by: Dave M06/24/2023

Overall I am pleased with how this trailer performed on a 7000 mile road trip to Alaska and back to Oregon. I had it loaded with 2 mtn bikes and an 18 cuft luggage box, total trailer weight on the scale at 400#s. I installed the heavy duty shocks. The trailer performed well, never leaving me stranded but here are the issues I encountered: 1) the trailing arm wheel mount can create an alugnment issue, my left tire wore much more quickly and unevenly. 2) road debris kicked up from my truck caused damage to the side reflectors, easy to replace and damaged one of the front frame tube end caps letting road grime in. 3). Shocks performed well but also sustained some chip damage from road debris causing rust. They are out in the open. 4) the lock on the trailer tongue snapped off from rough road conditions. Fortunately the redundant pin combined with a zip tie didn’t compromise safety. There is also rock chip damage to the fenders and aluminum, but to be expected on Alaska roads.1608268

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I wanted a small multi-purpose trailer (suited for a canoe, bicycles, or camping storage) and it needed to be easily storable. This trailer from Yakima met all requirements nicely. The build quality is exceptional, as it should be for the price. No questionable design choices. All mechanical parts move smoothly where they should, and fit snugly where they should not. Electrical wiring snaps together neatly at various points, and for the most part is hidden within frame.

I like its storability best. It can be disassembled to various degrees depending on how out of the way you would like it to be. I keep it simple. I remove the tongue and roll the bulk of the trailer for storage inside my garage, under my wall mounted canoe. The roller blade wheels at the brake lights are a great feature for moving the trailer on end.

I mainly use it to transport a 15' 3" Old Town canoe that weighs about 90lbs. Too wide for my Subaru's roof racks, and none too easy getting it up there even if it could fit. This trailer solved that problem, and opened up additional transport arrangements. Because it has roof rack type cross bars, I can share rack equipment on the trailer or car's roof.
I rated 4 of 5 stars for three reasons: price, assembly, and mobility. The price was staggering. I think mostly due to the trailer's quality and storability. I enjoyed assembling the trailer. It required a couple of hours to do by myself. The etrailer video is the way to go. Instruction manual can be used for reference, such as torque requirements. I recommend a torque wrench, don't want to take any chances on road safety. At any rate, because I had to assemble I felt the price should not have been so high. Also, as shown in my photos, one of the shocks arrived upside down. The shocks are preinstalled and I did not have the proper tools to remove and flip it. For this type of shock that is not important. None the less, I called etrailer customer service to confirm and bring it up. Lastly, the mobility is not great. That is simply due to being 2-wheeled. Not easy to back this guy down to a boat ramp. With practice maneuvering it is getting easier.

Odds and ends:
I ordered the spare tire and kickstand as well. The kickstand is yet to arrive due to manufacturer delay, but I put the spare on easily enough. etrailer staff is quite good, as noted elsewhere. They have been keeping me posted on order delays, and offering help.
The trailer arrived kit-wise in large cardboard boxes. I was not happy to find them broken open in several places. That is a delivery concern. Luckily very little damage to trailer components.
I live in Texas, which requires a license plate. I also registered the trailer, although not required. Both were fairly straight-forward. etrailer sent me a Bill of Sales (separately through USPS). This, along with a filled form available from DOT website & a small fee was all that was needed to leave with trailer plate in hand (title arriving later in the mail).
The manual mentions the dangers of the license plate several times. When stored on the trailer's end, the plate protrudes outwards and could be a cutting hazard. This was solved very easily by purchasing a silicone license plate frame for about $5.
Later I ordered a ball mount and trailer wiring kit. The ball had to be installed separately, but the good folks at my local [business] helped with that, free of charge. Hooking up the wiring kit was a breeze. The etrailer video made it easy once again, and lucky for me, they used my car during the demonstration.1020444

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Keith

4/24/2022

The trailer is still working well. Finally received the trailer kickstand a few weeks ago 1.5yrs later! A really useful addition that keeps the trailer ready to go during camping trips or weekend use.

The trailer came exactly as requested. It took me about 2.5 hours to put it together. I have never put something like this together before. I highly recommend utube for the instructions. etrailer was very quick to send my documentation that i needed for registration. They were very helpful and all the documentation came properly filled out so registration was quick and easy. The trailer holds 2 of our Hobie Kayaks. All the information was pretty straightforward no surprises. I bought the added holding arm which is separate but I am glad I did.1607831

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Here is a picture of our Yakima trailer on vacation last summer in Jasper/Banff National Parks. The trailer was great! Let me know if you have any questions.488817

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Gary A.

4/1/2019

Wonderfully. It pulled like a dream and highly recommend it. A caution for those who have a cedar strip canoe: The trailer is open and all the road dust and mud got on the canoe. The dust got under the tie down straps and dulled the Spar varnish.

