Glenn6870 

Anyone have the Yakima Front Loader and strip the nut in the Big Red knob? See picture below. I'm dealing with Yakima Customer Support, but like every other bike related company, the back and forth is taking forever due to them being so busy. in the meantime, my exactly one year old rack is useless. Anyone have a work around? I tried finding a wing nut, or threaded knob at Ace Hardware, but none of the sizes ( both Metric and SAE ) seem to work. I'm starting to think the end of the bolt is stripped ( not just the nut in the knob ) causing the problem of not being able to figure out which size should work. My logic is that in its simplicity, it's just a bolt, and you turn a nut to tighten the rack. I'm happy using a wrench while Yakima figures out what they will do for me, but for the life of me i cannot get anything to work. anyone have this issue? And yes, i looked online for the knob, and the only place selling them is Etrailer.com and it looks like the old knob, not the one i need ( assuming my rack was built after 2016, and that Red knob is out of stock everywhere, the knob for racks built prior to 2016 is the one that is available. There was a change in the bolt so they are not interchangeable )

Anyone??!!

biker128pedal

I have two Frontloaders I bought used a couple months ago. One with a red knob and the other black. I’m confused. I thought they were interchangeable.


https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories...QaAq2wEALw_wcB

Andy Somnifac 

I can't say anything of much help. The only time I had issues with a Yakima rack, they replaced it pretty immediately, though that was well pre-pandemic. I had a Highroller that the retention release mechanism went bad, and apparently, it was a common issue, and one of the reasons they discontinued it in favor of the Highroad. As soon as I described the issue the tech asked me to check a couple of things and immediately took my info for a replacement. They didn't even verify proof of purchase or anything.

But I since made the move to Thule, since it seemed like Yakima was trying to design clever retention systems that ended up being too fragile for their own good (plus they didn't have a crossbar fit kit for a new car).

Glenn6870 

yes, i agree, but Yakima's own customer site says there is a difference. Pre 2016 the bolt was tapered, Post 2016 it's squared off. As i said, my rack was purchased last year, so i'm assuming it's post 2016 ( there is no date on the rack itself ). If i don't hear from Yakima soon, i might bite the bullet and order the part anyway and see if it works.

Glenn6870 

When i got the rack last year, i was going full Thule ( i had a 50% friends and family discount code ). So i got the Thule Aero Bars but the bike rack was on back order with no ETA. I didn't want to wait, plus i saw bad reviews on the Thule ( forgot the model, but it's the one that clamps to the down tube instead of the wheel ) so i ended up getting the Yakima because it had better reviews and it was available local. hopefully that wasn't a mistake! i'm remaining optimistic that Yakima will do right by me.

Andy Somnifac 

Can't argue with going with what's available, especially in this market. I bought in December 2019, so just pre-pandemic, so things were still easily available (Amazon Warehouse deals are a great thing).

My pair of UpRides have served me well so far. Wheel clamp and simple rachet retention. And apparently, some bright bulbs have listed them for $500 on Amazon. That's just crazy talk.

RGMN

FrontLoader red knob is not working

It looks like etrailer has both in stock.

biker128pedal

I bought them used so they may be from different years. Planned on a through axle mountain bike in the future. Still am but Trek warranted my Madone 5.0 with a rear right side broken drop out. Choice of older direct mount rim brake Emonda or credit. I took the credit. and went with a Domane SL6. So needed this rack sooner than I thought. I have one of the Frontloaders on Thule Aero Bars. But it but mounts a little too far in so I have to use a step stool. The ancient fork mount Thule rail I could mount over the towers. Not the Front Loader.

I do need to call Yakima. On one the lower front wheel support shoe thing is missing. It will work without it I think. I need to try it.

Edit. Thanks for the link. The shoe thing may be the stability plate. So one of the racks I have must be before 2011. IT is the one with the black knob.

Glenn6870 

update to the story: I just got off of the phone with Yakima. The knob is on back order and could take several months, so they are just going to replace the rack! The rack is on back order too, but she said they're getting them in every day, so it shouldn't be long. Fingers crossed that is the case. Nice to see a company stand by their product!

Bald Paul

I'm glad Yakima is stepping up, but I have to ask - how tightly are you turning the knob to lock the front wheel? I have two Frontloaders on my car, and it doesn't take a lot of tension to hold the front wheel securely.

Glenn6870 

First off, the new rack showed up on Friday! Very happy with Yakima service.
As to your question about the tension, clearly I am tightening too much. To add to that, I put WD40 on the bolt to “make it easier to spin the knob”. After talking to my buddy, he thinks that could have caused the issue. Not the WD40 itself per se, but often times when using that, it causes the user to tighten a lot more than necessary because you don’t get the sensation of it being tight due to the WD40, so you keep tightening causing the nut to strip. I am thinking that may have been my issue. I have since learned to not tighten as much.