I have a new vehicle. There is no way that I can fit both my Thule Portage Canoe Carrier and my Kayak Saddles in the proper position to carry both boats (or to carry 1 without adjusting the position of the other to get it out of the way). Unless…I clamp the outside saddle to the part of the crossbar that extends past the tower. Is that considered unsafe? The alternative would be to remove the inboard saddles for the kayak when I want to use the canoe, or vice versa. I don’t know if this makes sense without a picture, which I can provide if it would be helpful…
I have done that before, the main issue is having a way to get a solid strapdown with the overhang.
Good point. Hadn’t thought of that.
I had that arrangement for 12 years with a Yakima rack on a nissan XTerra - no issues except wind noise.
Been there done that with 3 boats on top. Fasten the strap around the tower under the boat.
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If the kayak extends over the side of the vehicle, some state laws require a flag on that side?
What length Thule bars do you have? That could be your easiest fix. They come in 43, 47, 50, 53, 60, 69 and 70 inch sizes. When I went from hauling two sea kayaks to a kayak and a tandem canoe I had to upsize my bars from 53" to 60". Was able to sell the shorter ones to recoup some of the expense. The only downside is that if you are more likely to smack your head on the crossbar ends when they extend farther out from the car roof. I had several nasty bumps before I developed the habit of ducking.
As for strapping beyond the tower, I’ve done that for a couple of decades with multiple vehicles every time I have had two boats on the roof of my fairly narrow cars and hauled them thousands of highway miles without issue. I use very long Thule and NRS cam straps and always double them back around the pillars and, in the case of the past three vehicles, which had the Thule racks mounted to lateral factory racks, around those too,
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Saddle solution is good. As to the tie down, if using bars that have a track bolt slot on the top install a track eye bolt to the outer edge, usually tucked under the edge of the saddle. That’s your strap point. Bezos carries a variety of them.
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Another option is the Wing-style cradles that have integrated tie-downs. I know some folks don’t like relying on tying off to just the cradles but I’ve hauled a lot of miles with them. It’s easy enough to run an additional security strap to the bars/towers if you choose. There is a second boat behind my wood Arctic Hawk in this pic though you can’t see it. I think the bars on that Outlander were only 43" wide.
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I don’t disagree with any of the previous responses, but would add this for consideration:
the rack systems are built to manage downward force. While they can manage upward force, they handle this less well. For illustration, think of the occasional incidents of long kayaks without bow tie-downs peeling the front racks off the vehicle and becoming airborne…
With this point in mind, having a cradle outside the tower should be safest if: (1) the center of gravity of the kayak remains on the inboard side of the tower, as illustrated in the 3rd photo of the preceding post by High_Desert, or (2) you have a kayak mounted on the other side. Either approach keeps the total center of gravity between the towers, and would reduce any risk of the tower acting as fulcrum that enables levering the bars offsideways.
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You can go around the tower with the strap
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I’ve done that many times. The key, which seems to be echoed all ove here, is getting a solid tie-down. I found that snaking that rope back to the tower helps a lot in steadying the load and makes it very hard for the boat to slide off the end of the bar
For years we had one saddle outside the towers and one inside. No problems carrying two boats on long crossbars. Some people put tennis balls on the ends of extended crossbars to minimize traumatic brain injury or poked out eyes.
The problem with saddles that have integrated tiedown straps like the older Yakima Mako saddles is that they’re of no help in the event of a rack failure. In that event, without both front and rear tiedowns, your boat(s) and rack either become a speed bump or in the event of an accident or sudden hard stop, become a possible lethal unguided missile. Securing the rack in the event of a failure can also reduce damage to your car.
If you have roof rails it’s best to use these as well as bow and stern tiedowns to secure both the boats and rack.
Most rack manufacturers require both bow and stern tiedowns for warranty coverage and the better ones supply them with rack components.
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