Review on 🚣 IKURAM R Kayak/Surf/Ski Roof Carrier Rack - Premier J-Style Folding 4-in-1 for Canoe, SUP, Kayaks, Surfboard and Ski Board Rooftop Mount on SUV, Car and Truck - Enhance Your Outdoor Adventures! by Randy Montiel

I am updating this review to reflect some of the significant improvements resulting from multiple contacts with Ikuram. This kayak mount received some good reviews and was listed as a versatile mount design. There was also some negative feedback from buyers who did not find the trunk suitable for their cars. I decided to give it a try as both our cars have factory aero struts: and unfortunately it just didn't work for our application. The first batch was delivered earlier but in the wrong condition. Ikuram quickly resolved this issue and sent another rack with expedited shipping. At first glance the kayak holder looked good: the size is good, the fittings look good, the aircraft aluminum feels good and should hold up. Unfortunately, there were no installation instructions, but it is quite easy to find out how these should be installed on the vehicle. This is where the problems started. The original rack sent to me is by no means a universal assembly concept. Our 2018 GMC Acadia has a factory stance with aero bars, but the underside of the original kayak stance is clearly designed for a square bar. As a result, the bottom of the kayak support only touches the top of the pole at two points above the top of the pole. And that makes it impossible to reliably position the kayak carrier. I've attached a photo showing the underside of the original kayak stance and the limited contact with the top of the factory aero bars. Even worse was the "universal adapter" that goes under the bar to attach the kayak rack from below. The adapters are bent to fit round or possibly square handlebars, so with an aero bar they only touch the handlebars in a few places. I also included this photo, although the reflection from the crossbar can make this photo confusing. The shape of the adapter, which does not allow it to fit tightly to the aerobar, is understandable. Our kayaks weigh a total of 104 pounds, well below the rated capacity of a kayak carrier; however, since the beam only comes into contact with the crossbeams at relatively few points, this seemed dangerous to me at highway speed. I contacted Ikuram at the customer support email address provided in the documentation that came with the stand and attached 3 photos of the installed kayak stand showing limited contact with the crossbars. And this is where an update is needed because the response to this and subsequent communication through the website was a day or two slower than I thought. But Ikuram was responsive and provided great customer service. I mainly worked with Cyan, who first showed my photos to the engineers to see what could be done to make them fit my application. Their latest design looked like it might work, so they asked me to return the rack at their expense and sent me a new design (free to me!). The new design is much closer to a universal mount and it was much closer to our Acadia; but it didn't even come close to the stock aero bars on our 2005 Yukon XL. The first two photos are the original racks on Acadia. The third photo is the redesigned post (you can see the taper at both ends) on the Acadia. The fourth photo is a redesigned Yukon pose (the curve on this adapter has been modified to make it less rounded). I should note that the top of the crossbars will be scratched by the metal mounted directly on top. I believe there are ways to adapt any rack to factory aero bars, but doing so will void the warranty. And Cyan hinted that there will likely be another design upgrade early next year. I suspect if it fitted correctly it would make a very good kayak rack - the quality seems to be better than some of the big names in kayak racks and if my experience is typical the customer service is top notch. As such, some aspects of my original review had to be revised for the better; but unfortunately a redesigned frame does not suit us either. If I'm still looking for a kayak holder, would I want to try another design upgrade from Ikuram? In a word "YES". They demonstrated their willingness to work with the customer and desire to produce a quality product. Since I didn't really get to use the rack, I can only give an average rating; but I suspect its rating would be higher if it could fit on the crossbars of our cars.