Prepping the straps
What a long name for such a great product. For those interested in this product, please note that the Malone Telos Load Assist Module only works with the Malone AutoLoader J-style kayak carrier hooks so keep that in mind. This is an affordable system that can be bought piece by piece. I first purchased the carrier hooks and then the assist module before finally purchasing the second set of hooks. All-in-all this set-up only cost me about $400. That being said, this has been a lifesaver for me.
Attach the Malone Telos Lift Assist Module
I’m 5’3” and have trouble lifting a kayak onto a vehicle or rack system by myself. Before, I would either have to wait for someone to help me, or struggle awkwardly with the kayak (once even scratching the paint on the car) before getting it loaded. I traded my car in and bought an SUV with rack system in the hopes of finding a suitable kayak carrier for it. I looked at several models before finally settling on the Malone system and I’m glad that I did. Not only is the Malone affordable, but it gets the job done with minimal effort. I assembled and installed the entire system myself without any problems and I’m happy to say that it works great.
Place the kayak into the cradle.
The loader is fully adjustable so that you can move the suction cups (these are to help stabilize the loader and protect the vehicle) to the flattest section of the door or panel. Once in place its a simple matter of placing the kayak into the lift cradle and lifting it up the side of the vehicle to drop into the J-racks. The only spot where I had to modify my lift procedure was while bypassing the driver’s side mirror and then I simple lifted the kayak up a few inches with one hand while raising the cradle with the other before dropping the kayak back into place.
Begin lifting the kayak.
With this setup it takes only a couple of minutes for a single person to load their kayak onto the J-racks. Because of my small stature I still use a step stool to allow me to tighten the straps. The light-weight load assist module can them be removed and either carried to the other side of the vehicle for loading or unloading of a second kayak, or stowed in the vehicle. I researched other kayak carrier systems but ultimately chose the Malone for price and ease of loading. If you’re considering a kayak carrier system for a car or SUV this is the one I recommend.
The kayak is ready to drop into the J-hooks.
Push kayak into the J-hooks.
Bring straps over the kayak.
Secure kayak straps.
This is an improvement over the other car top carriers, but at that price, I think I’ll just stick with my pickup truck.
I considered a pickup truck, but I wanted something more fuel efficient so I settled on the Toyota Rav4. Our other vehicle is a Toyota Tacoma pickup which uses the Thule rack system. It allows us 4-5 kayaks across the top with two in the bed. For my purposes, if I went with the Thule system on my Rav4, I’d have to also purchase the insanely expensive Thule Hullavator which, from reading the reviews, corrodes rather quickly unlike the Malone Lift Assit Module which I can simply store out of the elements.
A pickup is fine if you just want to toss a couple of kayaks in the back, but we always have friends tag along and have to transport more kayaks.