It's what Thule felt is most supportive of their particular design. If you want something with a pivoting design, check out the cradles from Rhino-Rack. www.rackoutfitters.com/rhino-rack-nautic-580-side-loading-kayak-carrier-set-of-4/
well, i already have the 895 installed and i wished i understood the reason behind the design because the way it is, is not practical for loading the kayak up, especially for shorter people and taller cars... so given the situation i try figuring out a way to make it more practical- in your experience, would installing the cradles with the max pivoting towards the loader be an option to consider [turn them around 180 degrees]?
i made the change- it works much better than before and it does not affect the stability once the cradle angles are readjusted [they are not going to be symmetrical any longer]. Forgot to mention- i have a surf ski. It has a different form and center of gravity than the boat you are loading so it would not 'fall into place' at once like in your demo [because it is narrow and therefore the rubber grip of the cradles on the loader side would cover most of the hull so that after pivoting it would land on an angle on the far cradles]. i offer this so that you may provide suggestions to your surf ski customers or advise them to get a different rack [unlike the guys where i got my rack from...]
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what's the idea of having that stop on the cradle that does not allow it to pivot on the outer side completely, same as on the in-side?
It's what Thule felt is most supportive of their particular design. If you want something with a pivoting design, check out the cradles from Rhino-Rack. www.rackoutfitters.com/rhino-rack-nautic-580-side-loading-kayak-carrier-set-of-4/
well, i already have the 895 installed and i wished i understood the reason behind the design because the way it is, is not practical for loading the kayak up, especially for shorter people and taller cars...
so given the situation i try figuring out a way to make it more practical- in your experience, would installing the cradles with the max pivoting towards the loader be an option to consider [turn them around 180 degrees]?
That is going outside of what is recommended, but I could see where that could be an advantage.
i made the change- it works much better than before and it does not affect the stability once the cradle angles are readjusted [they are not going to be symmetrical any longer]. Forgot to mention- i have a surf ski. It has a different form and center of gravity than the boat you are loading so it would not 'fall into place' at once like in your demo [because it is narrow and therefore the rubber grip of the cradles on the loader side would cover most of the hull so that after pivoting it would land on an angle on the far cradles].
i offer this so that you may provide suggestions to your surf ski customers or advise them to get a different rack [unlike the guys where i got my rack from...]