# Yakima King Cobra failure



## nhmtns (May 4, 2004)

I've been using a Yakima King Cobra for DH bikes for a couple summers. The other day I noticed the front of the attachment that sits on the front crossbar was leaning slightly forward. After closer inspection, I discovered that the front bolt holding the tray to the flat metal base had pulled away from the tray.



















Thankfully the rear bolt was still tight and was strong enough to have held the rack together. Anyone else experience anything like this? FYI, I've been using Yakima products since the late 80's and haven't had any other major issues.


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## longman (May 9, 2007)

how far apart are your crossbars?


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## nhmtns (May 4, 2004)

Crossbars are 31" apart


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## beanfink (Nov 22, 2006)

I was reading the fine print at Yakima.com the other day, and I saw that they have a 30lb per bike weight limit for all the roof racks, including the King Cobra. 

Pretty lame. Why bother making a rack that has clearance for DH tires but can't officially support the weight of a DH bike? :nono:


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## nhmtns (May 4, 2004)

Wow, I find that hard to believe. I searched around on Yakima.com for a while and couldn't find that info. Where was is located? All I found was rack limits, but nothing for individual bike attachments.


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## beanfink (Nov 22, 2006)

If you go through the "fit my car" procedure, eventually you will get a parts list for your system. The 30lb weight limit is in the "fit notes" at the bottom of this parts list.

Copied and pasted (1998 Subaru Outback Wagon w/factory rack)

0. Weight Limit: 100
81. Any load extending over the windshield (except luggage boxes) must be secured to both the front and rear of the vehicle, in addition to the rack. The total weight of the racks and loads must not exceed Yakima's weight limit for that vehicle's factory rack.
170. Up to 2 bicycles may be carried on this application. Only HighRoller, King Cobra, and Raptor bike mounts are compatible with Universal MightyMounts. Do not exceed max weight of 30 lbs. per bike.


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## longman (May 9, 2007)

that's for the crappy universal mighty mounts


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## nhmtns (May 4, 2004)

Yeah, I was gonna say that using upright carriers with universal mighty mounts on a factory rack limits what you can carry. Still, I'm sure there's lots of people carrying heavier bikes with that setup.


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## Eric Hoefer (Jan 19, 2004)

I just purchased this rack setup and installed it on my Fit. Let us know how the warranty plays out if you chose to go that route.


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## mtymxdh (Jan 14, 2005)

the same happened to me


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## BlueMountain (Nov 8, 2006)

If the front part of the rail is made a bit thicker or has a sort of gusset underneath the tray, it would handle many times the number of fatigue cycles it currently does. However, since this may be an infrequent occurence, I wonder if there was a bad batch .

Are the Thule racks the same thickness and design under the tray? Man, I am worried about getting a roof rack since I go on some rough roads (slow but rough). I need a third rack though and the hitch is full with the two-bike setup.


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## JoelovesDirt (Apr 28, 2008)

I had the same thing happen to 2 of my Cobras. Thankfully I bought them from REI.


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## brenrub (Apr 29, 2006)

It doesn't look like the tray was installed close enough to the brass bar in front of it.

Or maybe its just the perspective in the pics. Anyway, I had this rack for 4 years and used it with a 40+ pound bike and never had any problems.


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## MartinS (Jan 31, 2004)

I've also had the same thing happen, I switched the tray around and used the other end. I assume it'll happen again at which point I'll hacksaw it to an undamaged section. Eventually nothing will be left but it will take a while...
I think one thing that lessens the stress put on it is not pull down too hard when 'pre loading' the front wheel when tightening the red dial.


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## daleksic (Aug 26, 2007)

I N-rigged a Delta lockable hitch to my Taurus Roof Rack. The Taurus Roofrack has a weight limit of 100 lbs, i bet the Yakima roof rack itself weighs that much. My bike comes in at 27lbs without the front wheel so it sits secure on it. I just had to machine an aluminium plate to bolt on the bottom. I used class 12.8 screws which I understand are the strongest ones around (at least that's what the guy who sold them to me told me).

