Ok, so I have the fancy roof rack. I also have 293492834 lights on it that are going to get in the way. Anyone have an idea how to work around the lights or what to possibly do to get 2 kayaks on my roof. Or, would it be smarter to strap them into the bed?

I was thinking of going the thule route and mounting the basket on the rails to make it a little more quick release so I could transport the kayaks and leave the basket/lights at home. I'm afraid though that the lights will be 49 feet higher than they are already.

 

I got to thinking. I might buy the factory light mounts from con ferr and relocate my KC's. This would drop them about 5 inches and then to mount the Kayaks I would just need to nudge them up against the top of the kc's or even point them down or the trip. This would cost me about 45 bucks compared to the hundreds I would spend with the Thule conversion.

 

eh.....? pics would be nice...and what are you acully wanting us to say...

 

Looking for suggestions on how to mount kayaks on the roof, or if it would just be easier to put them in the bed. You already know waht my truck looks like lol.

 

ONE QUESTION---IMPORTANT ONE!


what kayak, what size/length?


I have a lake/river kayak thats ment for outtings but nothing hardcore, however it is about as long as my truck (so in the bed is a no go) also its wide, so it have 2 of them they have to stand on their sides....Alot of ocean kayaks are skinner, so they can sit side by side without standing on their side...

white water kayaks are a whole different thing since they are usually shorter and should fit in the bed...


What i did for a setup was a roof bar with kayak sattles (looked like bike seats but curved) and a big Bar that attaches to a hitch or bumper thats a T, and the kayak straps to the top bar (you can attach or weld on a longer bar to hold 2 kayaks, but its orignally ment for one)

I have a blackandwhite picture from my setup on my home computer, ill throw it up here latter

also, i have those yakima (sp?) kayak sattles for sale, and the roof bar too if you are looking for some


Not sure how this works with what you got, but it gets you a starting point

 

i vote that you lean them, from the back of the bed(tailgate closed), to resting on the roofrack...

then tie them(or bungee) to the roofrack... and run another rope on the side tie downs in the bed...

that is what i do with lumber that i dont want hanging out the back..

 

We've been looking at a few different one's Mostly the sit in type.



something like that or a used dagger vesper 11-15' and 25 ish wide.

I've thought the same thing Christian. Only thing is, a 15 foot boat will stick way up.

 

heres what i had


the front comes out jsut past the windshield

 

OOOOOOOO nevermind i read it wrong

 

you could find a little trailer...

 

I posted a description of my home-spun rack here. W/ your roof rack you could build something similar, just taller, to clear the rack on the roof. As I said, my rack looks aweful, but it works and the price was right. I do not leave it in the bed. I only set it up when needed and break it down later. It fits in my storage locker (~10'x10' closet) at my apartment.

I can post dimensions if yah need'em. I won't have photos of it in use for another 2-3 weeks.

It rocks to see everyone getting into kayaking! I wandered into one of the outdoor/sporting stores down-town (EMS) last week. They've got dozens of boats for sale and a rack of rental boats out front. I haven't seen that many kayaks on sale in one place in a long time. Guess it's a popular sport.

My buddy just got his BS (finally) after years of night school. As a graduation gift we all got together and got him a little play boat. It is one of those easy-to-paddle rec-boats like you posted Jason. We got his from the LL Bean outlet store. It was a pretty good deal, $400 bought us the Manatee solo package including boat, paddle and cover. I got a chance to paddly the boat around a little a couple weekends back. It is nice. Super stable, although very slow. Not a touring boat, but definitely a fun little rec-boat..

 

I've actually figured out what I'm doing. We're (friend in the truck club) fabbing up a t bar that will mount to the hitch sort of like the one above. It will fold up and come apart so I can stow it and it will leave enough room for the tailgate to open. Measuring and buying parts tomorrow, welding it together during the rest of the week.



