We purchased two of the Tooenjoy lift assist racks. The first was pretty good. It flexes more than I'd like when raising and lowering, but when up our two 17 foot sea kayaks ride well. We found it necessary to glue some closed cell foam over the exposed bolts to prevent damage to fiberglass boats, and ended up using split pieces of pool noodle to pad the racks so our boats fit well. The second purchase, about a month later, was different. One of the holes for assembling the tower on one side of the rack was not in alignment with the threaded hole it was supposed to mate with. A part of the tower assembly has a bit of a flange that is supposed to fit into a slight recess. On one side, it required pounding the flange flat, and then grinding it a bit to get it to fit. For $400 after 20 coupon on Amazon, they are a pretty good deal. But, quality control seems to be an issue. A couple of things I haven't seen in reviews (perhaps I'm not focusing on reviews now that we have them): 1) the towers are pretty high. Had we gone with the Thule system (almost twice the price), our vehicle height when loaded would be well under 7 feet. With the Tooenjoy system, we're at 7 1/2 feet, requiring us to pay extra when we take kayaks on ferries. We have about 3 inches of clearance to get into our garage with the racks on. 2) The Tooenjoy racks are heavy. Put two up, and you're adding something like 80 pounds, not including crossbars and boats. 3) The assembly and mounting instructions make Ikea assembly cartoons look like serious literature. It's important, if you'd like to get the sliding piece off when not hauling boats, to make sure a particular hole is accessible. You may need to have the rack farther out on your crossbars than expected. Just a hint. 4) the gas struts are overly powerful for use with a kayak. We're assuming that over time the "assist" will diminish, and we will be thankful. As/is, a small person may not be able to operate this rack. Oh, and 5) Tooenjoy uses cardboard for packaging. In concept, that's great. Less plastic to get into waterways, etc. But, the quantity of cardboard you have to somehow get rid of is amazing. It's high quality cardboard, which means it takes a lot of space even when folded down for recycling. We have no real regrets over purchasing the Tooenjoy racks, but we would likely have been just as well served with a better set of J racks or another, simpler (and cheaper), solution. That's a personal opinion.
I purchased one of these for the top of my FJ cruiser. It is so tall it is almost impossible for me to get the kayak up there by myself. I am doing a trial run without the kayaks just to test the roof, but I am getting a lot of whistling And wind sound. Was this your experience as well?
As a woman, i would find this very difficult because it doesn't drop down far enough. If you had a cargo box, how would you see into it? I love the color. I would soften the edges and have it extend. I'm not digging the end tie downs flexing my fiberglass sideways. I feel that is best with the yak sitting g on the bottom because an arch is stronger to resist fracture than side flexing. IMHO. I love the Thule feet of the rack of the Hullavator release easily so I can take the whole system off each time. And only the bases are left with them capped. But if you're needing to haul other stuff, interesting. Do they have a shelf that would latch into the tracks?
Hi Luke. Is it possible to have two or three small kayaks (skin-on-frame, rolling kayaks) on this roof rack? I have on some occasions had five kayaks on my Jeep Wrangler and four is the minimum I need to carry.
I’d say probably two could fit stacked at an angle. I don’t think a third would fit, unless they’re extremely low volume. Overall I don’t think there would be a need to use a system like this with skin on frames, no? They’re so light it would be easy to mount with any regular kayak rack?
@@KayakHipster you are right if I only had SOF kayaks. Or my rebel Ilaga. But i sometimes carry one or two more normal sea kayaks. I have a good system now but they don't make it any more and It's getting a bit worn. I have to see if some workshop can fix it. Thanks anyway.
We purchased two of the Tooenjoy lift assist racks. The first was pretty good. It flexes more than I'd like when raising and lowering, but when up our two 17 foot sea kayaks ride well. We found it necessary to glue some closed cell foam over the exposed bolts to prevent damage to fiberglass boats, and ended up using split pieces of pool noodle to pad the racks so our boats fit well. The second purchase, about a month later, was different. One of the holes for assembling the tower on one side of the rack was not in alignment with the threaded hole it was supposed to mate with. A part of the tower assembly has a bit of a flange that is supposed to fit into a slight recess. On one side, it required pounding the flange flat, and then grinding it a bit to get it to fit. For $400 after 20 coupon on Amazon, they are a pretty good deal. But, quality control seems to be an issue.