I just installed it and took a test ride with my wifes 32lbs bike. I'm gonna get my sister-in-laws 45lbs NEXT-> Walmart bike and try it out. If it works at 70mph i'll trust it to work with mine. I'll post pics later.


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## HVskier (Jun 20, 2004)

just want to add that my king cobra just failed in the same way. I've had it for most of this season now and its carried my demo 8 on a few 6 hour (one way) trips and a couple shorter trips. Most of the time its got my 28 lb stumpjumper on it.

My load bars are 33" apart. The instructions called for only 20" apart on my car which was ridiculous.


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## JustMtnB44 (Nov 8, 2004)

HVskier said:


> just want to add that my king cobra just failed in the same way. I've had it for most of this season now and its carried my demo 8 on a few 6 hour (one way) trips and a couple shorter trips. Most of the time its got my 28 lb stumpjumper on it.
> 
> My load bars are 33" apart. The instructions called for only 20" apart on my car which was ridiculous.


When did that happen, was it after last weekend?


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## rvmdmechanic (Sep 18, 2008)

Improperly installing (not following the instructed crossbar spread) probably voids the warranty.
Otherwise, yakima now has a lifetime warranty - go get it replaced!


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## Eric Hoefer (Jan 19, 2004)

Sorry to dig up such and old thread, but my king cobra just failed in exactly this manner after about a year of owning it and having a bike on the car 4 times a week for about 8 months out of the year. I'm probably just gonna hacksaw off the broken bit and reinstall it. I had Red Yakima stickers made for the tray that I don't want to part with


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## mtymxdh (Jan 14, 2005)

Eric Hoefer said:


> I'm probably just gonna hacksaw off the broken bit and reinstall it.


I did that on my trays... twice... so before you hacksaw the 3~4 inches just turn the tray around... when it fails again its time to hack...

or maybe replace

btw since the tray failed I put the crossbars wide apart, as close to the bike axle length as I could so almost all the bike weight is directly over the crossbars


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## Eric Hoefer (Jan 19, 2004)

Yeah I ended up turning the tray around, worked like a charm. Now I am no longer preloading the front tire and am just tightening the red knob till the bike is snug rather than wrenching it down.


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## swift (Apr 3, 2007)

I had this happen to two of my King Cobras and my friends King Cobras did the same thing. It's a pretty bad design. My friend switched to Thule trays to fix his and I added a third cross bar to better secure the trays on mine.

For what Yakima charges, the life-cycle of their product is disappointing to say the least.


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## skyliner1004 (Jan 7, 2010)

30 lbs is pretty useless...


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## Lost Biker (Jun 7, 2009)

same chit happened to my KingCobra. It happened when transportin gmy buddies 32lb Santa Cruz Nomad. 

I flipped the tray around for now. Need to come up with a homemade fix to not stress the trays out and ahve it occur again. Any ideas?

I hear someone said use Thule Trays. How's taht holding up?


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## mtymxdh (Jan 14, 2005)

Lost Biker said:


> same chit happened to my KingCobra. It happened when transportin gmy buddies 32lb Santa Cruz Nomad.
> 
> I flipped the tray around for now. Need to come up with a homemade fix to not stress the trays out and ahve it occur again. Any ideas?
> 
> I hear someone said use Thule Trays. How's taht holding up?


try to put the rear load bar directly below of the rear whel axle, so all the weight will be directly on the load bars 
:thumbsup:


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## rizo (Apr 21, 2006)

*Ideas?*

I have had the same problem with one of my racks. I do like the racks for how stable they are for holding the bikes but yes, that fault in the rack is a concern. I also just flipped the tray around and is fine now. I think a lot of the stress comes from when you are tightening it down. i crank on the wheel bracket pretty hard to make sure the bike is cinched in there pretty tightly.

Any other bike racks you guys recommend as an alternative?


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## DOCRIGID (Sep 16, 2009)

same here but only once, I switched the crappy tie nuts to actual nuts and have not had a problem. Also overtightening the red knob will cause this.


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