Reviews of Malone MicroSport XT Trailer

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List Price: $1,599.00
Sale Price: $1,456.08
Today's Bonus: 9% Off

This is a great looking trailer. The components look to be well made. And I was promptly emailed from Malone's tech support to let them know if I had problems. The Malone trailer was about half the cost of Yakama's at the time I bought. That's the good news. Here are a few things to be aware of if you buy this model. Be prepared to spend more time assembling it and a few trips to the hardware store. The trailer is completely bolted together with lock nuts, so it shouldn't loosen. There were a few instances when a 3/8" bolt was shipped where a 1/2" was called for.

The instructions that came with my XT model are for the standard trailer with a fixed tongue. A separate set of instructions came with the package to retrofit a fully assembled trailer with the sliding tongue as an option. It took considerable time to figure out how to merge the two instructions together. I was told from Malone new instructions are being developed.

The only low-quality component of the trailer components is the electrical system, especially the taillights. The lights are a back-stab wire design. I found it impossible to back-stab the lights with the braided wire supplied. My workaround was to splice a solid pigtail of 14 gauge wire to the braided wire to make a solid connection with the lights. You will need about 3/4 to 1" solid wire to make a firm connection to the back of the taillights. I tried soldering the braided wire, but it did not solve the issue. The holes in the frame have sharp edges. I decided to run the wires in flexible plastic conduit to minimize the chance of shorting the electrical system at the points where the wires pass through the frame. At the hardware store, I found small adhesive pads that I applied to the inside of the frame to secure the 3/8" flexible conduit to with small wire ties. By the way, the lights are not waterproof. Don't try backing your trailer into the water with the lights hooked up or you might pop a few bulbs.

Another design change I made to the trailer was the addition of mudflaps. The fenders end at the top of the taillights. I could see the lights being damaged by road debris, or worse yet, the back end of my kayak. So I added mudflaps to protect the taillights and the back end of my kayak.

A spec I couldn't find in any of the Malone literature was how high the mounting rails were to the ground. It's about 30 inches. Add my Yakama kayak saddles and the bottom of my kayak should be about 36 inches off the road. I will like the convenient loading height but it made me wonder about visibility and legal issues with about half the length of a kayak extending back behind the taillights. I asked Malone tech support if they heard of anyone getting a ticket for not flagging the back of the trailer's load. They told me they had not heard of anyone getting a ticket, but agreed it would be a good idea to hang a red flag off the back of your longest kayak. It's mid winter here in Minnesota, so I have not taken the trailer out for a spin yet, but very anxious to do so.

An addendum to my safety concern over the kayak extending past the rear taillights. I came up with what I think is a nifty idea. I tried putting a red flag on the stern of my kayak. The first time out the flag was ripped to shreds. So I bought a red LED bike light that is designed to fit on the back of a helmet. It measures about one inch wide by three long. It has a battery life of 400 hours when on blinking mode. I put a strip of Velcro on the back of the light clip and the alternate strip on the rear of my kayak. Then I run a 24" expandable strap through the light's clip and attach the hooks to the kayak's rear carry clip. I found out the hard way that the Velcro by itself wasn't strong enough to hold the light to the kayak bouncing down the road. This works great! The blinking light is bright even in full sunlight. I've watched cars behind me keep a longer distance between them and the rear of my kayak when the light is blinking than before I installed it. It's very quick to install and remove. All I have to do is remember to turn the light on and remove it before putting the kayak in the water.

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Product arrived quickly and was straightforward to assemble. My kit was missing the bolts for the fenders. I emailed the malone sales department and received the missing bolts 2 days later. Registration at the DMV was easier than I thought it would be I just provided the included documents and it registered like a new vehicle. Overall a great product highly recommended.

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Easy assembly...and trailer is rock solid. Highly recommend The Malone trailer. Use to transport 17 foot kayak and also storage carrier for camping.

Honest reviews on Malone MicroSport XT Trailer

I obtained mine from a local dealer that also sells on Amazon. Why? Because they assembled it for free! I have added many aftermarket items and love it. I just returned from a 600 mile trip and it tows like a dream.

1. Spend the extra money on an XT the included extras are well worth it

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I researched trailers for Kayaks and conoes and this was clearly the best product at a reasonalble price. It tood about 4-5 hours to put together by myself. The package was missing 2 bolts and these were sent out very quickly. My Thule racks mounted easily and transporting two Kayaks is a breeze. My only issue was with the delivery company as they delivered one of five pieces intially (but claimed the whole trailer was delivered). It took several calls to the delivery company and finally to Amazon until the mistake was corrected. I would highly recommend this trailer.