you have a good plan. I only had shorter kayaks 10’ or so. my only suggestion would be to have a bed cover, or cross bars. I had a S-10, I loaded on bed cover. I used adjustable straps to hold down. I liked to see the yak, to be sure of safety. I recently got a full size truck and will be doing same. i will put added strap through carry handle to increase support.
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I use a similar set up to haul my 14 ft Jackson Cuda 14. Nice touch with the magnetic tail lights. I have a Ford F150 with a 6 1/2 ft bed and haul my kayak 100’s of miles without and problems.
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I have hauled my kayaks and canoes in a pickup bed for decades! I am on my fourth truck, but have always had long bed Fords, so with the tailgate down I have nearly 10’ of bed. With an eye-bolt on each front corner to snub them to, and straps to secure then to the back corner to prevent swishing, I have hauled boats up tp 17’ with never a problem. It is by far the easiest, cheapest, simplest, and safest way to haul them—the best way! No high lifting, no trailer, no special gear needed.
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I don’t think I’ve ever ‘trolled’ on-line. If you are rock n’ rolling in wind and waves in cold conditions without a dry/wetsuit you are going to paddle your butt off to keep up-right. You can’t roll. And, if you are good, you won’t. It’s not luck if you are good. PBR? If I’m in the boat it’s ‘Miller time’. If I’m in the water I’m not going to stay in long enough to use the PFD. If your boat has bulk heads you are holding on to a huge float.
I couldnt agree with you more. Your response is well thought out and seems based on experience, but as you expected, you are hearing anecdotal stories from people who have been lucky so far. The kayaks need to be secure and with regard to the center of gravity of the vehicle to take highway speeds.
I kayak on Long Island on the ocean and the bays and see people ignoring safety practices all the time.
They are eventually referred to as “victims”. If they are warned about it beforehand the inevitable statement is “but I’m being careful”.
I too have a pickup and haul kayaks, but not in the bed. I have one of those T - bar extenders, but use it in the upright position. I routinely haul 16 ft sea kayaks up on top. Two straps. I’m 65, the Scorpio weighs about 50 lbs or so, but it’s very easy to leverage up on top. I first put the bow up on the side of the truck bed, easily lift kayak up. Using a bit of mind over matter, a push on the stern the bow goes up on the truck cab. I have a foam pad up under the bow & padding on the T-bar. No lights, no flags, very easily secured.
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I carry up to three kayaks (longest 14’) in my camper van. Carrying two this past summer, with the top one tied through the carry handle to the back door, the carry handle rope broke when I slammed on the brakes for deer avoidance. Kayak sailed up to and cracked the front windshield. Now there’s a heavy bungee to attach the top kayak to the back. That has worked like a charm so far - it slows and stops the forward motion (and yes, I have tested it - before getting the windshield replaced!)
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And I don’r see anyone here using rollers on their rack - best way I’ve seen for a too tall system.
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall — Book of Proverbs
The old style Yakima Hully rollers tend to turn to chewing gum over time. I have not seen a viable replacement yet.
I don’t use rollers since one of mine failed and the bolt gouged my boat. I use cradles.
I ended up with a set of Malone SaddleUp carriers that kind of bridge the gap between rollers and saddles (came with a used rack I bought). They come with a set of saddle pads that slip on the rear saddles, covering the grippy rubber of the saddle with a slippery surface that allows the boat to easily slide up into place. They can be easily removed if you’d rather have 4 grippy saddle surfaces. I was a little skeptical, but they work pretty well, at least on my composite boats.
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made new post about loading
I have hauled kayaks in my shortbed pick up truck with a old red shirt looped on one of tie downs that ran the back of the kayaks. Do I still haul my kayaks in the bed, no and for two reasons. 1. I bought two new kayaks a 12’ and 13’ that are both 34’ wide and I quickly realized that after decking out the kayaks for fishing they would not fit in the bed with out taking rod holders, fish finder holder and other accessories off the kayak. 2. I picked the new kayaks up prior to picking up my kayak trailer because the trailer was on back order, on the way home with the kayaks extending beyond the bed of the truck with a red flag driving on the interstate I was in an accident. The car in front of me came to an abrupt stop and so did I. The Ford F 150 behind me came to an abrupt stop 2’ from the kayaks, and then a person not paying attention rammed the back of the pick up driving it into my kayaks. Luckily the damage to the kayaks were minimal with just a few scratches because of the slop on the Fords front end. If the truck would have been a Dodge, Chevy or GMC with the square front end the kayaks would have be damaged beyond repair. You can pick up a continental two person kayak for less than $800 and well worth the money.
Having them sticking out the back is an accident waiting to happen. It’s not worth it. You can figure out a way to get them up on something like that ADARAC system. I know you can. I used to load one or two on top of my old Honda Odyssey van in my mid and late 60’s.
Actually, I do carry my boats in the back of my truck and don’t even use bow and stern lines:
(16’ box truck camper conversion with overhead door-- there are eyebolts in the floor and I do strap them down before driving.)
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When kayaks were on top of the Yakima racks or the pop up slide in camper I used “Hulirollers” on the rear rack. They needed regular maintenance so they freely rolled. Otherwise the roller would stop and the rack would roll on the bar placing the screws of the wing nuts onto the hull of my boat.
Some of my Sterling friends have a roller rig but it is more technical than my rollers. They work…all the time. Of course those guys are loading 35# boat.
That works but it can make for an awkward lunch stop. And you have to load and unload at every overnight whether there is a paddle or not. However I seriously considered a “toy hauler” trailer. Can work with bicycles too.
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I can actually carry one boat on top of the folded down double Murphy bed and still have room to sleep beside it. Hauling the boat(s) out for the night only takes a couple of minutes with that easy access – don’t even need to pull out the ramps since they come out easily to carry at chest level.
But I have several folding kayaks (Feathercraft and Pakboat) so for longer trips they will ride along under the bed frame in their duffel bags. Can’t beat the “toy hauler” for security, anyway. The kayak is 15’ and the canoe is 13’ 8". Could also use the kayak trailer but that plus the 24’ long truck makes for more length than I care to handle!