I worked in an outdoor equipment store for five years and was a thorough Thule snob. Yakima was okay as an alternative, but Malone was clearly beyond the pale. Two experiences now have me eating crow and singing Malone’s praises simultaneously.

Malone had the clear best choice when I needed a kayak carrier suitable for my Folbot:

Malone SeaWing Kayak Carrier

Then l bought an elderly, low-mileage Sequoia last week to replace a slightly less elderly Tahoe that started showing its age in a bad, bad way. To my horror I discovered that the Thule roof rack feet from the Tahoe can’t be attached to the larger diameter raised rails on the Sequoia.

A new system from Thule would cost over $400 and leave me with trendy cross bars only 60 inches long. HOWEVER, Malone’s SteelTop feet fit the Sequoia AND I can continue to use my 78-inch Thule square bars and Thule canoe carrier. I found a set of SteelTop feet on eBay for cheap money. If I didn't have the cross bars, I'd use Malone's 65-inch version for a total system cost of about $160:

65" Malone SteelTop Cross Rail System

Suck on it, Swedes. (FWIW, my paternal grandfather and namesake was the son of Swedish immigrants.)

Seems there is some anger in this post...

Bro just flexed in a way no one else cares about. Must be canoeing season.

Frenchy19: "Seems there is some anger in this post..."

Read it again. ;-)

hy·per·bo·le
noun
noun: hyperbole; plural noun: hyperboles
exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
"he vowed revenge with oaths and hyperboles"

Kendis: "Bro just flexed in a way no one else cares about. Must be canoeing season."

And yet you found the time to comment …

You are such a roof-rack snob. Cut to length 2x4's and a few feet of bailing wire would have served your purpose; a set of Zip-ties to replace the bailing wire if you're "fancy". Then again, some feel the need show-off a little and end up going way too fancy. The roof-rack snobs always opt for a manufactured and branded solution.

Maybe next time, if you really, really needs to justify a trip to town... consider a set of U-bolts and new, rather than salvaged, 2x4s.

To quote a quote that gets quoted here from time to time: "Your mileage may vary".

My Yakima round bars howl like the wolves.

I love them.

Actual 2x4 attached to Thule rack with you bolts. A couple of old wood canoes to complete the look

gravelroad: "

Frenchy19: "Seems there is some anger in this post..."

Read it again. ;-)
hy·per·bo·le
noun
noun: hyperbole; plural noun: hyperboles
exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
"he vowed revenge with oaths and hyperboles" "

Thank you for that. After teaching English for 28 years, I was unaware of hyperbole;-)

This discussion reminds me of the Red Green show.
Growing up with parents who were teenagers in the depression, they imparted all their frugality to us kids. We made do with anything we could, like a lot of people and like life before plastics. So, watching that beloved show as a kid, I never understood the humor. I thought it was more like a 1970’s version of life hacks.

jillpine: "This discussion reminds me of the Red Green show.
Growing up with parents who were teenagers in the depression, they imparted all their frugality to us kids. We made do with anything we could, like a lot of people and like life before plastics. So, watching that beloved show as a kid, I never understood the humor. I thought it was more like a 1970’s version of life hacks. "

I am described as "handy" far more often than "handsome".

Roof racks ain't cheap, so it's good to hear you found a solution that let you adapt your existing setup. I think I paid around $600 for my Thule bars (the more aerodynamic ones) and I'm not really sure what I plan to do when I get another car. I was honestly probably just going to sell the car with the rack and buy a whole new setup.

OCDave: "You are such a roof-rack snob. Cut to length 2x4's and a few feet of bailing wire would have served your purpose; a set of Zip-ties to replace the bailing wire if you're "fancy". Then again, some feel the need show-off a little and end up going way too fancy. The roof-rack snobs always opt for a manufactured and branded solution.


Maybe next time, if you really, really needs to justify a trip to town... consider a set of U-bolts and new, rather than salvaged, 2x4s. "

FWIW, I fabricated feet for my Honda Element from metal stock and U-bolts back in the day, rather than buy the pricey Thule version. But I would never expose others on the road to the risk of zip tie failure from weathering.

Malone snob eh? Do the bar ends have razor sharp burrs that make you bleed and destroy the end caps when you first put them on like a real Thule?

technically_rugged: "Roof racks ain't cheap, so it's good to hear you found a solution that let you adapt your existing setup. I think I paid around $600 for my Thule bars (the more aerodynamic ones) and I'm not really sure what I plan to do when I get another car. I was honestly probably just going to sell the car with the rack and buy a whole new setup."

Used roof racks are easy to find on Craigslist or Facebook marketplace because once people buy a new car they're pretty much ready to give away their old rack (I have 3 used racks I'd give away). I'm tempted to replace my Thule rectangular bars with a Thule aero rack which would cost me $225-250 on Craigslist but I decide the better way to reduce noise from the rack is to make sure I always carry a canoe. ;)

gravelroad: "

Kendis: "Bro just flexed in a way no one else cares about. Must be canoeing season."

And yet you found the time to comment …"

You're right, as a Yakima snob I should have stayed silent. Touche.

justpaddlin: "Malone snob eh? Do the bar ends have razor sharp burrs that make you bleed and destroy the end caps when you first put them on like a real Thule?"

You forgot the tetanus risk, as I did. :-). Thanks for the reminder, as I just knocked off the Thule end caps today.

Haven’t seen any Malone bars so I can’t comment on their finish quality.

This homemade rack has outlasted three trucks. Two S-10s and a Dodge half ton. It not only hauled canoes, but turned my little S-10s into lumber haulers that put full sized trucks to shame!

Just something about making your own !

Jim

RIP little rear wheel drive, manual transmission Ford ranger. This little guy could handle most everything except snow, especially the Duluth hills after a half inch of snow. I take great pride in not spending money on gear. I’m kind of an anti-snob snob.

justpaddlin: "Malone snob eh? Do the bar ends have razor sharp burrs that make you bleed and destroy the end caps when you first put them on like a real Thule?"

No Thule rack is complete without a set of tennis balls over the bar ends.

3/4 galvanized pipe works as good as pricey Yakima round bars. I have different lengths to accommodate solo, tandem, and side by side tandems.

Pipe has that honest working class cachet, unlike the black bourgeois tubes. Red thread protectors for end caps are cool.