws pop out the rubber screw hole covers. This isn't a really big deal, and some glue can probably fix it. Still annoying though.

I highly recommend these.1009653

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Serdar

4/14/2022

These carriers are still working really well. I found that Im not using the load assist as much any more. With two people, its just not necessary. Still nice to have for those solo trips though.

by: Mark11/09/2022

Set up on our 2014 Subaru Outback took about an hour as it was unfamiliar and we took our time. The wings attach solidly to the factory cross bars. After practicing loading and unloading two 10 foot sit in kayaks (about 40 lbs. each) we took a trip of several hundred miles to Missouri from Louisiana.
The racks never budged. We stopped along the way and always made a safety check that tie downs were taut and the racks stable. Other than tightening a line or two no further adjustments were needed.
We drove both two lane and interstate roads at normal highway speeds. Gas mileage dropped about 2 mpg.(we averaged 25 mpg.)
Loading and unloading became smoother with practice though the extenders that are supposed to ease that procedure did not work as well as advertised (the kayak can still shift oddly on the extender). I probably could have done without the extenders for the little difference they make.
We are senior citizens in our 70s. The system is manageable for us. We preferred trying a roof rack vs. trailer.1465704

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Haven't got the kayak yet, but I was able to put the carrier together and get it on the roof without too much hassle. At first I was intimidated by the 20+ steps in assembly, but then saw that the actual assembly only had nine, the rest were instructions on threading and cinching the straps. The bolts that came with the carrier didn't match up to the sizes listed in the instructions, so that slowed me down a bit. Once I figured out that the different sizes are for different sizes of roof racks, things went together well. As far as etrailer goes, I'm very happy with the prompt delivery and the heavy duty packaging.1263506

Joe

2/17/2023

Not well. I think the product is fine, but I cant get the kayak to track without it sliding off to the side. Part of it might be my age 76. I finally bought a trailer at Harbor Freight, which solved my problem. I gave the Malone racks to my daughter.

Review already sent on 8/19/2021. The "Wings" only just fit my Hobie Revolution 13. If the pressure points are not exactly right the wings distort the hull.

I like the design of the carrier but I have yet to put it to the test. I do not like the hooks at the end of the ropes, they come off too easily. I replaced them with a Carabiner, much safer.

My kayak weighs 70 lbs so my hope is that I can slide it off/on the roof more easily at the ramp. I like that the wings can be installed on one side of the roof, it makes it easier to thread the tie-downs and attach to the car without the rope being diagonal to the hood. I needed my bowline and my truckers hitch and my taught line hitch as well as my round turn and two half hitches to set up the bow and rear tie downs. I made a double tie down for the front with carabiners to go onto the metal loops underneath the car on each side. Of course you can use a flat tie-down with a cam buckle as well.

Before this product I had the Hobie pads on my roof. They worked quite well and could be adjusted to support the kayak in the right place. They are not as easy as the sea wings I suspect when it comes to loading/unloading. I am hoping that the kayak will not shift on the sea wings during transport. That would result in the kayak hull getting distorted.

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RACK DID NOT CRADLE OUR RECREATIONAL/FISHING KAYAK. Try and research if the cradles on this rack will snuggly accommodate your kayak's hull. The cradles on the SeaWing roof rack do not snuggly cradle the hull of our Pelican Mustang 100 recreational kayak. The keel was 3-5 inches above the low point of the cradle wings when trying to rest the kayak flat. We tried to get three contact point with the hull, but even after tipping the kayak on its side, similar to a kayak resting on a J-bar rack, the kayak slid around in all directions with minimal hull contact. We are returning it and looking at the Malone collapsible J-bar rack. Hope this helps folks with recreational/fishing kayaks make a correct choice the first time they buy. The quality of this product and the hardware were very robust. The delivery carrier abused the box. Wish I'd known more about the variety of kayak hull shapes. My one star rating is to draw attention to the hull fitting problem so others may avoid my mistake.1676130

The load assist really helps. I didnt rate it a 5 because its made of a kind of plastic that leaves black marks on the hull of my composite kayak. Not damage but not nice either.1375706

Kathy

8/26/2023

Works great. I put thick socks over the load assist part before sliding kayak on or off, prevents black marks.