Pretty much exactly like that except I'm only paying for supplies. 80% less at least

 

mine looks like that, just a smaller bar on top, works great

 

Here's my Kayak. I decided to spend a little more and bought the 11 foot Necky Manitou sport. The only reason I didn't get the Original 12+ foot Manitou was due to room in my apartment. The following pics show the boat and the way I got it in my house.

The Kayak has a water tight rear compartment, bungees on front and rear, foot supports, completely adjustable seating. I took it out in the rain today and it blew away the rental I used this weekend. I'm glad I spent the few hundred extra.

The Kayak


In my bedroom beside my bed on the ceiling


A few images from the companies website

 

just drag it...lol

well, yakima sells the roof rack just for that. What you can do is buy the roof kit and the load warrior basket (simmilar to C-moneys). Mount your lights to the basket, then out the boat on top of that

 

I thought about doing that, but... I can buy the raw materials for the rear hitch rack for about 30-40 bucks and have it fabbed for just about nothing. If I go the Yakima or Thule route I'll be spending over 130 plus shipping. After I have the rear part fabbed I'll buy foam or cloth for the rear part of the roof rack and for the bars to cushion the kayak.

 

Sweet lookin' boat there man! Kayaks are a bumload of fun.

What's the notch in the seat about? Is that a cup holder?! How posh!

 

Lol, I guess it could be a cup or bottle holder. I'm putting a skirt on it so it's going to be hard to get in the cockpit for anything anyway so I'll just stick to keeping things under the bungee's

 

heres just how i did mine, nothing to hard..jus used rope..but mine are sit-on-tops..they are the Hobie brand, the ones that make the surfboards. they are pretty heavy, i cant lift it by myself. my Mom has a rack ontop of her jeep...but its easier to get it into either my truck or my dads.

 

Agreed, it just ain't kayakin' unless you are wearing a skirt!

Still trying to figure out what that slot's about.

Like I said, I was in EMS the other day. They've got boats everywhere, which is awesome to see. One boat had several perches and mounts for fishing rods. Although that was an open top boat too..

Mind if I ask what that setup set you back? You said you paddled it already, how's the initial/total stability? Speed? Ease of paddling? What did you rent that you compared it to.

My buddy just got this boat:
LL Bean Manatee Solo (linked above) - 9'4" Rec-boat


Super stable, but slow and pudgy. I'd actually consider white-watering it though. Lighter than I expected. At $400 the price is right.

My father has this boat:
Current Designs - Extreme - 18'10" Open water tourer



It is sweet. So fawkin' fast.. Instable as all getout though! Sticker shock will get you though, I think it set him back $2500 just for the boat.

 

I bought the boat and a bending branches aluminum kayak paddle for 590 out the door. The boat itself goes for 550+ but it was on sale for 500 even. The paddle was 65 before a 10% discount. I just picked up a vest today and the skirt is on order. Tomorrow I'm picking up the supplies and the rack will be done for the weekend :)

 

Sounds sweet man. Just a few years back a boat half that good would probably run half-again to twice as much. I can't get over how innexpensive they are becoming. That has to be because of popularity.. or maybe the popularity is because of the lower costs..

 

I'm prolly going overkill on the rack. What's new...It's going to be very strong. We're using 2" x 3/16 as the the main tubing. It will come out of the hitch have another square tube welded on the end where the upright bar will slide on and lock with a pin. The same will go for the t on top. That will be braced with 2 1" bars of square tube and then the t will slide down onto the upright and lock in with another pin. I think it will be about 50 pounds when done. A little heavier than the other ones but a whole lot stronger. Here's a quick paint program version of what I'm putting together:

 

FWIW, here are some dimensions I drew up last night:

 

After reading a few websites, I decided to change the way I hung the kayak. Apparently, hanging it from the carry handles will deform the kayak and also risks the chance of falling. I hit up home depot and bought a few pulley rope jobs, a few eye hooks, and some pipe insulation. This cost about 25 bucks. The hoists for sale are about 100 ish. :)