I had the old Boonedox Landing Gear on my 2017 PA. When in the "up" position, the tires rested nicely on the rail of the PA. The tires literally rested on the rail and created additional containment for the rear cargo area.... it worked well.

I was a bit perturbed when I installed the new Boonedox Groovy Landing Gear.... when in the "up" position, the tires were several inches above the rail and well outside the line of the kayak. Not only did it look weird, but the bars would also potentially catch on branches when in tight water.

After a few minutes of head-scratching, I determined that I could rest the wheels inside of the cargo area as shown below. All I had to do is heat the Hobie paddle taco clips and bend them tighter so I could clip the landing gear into the Hobie taco clips. I then installed a Yakattack paddle holder for the Hobie paddle. The result is a compact storage option for transport and while on the water. The impact to the cargo area is minimal and it's even more streamlined than the old Boonedox design. Overall I am very pleased with the result.

While this is specific to the PA... Im sure the concept can be modified to fit a lot of kayaks with a rear cargo compartment.

I need me a 360 now.

Nice work Mike! I think the Groovy landing gear is overall better especially in terms of the way it mounts to the kayak. I could be wrong but hopefully there won't be any cracking issues with this system. The downside is yeah the wheels are up in the air. I don't ever travel down the road with the wheels in. I take them out and put them in the truck.

I haven't used the new Boonedox (other than a test roll around the garage). However, I don't see the new design being any better as it relates to cracking. Each design (old and new) uses the same back-plate and mounts to the same area. The only potential advantage is that the new design has plastic fasteners... perhaps these are designed to break away before cracking the hull?

I do agree that the new design is better once the wheels are locked and loaded. The old design had a bit of slop which would cause the wheels to change positions when backing up... the new design has virtually no slop which makes for a smoother transition when backing up.

Whatever the case, I am not terribly concerned about cracking. The top rail is thick and the backplate is 9" long. Also, to the best of my knowledge, there was only two reported cases of cracking before they started sending the longer back-plate. It's entirely possible that the two cracks were installed wrong or that they were bouncing the yak off curbs.

Saying this I am fully aware that I am hanging a lot of weight from the top rails and make sure that I minimize jarring as much as possible. I don't want to be the one to report a 3rd crack to Boonedox!