The trailer is high quality and well suited to the intended application. etrailer support has been outstanding. I will be using this trailer to transport 2 recumbent etrikes that weigh about 70 pounds each. It would be nice to have attachment and hold down rails/hardware for this application. Currently there is little available for recumbent trike applications. I will be fabricating my own trike carrier and load/unload ramps.1751975

What a cool trailer! I wasn't really expecting much when I first tried this trailer out. I was expecting such a light weight trailer to be bouncing and swinging all over the place... boy was I wrong. I took this guy out for 2 hour drive with two kayaks from St. Louis down to Lake Kinkaid on major highway, two lane country highway and country lanes. The Yakima handled them all like a champ.

I also really liked using the trailer vs. lifting boats and hauling on top of a vehicle. I didn't notice any excess drag while driving or getting blown around by cross winds like you get with boats on top. The end of the day was great too, just to back up to the water and quickly slide the boats on to the trailer rather than using tired muscles to lift overhead. I didn't back the trailer into the water like a powerboat trailer... not sure if that would be ok for the lights or not?

Benefits:
1. Long neck made for easy pulling, backing and easily fit my 14' kayak.
2. Independent suspension worked wonders for tracking straight and not swaying.
3. Lights are big and bright for night pulling such a small trailer (compared to power boat trailers).
4. Plenty of space to fit two kayaks flat. We could have easily fit two mountain bikes on there too if we wanted.
5. Handle at hitch makes for easy, one handed moving of the trailer even when loaded with the boats.
6. Hitch has a really smooth action and hooks up easily without fussing. I'm hoping that it keeps this up as use continues.

Negatives:
1. Definitely invest in some kind of boat cradling system. I had my kayaks directly on the cross bars which never works out well.
2. The trailer did dissapear behind my Tacoma when no boats were on it. Just had to be a bit more careful when backing.
3. Be prepared to answer "What is that thing?" at the boat launch.50106

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Time will tell but so far this is great! The trailer came in multiple boxes and was clearly labeled for a relatively easy installation. My wife and I put it together in about two and a half hours (taking our time). I still need to schedule an inspection and follow up on plates but all of the electrical tested out fine. We drove it around the neighborhood with a couple of kayaks on it and you can’t even tell its there. I have a couple neighbors that are now envious. We are looking forward to new adventures !880644

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Mark M.

9/15/2021

Great! Weve taken it on a couple short trips. The longest perhaps 230 miles. I have to keep checking to see that its there. It not only rides silently but tracks very well. It takes turns and sudden changes in road conditions with ease. Still very happy and all has been well for us. Love the product.

by: TL-Florida08/02/2023

The Yakima trailer is great looking, lightweight and easy to trail. It also folds and stores easily.

However, there are a few drawbacks. First, the trailer is NOT suitable for use as a boat trailer. The electrical is subject to fail since it was not designed for submersion. Second, the wheel bearing are not designed for use in the water, and especially not salt water, as they do not use a standard hub arrangement but rather brass bearings.1637486

So far does not work with the trailer i bought from Etrailer, their response is to troubleshoot with Yakima instead of trying to work through this with us. Is it the connector, the trailer, both. More to come....1586108

Katrina B.

6/6/2023

do see that Yakima prefers to handle all warranty claims. That is probably why they sent you over there. Can you please elaborate on what is not working on this connector? Have you used a wire tester like part # PTW2993 to test out the wires on both the trailer and the adapter?

Ricci M.

6/7/2023

Good morning, the passenger side lights, from tongue down. The other side works. We used a volt meter as we do for all electrical issues.

Katrina B.

6/7/2023

So it sounds to me like a defect. Like I said before, Yakima prefers to handle all situations with their product. I will send you their contact information to you via email, and they should be able to get this corrected for you.

Initial review. We received the four boxes with the parts of the trailer kit. Assembly was fairly easy ... especially when your 20 year old does it for you ;) . Between the instructions and the etrailer video, him and his friend were able to put it together with no issues. I back-checked it of course.

We decided on the Yakima trailer because of its aluminum construction, it's weight (very light), and previous reviews. We are towing this trailer with a Honda CRV so weight was important. After an initial wheel problem that was resolved quickly by etrailer, the trailer tows almost as if it isn't there. Only the occasional hitch noise will remind you that you're towing a trailer. No problems with the small CRV towing it.

A word on registering the trailer ... I've seen other reviews complain about the difficulty of getting the trailer registered. In our state, the trailer must be registered and have a plate. The laws in our state allows the Invoice to be substituted for the Materials Statement of Origin (MSO) when the trailer is a kit. This is key because the MSO is the hiccup in the other reviews. But after an hours wait at the DMV, the trailer was registered and we were on our way.