A couple of things I haven't seen in reviews (perhaps I'm not focusing on reviews now that we have them): 1) the towers are pretty high. Had we gone with the Thule system (almost twice the price), our vehicle height when loaded would be well under 7 feet. With the Tooenjoy system, we're at 7 1/2 feet, requiring us to pay extra when we take kayaks on ferries. We have about 3 inches of clearance to get into our garage with the racks on. 2) The Tooenjoy racks are heavy. Put two up, and you're adding something like 80 pounds, not including crossbars and boats. 3) The assembly and mounting instructions make Ikea assembly cartoons look like serious literature. It's important, if you'd like to get the sliding piece off when not hauling boats, to make sure a particular hole is accessible. You may need to have the rack farther out on your crossbars than expected. Just a hint. 4) the gas struts are overly powerful for use with a kayak. We're assuming that over time the "assist" will diminish, and we will be thankful. As/is, a small person may not be able to operate this rack. Oh, and 5) Tooenjoy uses cardboard for packaging. In concept, that's great. Less plastic to get into waterways, etc. But, the quantity of cardboard you have to somehow get rid of is amazing. It's high quality cardboard, which means it takes a lot of space even when folded down for recycling.
We have no real regrets over purchasing the Tooenjoy racks, but we would likely have been just as well served with a better set of J racks or another, simpler (and cheaper), solution. That's a personal opinion.
Can you put two of these systems on the roof (one on driver side and one on passenger side) of a Toyota FJ Cruiser?
Can you show what extra padding you put on
Hi luke would this be suitable to lift a pod like thule ski length pod etc
I purchased one of these for the top of my FJ cruiser. It is so tall it is almost impossible for me to get the kayak up there by myself. I am doing a trial run without the kayaks just to test the roof, but I am getting a lot of whistling And wind sound. Was this your experience as well?
As a woman, i would find this very difficult because it doesn't drop down far enough. If you had a cargo box, how would you see into it? I love the color. I would soften the edges and have it extend. I'm not digging the end tie downs flexing my fiberglass sideways. I feel that is best with the yak sitting g on the bottom because an arch is stronger to resist fracture than side flexing. IMHO. I love the Thule feet of the rack of the Hullavator release easily so I can take the whole system off each time. And only the bases are left with them capped. But if you're needing to haul other stuff, interesting. Do they have a shelf that would latch into the tracks?
Hi Luke. Do you know if i could attach to rhinorack? Would i need roofrack adaptors ? Thnx
Can you drive into a garage? I can't get into my garage w the Hullavator but can w Yakima Showdown.
Hi Luke. Is it possible to have two or three small kayaks (skin-on-frame, rolling kayaks) on this roof rack? I have on some occasions had five kayaks on my Jeep Wrangler and four is the minimum I need to carry.
I’d say probably two could fit stacked at an angle. I don’t think a third would fit, unless they’re extremely low volume. Overall I don’t think there would be a need to use a system like this with skin on frames, no? They’re so light it would be easy to mount with any regular kayak rack?
@@KayakHipster you are right if I only had SOF kayaks. Or my rebel Ilaga. But i sometimes carry one or two more normal sea kayaks. I have a good system now but they don't make it any more and It's getting a bit worn. I have to see if some workshop can fix it. Thanks anyway.
That is why I buy short cars. I want to be able to lift my kayaks to the roof.
Seeing this device, I might explore my next car with it in mind.
With 40kg fishing kayak its easy too? You lift a 15kg kayak..
Two kayaks?
Kari-Tek makes great drop-down racks that can take multiple boats, bikes or whatever. UK based, but ships worldwide.
I still think the Hullavator is superior