This Exposed Racks Kayak Carrier (By SMS) its so simple yet so helpful! The side load V shape does make it a lot easier to load!
Cargo carrier and Kayak Rack, if you are going to spend money, might as well get something useful.
Why does the design make it easier to load Kayaks?
You slide the kayak up the vee from the side, then pivot 90 degrees to align the kayak front to back. I assume a pad is place on the vee.
There was no pad on the little drop loop (the V) so I could not figure out what you were saying. The pivot is no big deal?
Nice looking cargo carrier and rack. Never saw practicality of spending all that money on just cross bars to carry a kayak or two. I guess there are cargo carriers you could strap to kayak cross bars, but with ours you could put one or even two kayaks up there and still have some storage. Much more useful and not bad looking either.
Yes, the pivot is no big deal. Years ago in our family we loaded bulky rowboats onto the roof of high cars that way all the time, most often onto a full-size van. It wasn’t remotely difficult when using side bars in that way. You’d lean the boat toward the side of the car so that it ended up resting against the side bar. Then you’d slide it up onto the rack and let it level off, and the side bar on the other side would catch it. Then as the boat was pivoted a bit, the side bar on the other side AND the front cross bar would share the job of catching that end of the boat. Then with a little bit more shuffling the rear of the boat would be moved sideways in the same manner, until the boat pivots fully into its final position, ready to be tied down. On my current car I sometimes load canoes or other kinds of boats from the side by this same method when there’s not enough space behind the car for sliding the it up from the rear, or when the car is tilted so steeply sideways while parked off the downhill edge of the road that keeping the boat from slipping to the downhill side during loading from the rear becomes problematic (during the shuffle-around, the boat won’t slip downhill the way it will when it is simply being steadily slid in-line with the orientation of the car). Again the bar on the other side assists in keeping the boat under control while it gets pivoted into the proper position.
On my current car, the longitudinal side bars also serve as the attachment points for extra-wide cross bars for carrying more boats (so that no full-scale changes are needed to modify the width of the rack, and the change is made in a few minutes), and they also serve as anchor points for lines which limit side-to-side movement of the boat (when I don’t use gunwale stops, which is most of the time).
Of course, side bars don’t need to cost much. On my current car, the side bars are lengths of “black pipe” from the hardware store, with mounting plates welded on at appropriate locations which in turn clamp to my regular cross bars, each connection being clamped with a pair of U-bolts. One thing I agree with you on is that as long as I am able to build something, especially when what I build ends up being every bit as good as I could ever want, I won’t be shelling out hundreds of dollars for high-end rack setups (oops I just looked at that website and we might be talking well over a thousand dollars). I don’t mind spending time on such projects because it’s satisfying to build a good-quality product for very small amounts of cash, but painful to go out and buy one.
I also side-load my kayak. I have a removable upright post that helps guide the kayak up, instead of the vee. The connection between the ends of the crossbars is wood, permanently mounted, painted gray and covered with indoor/outdoor carpet.
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That don’t look Sto Bote…
@mjac Why insinuate their choice isn’t useful? The OP posted an opinion on a product they own (with a photo) and indicated that it works well for them. It’s likely they use that carrier for other purposes and the ability to carry boats is a nice benefit. Being snarky doesn’t encourage others to participate in this forum. There is more than one way to skin a cat.
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FYI, that remark was a compliment that someone used their ingenuity and creativity to create something useful and practical that served their needs without depending on having to buy everything from a store in order to fulfill their every need as is often the case these days. People have lost confidence in their own abilities due to marketing, you have to buy everything.
Try again…
Clever thinking there. Adding that upright post was a great idea for that particular combination of rack and type of boat. I bet that some people here would be interested in knowing how you attached that side bar too, since it’s not obvious in the photo.
I would rather spend $4,000 for Exposed Racks Rack and Cargo/Kayak Carrier….In Red
Edit: @Guideboatguy_II , I am looking at “Exposed Racks’s” products and a lot of their rack systems have Four cross bars, what the he… do you do with Four cross bars?
Looking up underneath the side bar, you can see that there’s a pocket in the wood that the end of the Thule Aerobar fits into. And looking at the previous photo, you can see a round, black plastic cap. That covers a counterbored hole in the wood. I run a long piece of 1/4x20 threaded rod inside the Thule bars. The threaded rod connects the two end bars, with a washer and nut hidden under the plastic cap on each side. There’s a little metal tab attached to the threaded rod that catches inside the cross bar to keep the threaded rod from turning. That way I can tighten one side at a time without needing a helper on the other side.
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In other words, it ain’t coming off.
the V does have a material wrapped over the edge. It def helps the kayak slide easier when pushing it up.
That is a nice Rack and Carrier, I like it. But that is one expensive system.
If you are familiar with the system, I have been looking at their products and a lot of their kits have four crossbars in them. What do yo do with four crossbars?
Much easier with short vehicles. My trucks have camper shells and the cross bars for kayaks are 7 feet off the ground. I am now using only inflatable kayaks where I need neither a roof mount or a trailer.
Trucks?…How many trucks do you have?
Edit: You gave up hard shells for inflatables because the racks are too high? That would be a tough decision…
I have full size truck and with a camper shell and using the Thule adapters to mount their cross bars the height is 7 ft above the ground. I have used a special step that goes over a tire to gain height for attaching the straps but still had to lift heavy kayaks (2-person Ocean Kayak at 90 lbs and two Hobie Revolution 13 kayaks at 70 lbs).
For awhile I used a $3600 double jet ski trailer that allowed me to slide the kayaks off and on at a boat ramp. It was great to be able to pre-rig the kayaks at the parking area and then quickly launch them at a boat ramp.
I also needed space to store the boat trailer with its two kayaks in my yard.
My Sea Eagle 465ft inflatable 3-person kayak provides plenty of room for two adult photographers and has a hull weight of 44 lbs which is half the weight of a roto molded 2-person kayak.
You are the second person who mentioned Sea Eagle, they must be better than I give them credit for.