ShowDown

I purchased this rack to use for my 9.5' Ocean Kayak on my Bronco Sport SUV. I have the standard Yakima cross rails and this rack works perfectly with them. I love that you can side load your kayak, secure it and then push it up on top of your vehicle. It locks in place and looks great. A lot of fellow kayakers have seen me use the rack and ask me about it. I would highly recommend this rack to anyone with a kayak.

I was excited when I saw this and totally replaced my Yakima racks for it (new bed tracks, bars, and tonneau cover). My old roller/cradle set up made loading and unloading on my Tundra difficult because it has the tow package. I was so disappointed when I went to load my OC1 for the first time. The cradled don’t work for slim hull shells like OC1 or surf ski. The lower cradle is fixed and the movable cradle pops out so it won’t fit sung to the hull. Had to slide the cradle so it could just be tightened which left some gap under the shell. Had to used some cardboard and bungee cords. I will have to find some pads to bridge the gap. Works well with SUP and traditional kayaks. Also, when loaded they don’t slide smoothly and evenly when lifting or lowering.

I like the idea behind this system. However, Yakima will officially say my rack is not compatible with the Showdown. I have a Thule Aeroblade which has no overhang. So initially I looked at every loading concept out there for kayaks and SUPs but I always came back to the Showdown as being the best idea, so I wondered if I could make it work with my rack. I only planned to use the Showdown for a 20 pound racing SUP so I felt if I could if I could move all the clamps over about six inches that would not overload the structure. Moving the clamps was fairly simple, all I had to do was unbolt the clamps, drill new holes and reattach. So far everything is working out really well. The Showdown makes loading and unloading my SUP very easy, I'm glad I could make it work for me.

I was very excited to use the Showdown. I liked the lower profile compared to the Thule product. It was light and easy to install. However, I am 5 feet tall and have a 2018 Kia Sorrento which is a tall vehicle. The support bars that the kayak sits on for loading do not come down far enough for easy loading, but it was doable with some muscle. I was unable to lift the rack and push it on top of the car without great difficulty. I tried different ways, used a step stool (which helped) but after an hour of struggling and using my shoulders to boost it up onto the roof I gave up. Not enough leverage to push it onto the roof and pulling down off the roof was difficult as well. I could pull the rack out almost all the way out but without the proper leverage about 3 inches of the rack kept getting stuck in the track. A taller person would have no difficulty using the Showdown and would probably be very satisfied, but if you are a small person intending to use it by yourself, do not purchase one, you will be disappointed.

Time will tell with this rack. I’ve been using Yakima products for the past 20 years, and have two sets of kayak J-cradles, a Bow-Down, the Sidewinder tandem bike rack, and a hitch-mounted bike rack. The first thing that struck me when unboxing the ShowDown was its build quality. This is certainly not what I have come to expect from Yakima. It feels quite inferior to all the other Yakima products I have. Mounting the ShowDown was very easy, but like other reviewers I noticed that the safety pins were extremely hard to install and remove. I coated them with some bike grease, but keep a pair of pliers in the car in case they get stuck. I am using this rack to transport a Tarpon 140 (68 lbs). For day trips, the rack works quite well. However during extended trips, when the boat is on the rack for many hours (or days), it becomes difficult to get the boat down. It seems like the boat gets ‘stuck’ at the last 12 inches or so of travel. I’ve had to push the boat in and out several times to finally be able to lower the boat down. Overall, the quality is simply not what I am used to with Yakima products.

I recently purchased this rack for my 4WD van, its the only way to go it you don’t want to carry a step ladder in the van. I have a 3/4 roof basket with round bars and this clamps on perfectly! I looked everywhere prior to purchasing this rack, all the other ones where triple the cost that made any sense. I would add that it would be easy to make a pump suction cup adapter that would allow one to keep the rack tilted off the side and secured to the side of the van when loaded - if you needed more roof space. And you could possible carry 1 or 2 surfboards, but you would need a shorter flip out cradle support arm to not be too wide. I don’t think a kayak would work. Love this rack!

Time will tell with this rack. I’ve been using Yakima products for the past 20 years, and have two sets of kayak J-cradles, a Bow-Down, the Sidewinder tandem bike rack, and a hitch-mounted bike rack. The first thing that struck me when unboxing the ShowDown was its build quality. This is certainly not what I have come to expect from Yakima. It feels quite inferior to all the other Yakima products I have. Mounting the ShowDown was very easy, but like other reviewers I noticed that the safety pins were extremely hard to install and remove. I coated them with some bike grease, but keep a pair of pliers in the car in case they get stuck. I am using this rack to transport a Tarpon 140 (68 lbs). For day trips, the rack works quite well. However during extended trips, when the boat is on the rack for many hours (or days), it becomes difficult to get the boat down. It seems like the boat gets ‘stuck’ at the last 12 inches or so of travel. I’ve had to push the boat in and out several times to finally be able to lower the boat down. Next time I go on an extended trip, I will try some grease on the rails to see if that improves things. Again, time will tell with this set-up. Fingers crossed with this rack!

Always having been a Yakima brand couple, this pair of....maturing(?) kayakers thought a new easier to load system would be right for our new taller vehicle. We may have been one of the first buyers of the Showdown last fall in 2017. The price was right compared to the other competitor. Our only issue, carrying two kayaks on two rack systems side by side. Yakima's vehicle compatibility page confirmed we were a match. Following some measuring and remeasuring, we were convinced two Showdown units would fit! Installation was a breeze. The rail mounting components securely fastened to our roof rail. Then the Showdowns clamped right in place on the rails. We highly suggest you purchase lock sets for your rails AND your Showdown system(s).

This is a game-changer for anyone who’s not getting any younger! My wife and I have been biking and boating with a range of gear for years, and thankfully the products have changed as we have. My wife loves to paddle her sea kayak, but I’m not so into it. We have SUP’s as well, and have enjoyed doing that together so we want to mount various kinds of toys on the car. Because my wife is short in stature and neither of us are getting any younger, it was becoming near impossible for her to take her 19-ft kayak out by herself. Enter the Showdown! This great boat system allows you to mount your kayak or boards from the side, avoiding a high lift over a vehicle, and then just levering it up onto the roof-mounted rails. Since getting this rack, my wife has been out (on her own!) many times in her kayak, and after a quick switch of saddle mounts we can put on SUP’s instead. My wife feels liberated — not needing to ask me for help, not depending on a group to organize, and just doing things when she wants to. Now she can kayak where she wants, when she wants. We have a small German wagon, but as SUVs get taller and taller, this rack would surely help. Its well constructed and fits solidly on our aero bars. We think Yakima did a great job with this one!

The Showdown is a very well engineered product. It is light, strong, and works very well. It makes loading a 14 FT kayak fast and safe. I have been a long-time Yakima customer... 100% of my outdoor gear transportation equipment is Yakima. The products are simple to use and they work exceptionally well. Recently, I did have a bit of a hiccup with one of my pieces of equipment. I called Customer Service and was amazed at how well they handled the entire situation. They were polite, courteous, and seemed genuinely concerned to resolve my problem as quickly as possible. My problem was resolved in 1 day. We all know Yakima makes great products. It's nice to see they stand behind their products and have some really great folks to help when needed. This experience galvanizes my loyalty to a great company. Thank you, Yakima !!