The true test is coming up when we will take it on an extended trip.

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by: Jeff 03/03/2023

Love our trailer ! Previously loading yaks on cartop - which was annoying on good days and a pain on windy days. Find we get out in our kayaks and go paddling a lot more often - because it so easy to load - unload, and secure the boats for travel. The trailer is great on the road, and easy to move around at home from garage to yard by hand.1529236

Jeff

4/4/2023

Trailer has been great - better than I would have expected.

by: John06/10/2023

This trailer has been great! I am a fly fisherman. I use this trailer to transport my one man pontoon boat for river float fishing. I use a yakima bike rack attachment to transport my bike shuttle. Very convenient.
The trailer is lightweight yet very sturdy. The assembly took some time but the directions were straight forward and the process allowed me to understand how well built the trailer is.1598438

What I received was good, what I didn’t receive were the hub caps and then when I built the trailer I had to call and get the correct bolts.1418023

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by: Frank 06/22/2023

I’ve had several trailers in the past but this far surpassed them. It’s super light, maneuvers easily, and stores easily1606528

Awesome Order processing time and shipping. Ordered on Tuesday and the trailer was here Thursday. Packaging was fantastic and everything arrived in great shape. ETrailer has always been my first stop when looking for trailer equipment or the likes.1607184

I recently purchased the Yakima Rack-and-roll 78" trailer from etrailer.com

I will attempt to be as fair as possible in my review, as there have been numerous positive and negative aspects.

These equate to a mid-tier rating of "good", although it is important to note that in summary (maybe just because of the uniqueness of this product, as there are not similar ones from other competitors), I must say if I had to purchase this trailer again, I probably would.

General Impressions on Yakima:
I own numerous products from Yakima. In general I have found them to be of good quality and have not encountered too many issues. I have, on occasions, run into quality control issues in the past (a hitch-mounted bike rack with a frame bolt that came unsoldered) and this trailer was no exception.

General impressions on Etrailer:
I have also purchased from etrailer before, and will continue to do so. Up front, I must comment them for their service: they are truly customer-oriented, and their customer service is at par or above my other favorite online vendor, which is Amazon. They are safe online merchants and their customer service is amazing (thanks Cathy!)

Packaging/Shipping:
The trailer arrived well boxed, but a little banged up. The box had a couple of small holes, and was a little banged-up on one side. One of the amber running lights arrived cracked. Poor job by UPS. The rest of the packaging was ok.

Comments regarding the lights:
The lights are not all that sturdy (I twisted electric terminals in trying to untwist the light housing loose), but they are also easily replaceable. The assembly manual even lists at least three popular vendors of these lights, which you can find at any truck-stop or autoparts dealer. Etrailer was great about contacting Yakima and getting me a replacement for the one that came busted.

Comments regarding assembly:
The assembly/instruction manual is well printed in full color. There are easy step-by-step instructions to follow. They could have probably said the same and more effectively in a simpler brochure (too many pages, for my taste, to tell say you have to place part A over part B and bolt them together). But all in all the documentation is good. The assembly probably took me about an hour.

Comments regarding Locks:
The trailer comes with three locks: one for the trailer tongue, and one on each wheel block (to prevent someone from stealing the wheels). Two of the three bolts (the one on the wheels) had a serious manufacturer defect: the metal was broken and the lock barrel (upper half of the lock assembly) would come apart from the lock latch (lower half of the lock assembly). Bad job by Yakima's quality control. Great job by etrailer in contacting Yakima and getting me replacement locks free of charge.

Comments regarding wiring:
Probably the more serious issue I encountered was the fact that the wiring was reversed. The wiring harness starts with a flat 4-pin connector on the trailer tongue, and splits off to each side of the trailer with one cable for the "running lights" and another for the "turning lights" (ground is the aluminum frame). Because of how the trailer is assembled, there are two plugs that must be connected on each side of the trailer to provide continuity to the left-side and right-side wiring. On one side you have yellow and brown cables that plug into the continuation of those same yellow and brown cables. On the other side there is another plug which connects the green and brown cables to the continuation of those same green and brown cables. Both these plugs can only be plugged in one way. In other words, they cannot be reversed by rotating 180 degrees. Through a gross fault from the manufacturer, my connectors came twisted, to the point that on one side of the trailer, the yellow cable got connected to the brown one, and the brown one got connected to the yellow one. On the other side of the trailer, green paired with brown and brown paired with green. In other words, my license plate running light blinked with my turning signal. It took some meticulous work to disassemble the plug and redo the wiring. It was not rocket science, but coupled with the broken amber light and the missing locks, this was the straw that broke the camel's back. Yakima's quality control proved to be disastrous.

