# Yakima Highroller Issues



## Dirttrackin280h (Aug 10, 2008)

I got a great deal on a Yakima Highroller roof bike mount and just received it today. Question for all you Highroller owners out there...When the bike is mounted on the tray and I go to turn the turning knob to snug up the front wheel, the knob will create a sound as if the ratchet is skipping and the bar will loosen up if I try to tighten it any tighter. So it will never get snug to where I would like it. Am I tightening it too tight causing it to do this, or am I working with a faulty bike rack? Does any of yours do this? I wouldn't think this is normal. Thanks in advance.


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## Tpsh (Sep 14, 2011)

I have two highrollers and neither of them make any noise as Itighten them or once tightened down. I tighten tehm until I see the front tire start to press inwards from the pressure.


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## Tpsh (Sep 14, 2011)

I have two highrollers and neither of them make any noise as Itighten them or once tightened down. I tighten tehm until I see the front tire start to press inwards from the pressure.


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## Taz8 (Aug 3, 2006)

Dirttrackin280h said:


> I got a great deal on a Yakima Highroller roof bike mount and just received it today. Question for all you Highroller owners out there...When the bike is mounted on the tray and I go to turn the turning knob to snug up the front wheel, the knob will create a sound as if the ratchet is skipping and the bar will loosen up if I try to tighten it any tighter. So it will never get snug to where I would like it. Am I tightening it too tight causing it to do this, or am I working with a faulty bike rack? Does any of yours do this? I wouldn't think this is normal. Thanks in advance.


Mine do not do this. I would contact Yakima customer service directly to see if they can offer you a suggestion.


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## Dirttrackin280h (Aug 10, 2008)

Ended up being a faulty piece. Maybe that's why it was such a great deal on Ebay arggh. Taken care of though, thanks!


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## wolfy (Dec 21, 2004)

Was it a spare part you can replace? Or did they exchange the whole thing?

Mine is doing the same thing after crashing into a parking garage with my bike on top. Bike is fine cause the high roller just let it go. But now the rack is dead.

-M


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## JohnJ80 (Oct 10, 2008)

Ok, this problem is the same when I had when I ran a bike into the garage on top of the car.

yes, stupid, I know but the bike was largely ok but the rack was not. What happened is the gear inside the unit that moves the wheel locking bar into place and holds it, stripped out. It would appear to hold the bike in place, but if you pressured it, all of a sudden it would let go and drop down to straight horizontal thereby leaving the bike free to fall out. The gear is plastic and it cannot be replaced.

I called Yakima service and asked them what to do about it. Turns out there is nothing you can do and you should not use it. In fact, what they asked me to do was to make sure the rack was destroyed so that someone didn't pull it out of the trash and then *sell it on eBay* (they had seen this happen numerous times according to the customer service person). The risk, and I think they are right to be worried about it, is that a bike could let go on the highway and hurt someone. I cut mine in half and threw it away.

In my opinion, it's a bad design. If the gear strips, it still appears to work but it really doesn't have anywhere near the holding capability it had once before. The failure is that it cannot be inspected to see if it's ok or replaced. The rack looks fine, but it's not. This is also where you can get ripped off - it looks fine but is not.

Mine, after it stripped, also made some noise it didn't make before. If you push down on the bar if it's stripped, it will hold and then suddenly let go. The extent of the stripping of the gears would be the extent to which it would hold.

I like the functionality of the HR design, but the fact that you cannot check it's performance and inspect it for working properly is a show stopper. They also (at least at that time) did not sell a replacement assembly that you could replace like they do on many of their other products. For this reason, I think until they fix this issue and make it easy to inspect and repair that mechanism, I would (1) steer clear of buying one new, there are other alternatives that are similar and would work more safely and (2) never buy one of these used - that's just asking for it.

J.


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## BlackMamba2012 (Nov 24, 2011)

I bought one too and it did the same thing the first time i used it ; returned it and got sprocket rocket; that was 2 yrs ago tho now have a1upusa rack if i had to do it over again i would have bought the 1up first it the best rack i ve ever owned period.Plus u can put fat bikes on it. Another reason i went away from yakima is there warranty department doesnt really back there stuff they always say the owner didnt attach it right or u tighten it down to tight and broke (had several wheel tray problems on previous yakima king cobra the trays would crack where the bolts held the rest of the bike rack to the bike wheel. :thumbsup: just my 2 cents .


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