Malone DownLoader vs Yakima JayLow

If you read one section, read this one, because it is a fit question with a yes-or-no answer rather than a preference.

The JayLow is published as fitting round, square, factory and aerodynamic bars. If your crossbars are the modern wing shape — and most bars sold in the last decade are — it bolts on with what is in the box.

The DownLoader’s universal hardware covers round, square and factory oval bars, and retailers list an optional T-slot fit kit for aero-style bars and truck rack systems, sold separately. That kit is not expensive relative to the carrier and it works. But it is a part you have to know to buy, and discovering it after the carrier arrives is the most common complaint pattern we found on this product.

So go and look at your bars before you choose. If they are an aero wing — the profile on nearly every rack we rank, including every system on our Model Y rack page — the JayLow is the simpler purchase. If they are round Yakima bars, square Thule bars, or the factory oval bars on a crossover, both carriers fit as supplied and the decision moves to the next section.

One more fit figure that catches people: the JayLow’s listings publish a minimum crossbar spread of 24 inches or more. Factory integrated crossbars — the kind that stow in the side rails on a later Subaru — are often narrower than that, which is the same trap we describe on our Outback cargo box page. Measure center to center before ordering; our spread guide shows how.

Both carriers publish a weight limit, and on one of them the published limit depends on which retailer you read. We would rather flag that than pick the convenient number.

Malone DownLoader: 75 lb, consistently, and retailers add the useful detail that this is for kayaks up to 36 inches wide. Both halves of that matter — a 70 lb fishing kayak that is 38 inches across the beam is outside the published fit even though it is inside the published weight.

Yakima JayLow: it depends. The figure we found most often, and the one we have put in the specs above, is one boat up to 80 lb or two boats up to 110 lb combined. But other retailers publish 100 lb for one boat and 130 lb combined, and others again list a flat 110 lb maximum. Those are not compatible claims. If your boat is anywhere near 80 lb, confirm the figure with Yakima for your exact carrier generation before you load it.

And the limit that overrides both: your vehicle’s published roof load, which includes the bars and the carrier. An 11 lb carrier plus 15 lb of bars plus a 70 lb boat is 96 lb on the roof before straps — comfortably inside a 150 lb car, and not inside every car we cover. Our roof rack weight limits guide covers how to find your own figure, and the vehicle fit pages carry the published numbers for the cars we have verified.

If your boat is genuinely heavy, neither of these is the answer: a load-assist carrier is, and our load-assist picks rank the racks that take the lift out of it. Note that the DownLoader at least has an upgrade path here, since it is compatible with Malone’s Telos load assists sold separately.

The JayLow’s signature feature is that it converts. In J-cradle mode it holds one boat at an angle, using about half the bar. Folded into vertical stacker mode, it holds two boats on their sides leaning against the upright.

For a household that might add a second kayak, that is a genuine saving — you buy one carrier instead of two, and the conversion is a tool-free change rather than a different product. For a household that will never carry two boats, it is a feature you are paying a small premium for and will not use.

Two honest caveats on stacker mode. Hulls leaning against a single upright take their load through the side of the boat rather than the hull bottom, which is fine for a rotomolded plastic recreational kayak and is not what you want for a long-term composite sea kayak. And two boats on one pair of cradles means the combined weight limit applies — whichever of the published combined figures turns out to be right for your carrier.

The DownLoader answer to two boats is to buy a second pair, which is not unreasonable given the price bracket and gives each hull its own properly supported cradle. If you want the full field rather than these two, our two-kayak picks rank the carriers built for it, and J-cradle vs saddle vs stacker explains why the shape you choose matters more than the brand.

Three practical things the spec sheets do not make obvious.

Folding is the feature you use most. Both fold — the DownLoader down to about 6 inches, the JayLow flat — and this is what stops a kayak carrier being a year-round noise and fuel penalty. If you leave uprights standing on an empty roof all winter, you are paying for a boat you are not carrying.

Neither is a locking carrier as supplied. The JayLow takes Yakima SKS locks sold separately; the DownLoader has no integrated lock option. Whatever you do, treat kayak security as a coffee-stop problem rather than an overnight one, and take the boat off if it is going to be out of sight for a night.

Both include straps and bow and stern lines — use them. That is unusual in this category and it removes the most common excuse for skipping the bow line. Two cam straps over the hull stop it moving sideways; the bow and stern lines are what stop it moving fore and aft and what keep a boat on the car if a cradle lets go. Our step-by-step tie-down guide covers the anchor points worth using and the ones that will pull out of a bumper cover.

Both of these are good carriers in the same price bracket, and either will carry a normal recreational kayak safely for years. The decision is narrow.

Yakima JayLow if your bars are aero, if a second boat is even a possibility, or if you want one carrier that can change its mind. Confirm the capacity figure with Yakima if your boat is near 80 lb, and budget for SKS locks if you want it to lock.

Malone DownLoader if your bars are round, square or factory oval, if your hull is wide — the published 36 inch figure is the one to check — or if you might add a Telos load assist later. It is the better value of the two as supplied, provided your bars do not need the T-slot kit.

Neither if the boat is heavy enough that loading it is the actual problem. A J-cradle still requires you to lift a boat to roof height; a load-assist rack removes most of that, and on a tall vehicle it is worth the money. If you are shopping by vehicle rather than by carrier, our kayak racks for SUVs page ranks the field by roof height.