I have a full size pick up with a topper. Does anyone have suggestions as to the best system for hauling kayaks with this type of vehicle? Thank you in advance for any advice.
Topper Shell
I have a Snug Top and I had artificial rain gutters bolted on and use Yakima Racks.
Not cheap. About $250.
But I have had my rig for about 9 years, so I got my money’s worth out of it, and most of the rack system could be used on a new truck if my Toyota Tacoma got wrecked. Otherwise I am hanging on to it until the wheels drop off.
I also have a full size pickup with …
a fiberglass cap, and I use the Yakima “Landing pads” which are bolted through the cap and then the Yakima control towers.
I am very happy with it.
Drilling that first hole really hurts, but just like drilling the first one through a kevlar hull, the second and third don’t hurt nearly as much!
Cheers,
JackL
fiberglass topper here too
My husband and I car top our kayaks on top of a fiberglass topper on a full size Dodge Ram. The boats are Current Design Breeze (his) and Dagger Blackwater 11.5 (mine) using a combination of kayak foam blocks and canoe block and “boat cleats” mounted to the sides of the topper. We place the stern on the kayak pad and put the canoe blocks on the coaming. Loop webbing straps around the cleats and we are good to go. Of course we use front and rear tie downs too.
We secured the cleats by placing angle iron inside the topper to keep it from pulling through the fiberglass. We recently did a 10 hour drive on mostly Interstate with this system.
We have also carried a canoe and a kayak with this system from B’ham Alabama to the Current River in MO.
I don’t have a website but if anyone is interested I can e-mail a picture of the kayaks on the truck.
I use
the artificial rain gutters bolted on to the cap. I got them where I bought the cap. I think they were made by on of the major rack system makers.
I snap on a set of Quick N Easy towers with my own 2x4 for a cross bar. Works great and cost about $60.00 total. Have used them for about 5 years now
ladder rack…
I had a ladder rack on my pick up, and a 12 kayak. I got the generic car carrying kit. I put the foam on the rack then used the straps to hold it in place. I don’t know what your plans are, or what kind of cap your truck has, but something as simple and cheap as that could work just fine.
I haul inside the bed
I have a flat top on my pick-up. I haul 3 yaks inside the bed 13’, 14’, and 15’ using tie down straps and bungies. Any longer and I would get the extend-a-bed unit that goes into the receiver hitch. I clip a safety flag to the yaks. For short distances this works great. Wife and girl friend can load and unload effortlessly at this low level.
Also had one
I bolted some angle iron on the back of the topper. Instead of trying to explain, here are some photos: http://community.webshots.com/album/75339788oTcAIx
Like ImpalaBob-we carry our yaks
inside the bed of our Tundra. Use an Extend-a-Truck in the trailer hitch. Two 17’ yaks. Like the configuration, because we can unload yaks and remove the extension, and lock the lid on the bed.