I am looking for a car rack to carry a kayak but I am short. I would be laoding the kayak by myself. I have heard of a rack that comes down on the side of the car for easy loading. Has anyone heard of this style and if so how does it work? Is it worth the investment? Any idea where you buy this style? Thanks for the help…
Don’t know but what I have seen done is
to slide the end cap off the racks load bar and then slide in a piece of pipe to extend the bar out. You then lift one end of the kayak on to that then the other end onto the rack then go back and do the first end. Don’t know if that will help you but it might.
At the retailer show this weekend,
had a chance to see a demo by both Yakima and Thule new rack systems. This coming year they will have an add on that allows the rack to swing down to about chest high on the average person to be loaded and then lift back up to lock onto the top of your vehicle. I do not have any of my paperwork with me or I would give you the name. I’ll try to do it tommorrow.
At teh moment, the easiest and cheapest way to do it is as the poster stated above…
rack
This link should have what you want: www.ezload.biz/
Might be cheaper to . . .
. . . get heavy-duty milk crate or a step stool to stand on while loading the yak.
Yakima
Yakima makes a rack system whereby a bar slides out to extend a couple feet past the side of the car. You just lift the front of the kayak to rest on the bar and then lift the back up and slide it onto the car roof. I am only 150 lbs. and do this very easily with a 70 lb. yak.
Any dealer, or Galyan’s, should carry this system. It is easy to install and costs approx. $100-$115.
$100 ???
You can do the same thing with a 3 foot piece of 3/4" diameter pipe from the hardware store for about five bucks. All you have to do is pop off one of the end caps of one of the Yakima pipes. If you have Thule racks, get a piece of rectangular channel that fits inside the Thule rack. Just make sure that a good foot or so of the pipe goes inside the rack or it might bend itself or your rack.
kayak rack
Thank you for the help. Will check both dealers this year.
3/4 " pipe won’t fit over the Yakama…
bars.
They are 3/4 inch themselves, and then have the PVC coating.
I doubt if even one inch would fit over them all though I have never tried it.
Use 1/2", and it will slide into them.
cheers,
JackL
from another shortie…
Can you lift your kayak over your head? Try it-- you may be surprised how easy it is, depending on the boat.
I’m only 5’4", and I routinely load two Pungoes atop my rather high PT Cruiser plus Thule rack. I usually do this solo.