E Trailer is always good to work with. The SeaWing works well. Always advised to practice loading and unloading before you get to your put in point, especially with heavier kayaks. I will definately recommend this product and e trailer in the future.1631058

I had been very happy with etrailer.com in the recent past. On this occasion I ordered this product on 9/6 and requested 2nd day delivery so I could get my wife setup for a weekend outing. My delivery did not come until 9/12, when I checked UPS message it showed "Ground Delivery" not sure if that was correct? When it did show up the box was falling apart. Fortunately everything was intact in the box. I am adding pics of what the box looked like when I received it. No outer box just the original vendors box and it barely held up.. only by tape. Not acceptable on all counts. Your customer service has been great but not to thrilled with shipping!
Thank you1405830

As we have become progressively older, our kayaks have become exponentially heavier and much become more difficult for us to load on top of the car with our "J" hooks. I am just 5 ft tall and although my husband is 6 ft tall, it has become harder. I always have to step up on stool while lifting the back end of the kayak onto the "J" hook. So not feeling comfortable pulling any sort of trailer, the search was on for a different solution. We found that solution with the seawing carrier with the load assist. We just got them and put them on top of the car (did not strap them or tie them down as we were not going anywhere and already know how to do all that) Well they exceeded our expectations! It took no time to assemble them, the directions were easy to follow and easy to clamp onto our crossbars. We have a 2015 Subaru outback with the integrated cross bars and they fit perfectly. Prior to buying them, I sent all our measurements to e-trailer to make sure width wise, they would fit. I could only find pictures of cars with one kayak, not two. E-Trailer assured me they would and as you can see by the picture, we have room to spare. They slid on the roof very easily. The load assist was very easy to retract and then put back. Also we can now fit the car in our garage with the kayaks on them, so we can load the night before and they will be safe,rather than loading them at 4:00 AM before getting on the road. So we are very pleased. Unfortunately our weather is not cooperating right now to take them out, But we know for certain once the weather is good, it sill be simple, easy process for us to get out on the water. Very good product. I am very glad we bought them and you will be too.907273

Web site is east to navigate. Ordering is easy. Communication from etrailer is fantastic. Used before. Will use again for sure!1540031

Great products with quick shipping. I installed them in less than an hour.1662203

by: Thomas08/15/2022

It is a little tricky to use. The tie downs are not easy to use. The loading ramp works ok but it is a little small for the bow of the boat to fit snuggly. It feels like the boat could slip out if you are not careful with taking it off or putting it back on. I have not had any mishaps but that's because I am being extra careful. It's a little nerve racking. I would not buy it if I had used it before. It does help but it still is not easy.1358640

I needed to use a Dremel tool and sandpaper to fix a deformity in the sliding rail for the loading attachment. The rail-slot was not uniform and was too narrow in one portion for the bolt to fit and slide. Other than that it was easy to mount and will work nicely. I informed etrailer of the issue because this may defect appearing on several units.1312057

Sierra K.

6/20/2022

Thank you for the notice. I notified the manufacturer about this and they had not heard about this issue before.

I had purchased a j style rack previously and could not load my kayak by myself so I purchased this instead. Easy peasy!!! Could not have asked for something easier so my dog and I can go kayaking together!1306877

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Good stuff! 1650011

by: Tracy 11/01/2021

Did a lot of reading on various types of kayak carriers before deciding on the Malone SeaWing and have been very happy with it. The load assist does what it's supposed to (though still need two people to load our pair of Old Towns) and the kayaks remain stable and secure even on rough Wyoming roads. Very happy with my purchase!1192872

It's really great set of kayak carrier and load assist. I was able to load 2 Wilderness Pungo 120 kayaks (29" width) on original factory installed Subaru Outback (2019) bars. Load assist is really great that enables my wife loading/uploading 50 lb kayaks by herself without any helpers. Very easy to install and etrailer instructional video is very helpful. I could not find any better saddle-style solution for 2 kayaks for my Outback.1121528

by: Tlbgt06/14/2020

I like it and I'm about to use it again this afternoon.
I would change two things:
- I would make it lockable so that I wouldn't feel the need to remove it after taking the kayak off my CR-V at the put-in site, but I worry that it will eventually be stolen if I don't.
- I wish the extender was about 6" longer so that it would actually hang off the end of my 2019 CR-V.815073

Tlbgt

7/4/2021

I use it every week 6 months out of the year. One of the treads came loose, but I used the glue recommended by someone at Malone CS and it seems to be okay now.

It’s a good rack, 5.0 on quality of construction. It’s
A great rack with a lot of diverse application.

But it’s not a revolutionary change over other racks.1401668

Makes loading from the rear very easy, and the wings hold the kayak very securely, although I opt to run the straps under the crossbar for added stability, and it doesn’t move at all.927338

Went together very easily, mounted easily, easy to load.1577256

it was easy to put together and install on my mini van and it was easy to put the kayaks on top by myself. its great that i can carry 2 kayaks at a time with these side by side, i have seen other lift asset carriers that cost up to $1000.1135139

Fantastic set up for higher roofs 1354112