Comments regarding paperwork:
I live in Texas. Etrailer mailed me (separately) a bill of sale and a title. Getting the trailer registered (mandatory) and titled (optional for lightweight trailers in Texas) was a piece of cake. With this paperwork, I walked in and out of the tax assessor-collector's office in a blink of an eye, license plate in hand and all.

To top-off my "trailer experience", I later found my modulite (light wiring controller and harness on the vehicle side) had a short, which added time and pain to the troubleshooting, although this in particular had nothing to do with neither etrailer nor Yakima: that was me alone.

Bottom line: etrailer helped me all along the way towards fixing my trailer issues. All is working fine now. The downside is I spent several hours of my time trying to troubleshoot manufacturer errors. I am very disappointed in Yakima for their poor quality control. However, that said, the trailer frame is solid and well built, and the issues I encountered were mostly fixable and related to "peripherals" which are serviceable. Because no other competitor product comes even close to this trailer, I would purchase a rack-and-roll again if I had to.

Things I'd like to see in future models:
Considering one might only be hauling a couple of bikes or a cargo box, the trailer tongue is a bit long and almost unnecessary. By adding just a couple more holes to the side of the tongue (for the pin), and top the top (for the lock) they could have made the tongue length customizable. This might have added stability to the car. There may be reasons why the trailer is just this long, but there are applications for a <400lb trailer that call for a shorter tongue, and I would have simply liked Yakima to have offered that option.

The other downside noted by many previous buyers is that if you are looking into getting the sturdier (orange) spring suspension, Yakima will not trade in your blue ones... so you are basically left with a pair of new and worthless springs.

Other than that, this is a fine trailer.130141

I think it's going to be great, but it arrived via UPS in a box that was open in numerous places. Clearly heavier duty packing would be in order for individual shipments. Also, the assembly instructions provided were in French only. I think this is going to be great and worth a future 5 star update, but at the moment the 3 seems generous.1591709

by: Michael L.12/03/2016

The trailer is just what I needed to carry my fishing kayak. I ordered the 78" crossbars to be able to haul two kayaks. It trailers easily behind my van and I like that it can be quickly and easily reduced in size for compact storage in my small shed. Also, the light weight allows moving by hand in situations where backing up to the water is not practical. Previously I used a roof rack and was having difficulty getting the kayak on and off. The Rack and Roll Trailer - 78" - Y08107 solved that problem plus compact storage after use and looks great! 321974

by: Todd M06/19/2020

Great roof rack trailer! Saved my back from trying to lift and strap down a tandem kayak to my SUV roof. I have the trailer configured to hold a kayak, a stand up paddle board, and cargo basket. No troubles so far driving at highway speeds. Easy to disconnect and move away from the vehicle or to another part of the yard. I love the ability to store it upright in my garage when not in use.817968

Easy to assemble with excellent video from etrailer . I strongly recommend using the video step by step , much easier than the instructions from Yakima .

The trailer itself is versatile and easy . I used it to transport furniture, but mostly for Kayaks and canoes, I often drive on rough dirt roads , and this trailer with its high wheels and suspension is great412681

by: Aaron B.05/09/2016

This trailer is easy to assemble, simple, and lightweight. Its low deck height makes it easy to swap out different racks, so it's easy to convert from bike mode to kayak mode or some combination of both. The kickstand is a little flimsy, but it's quite solid otherwise.249282

High quality trailer and superb customer service. Fast shipping. I upgraded to enhanced suspension in case I decide to build a heavier boat in future. This trailer rides like it's not there, smooth ride. California DMV accepted the paper work documentation without question, so registration was a piece of cake. Advice: this is a finely machined trailer, so in order to ease the assembly process FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY, taking your time. Did I mention the customer service was SUPERB?172691

Trailer was everything I expected, will work great to haul my kayaks. It took about two weeks to get it UPS delivered. I would of gave 5 stars but I had troubles getting a license plate. I needed a '' MSO '' Manufacturers Certificate of Origin. The trailer did not come with this and it turned in to a goat rope after that. 410005

etrailer staff was great to work with. They were responsive, knowledgeable and more than met all their commitments. The trailer is unlike anything I've seen before. Independent suspension and design reminds me more of a motorcycle than a trailer. It's easy to assemble, built like a tank, especially when you consider it's only hauling a few hundred pounds. Quiet pull and backs great for a relatively short trailer.1298503

Fits two tandem kayaks and a Yakima cargo carrier - about 225 lbs of gear. Tracks well at highway speeds. No swaying at all. No squeeking and clanking that you typically hear with a utility trailer.

Easy to assemble and store. Quite a nice trailer.19545