I usually load my 60lb kayak by sliding it from the rear by putting a foam block on the trunk lid…
Has anyone done that on cars with rear spoiler?
I’ve never had cars having rear spoilers. Have no idea how strong (or weak) they are. Or any other idiosyncracy it might have.
Perhaps you can cut smaller pieces
of foam to shove under the spoiler, and then cut a stepped foam block to sit atop both the rear deck and the spoiler.
In a way it’s too bad to be stuck with a spoiler, because at all normal highway speeds, they rarely do anything but increase drag. In racing, there is a trade-off where a rear spoiler is needed to add downforce for high speed cornering, but the designers know that the spoiler also holds down top speed.
SOME ARE QUITE STRONG…
…while others are probably significantly less so. You need to not only be concerned with whether the wing will hold the 60 lb “up”, but also whether it will withstand the shearing torque that the sliding will impart as well.
I would think the suggestion to concomitantly support the wing from below and provide a ‘sliding surface’ on its upper surface is a good one -but I think something sturdier than styro or other, similar foam, should be considered. You could try minicell -it’s pretty easy to shape, you can contour it to fit both the trunk lid and the underside of the wing to provide an excellent, snug and supportive fit, and it’s pretty strong stuff while remaining quite light weight.
But g2d? While most car racing spoilers indeed trade off providing quite a bit of very needed downforce at a considerable expense of quite a bit of unneeded drag, there is one you will surely recall that was almost always drag-minimal, except in the corners, where it was incredibly drag-maximal: the famous Chaparrals of Jim Hall and Hap Sharp of the mid-60s sports car racing circuits. I can still see the open-cockpit Can-Am cars, and the one Group 7 coupe, with those vertical struts supporting what truly was a wind, some 3 or so feet above the body, controlled by the driver because the Chaparrals ran AUTOMATIC (!) racing transmissions, and instead of clutching, the drivers were “spoilering”…!
At any rate, I think your suggestion might be able to get those who have spoilers and can’t -or don’t want to -afford a side-loader to get their heavy kayaks on and off their spoiler-festooned cars so they can get out and
PADDLE ON!
-Frank in Miami
Perhaps I should re-phrase my question
Has anyone have trouble-free experience in rear-slide loading on the spoiler?
I’ll just look for another car (sans spoiler) if I don’t have anyone had done it successfully.
small car - big boat:
– Last Updated: Oct-26-09 3:36 AM EST –
While I don't condone this method unless you have a precise and secure way of strapping the kayak tight, I'd like to point out that I have a slightly heavier kayak on a relatively small car (roof) without even a hard rack and don't use the spoiler. I carry the boat from the cockpit combing, step up on the driver side door sill, and plop it over the center of the roof. If you can't muscle the boat like this, some people use a kayak cart upside down on the trunk and use the overturned wheels to roll the boat up on to the roof rack, kinda like the Thule Hully rollers. Unfortunately my cart's wheels are too wide apart for that.
http://phrancis.com/test/dscf1486.jpg
http://phrancis.com/test/dscf1481.jpg
Most factory spoilers are fiberglass, decorative, aerodynamically neutral (on a front wheel drive car), and not structurally strong enough to slide a kayak over. For the ones that actually work, the amount of drag or downforce they produce is usually negligible. You'd have to be flying fast enough for it to really be effective, usually at a race track. I some how doubt you'd be using a serious track car for kayak transport. So what kind of car are you talking about anyways?
I preferred the Chapparals with the
auxiliary motor sucking the car down against the road.
There might be another reason to call them “spoilers.”
Looks like a lost cause?
So far, no positive experience…
Is it a sedan or a wagon type?
On some wagon lift gates the spoiler may interfere with opening it with the kayak loaded.
I remember watching the Chaparrals run at Sebring in the ol’ days… thanks for the trip back 
sedan
I wonder if it can be taken off?
I’m pretty sure the spoiler is more for look than for real. I’d be happe to have it removed if that’s an option!
Call A dealer…
We don’t even know what car you are talking about…
I’m not so sure that a spoiler
is made to support weight - at least not 60 pounds. Have you thought of getting the higher load bars, like they make for some vans (I think it’s actually a higher footpack, which lifts the bars up about 6 inches from the roof)? That way the boat could probably still be loaded the way you currently do it, but without hitting the spoiler.
It may look a little goofy that high up on a small car, but I’ve seen a lot goofier (and unsafe, which yours wouldn’t be) passing by here on the way to the BWCA.
loading kayaks to the roof
yakima has a system called the showboat
http://yakima.com/racks/kayak-rack/product/8004040/showboat.aspx
maybe this will work for you?
or see all the reviews on boat loading here:
http://www.paddling.net/Reviews/showAcc.html?cat=10
I bet you’ll find something there!
try this
or this
http://www.maloneautoracks.com/seawing-stinger.php#tab=tab-1
I’m actually interested in this too, for my mom’s vehicle …
and this?
http://www.adventuresports.com/product/oak-orchard/gullwing.php
note the rollers here that fit into the fifth/rear door …
Finally This.
http://www.thule.com/en/US/Products/Watersports/WatersportCarriers/196658.aspx
See you on the water,
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc.
Hyde Park, NY
www.the-river-connection.com
www.hudsonriverpaddler.org
kayak over car
My car’s existance is to carry kayak (and bikes, of course)!
So, instead of going down the convoluted paths of expensive mechanical kayak loading gizmos, I’ll simply ruling out all cars with rear spoilers!
I like the clean look of cars WITHOUT spoiler to begin with anyway. Like the clean deck of my boat. 
It would help if post was more specific
– Last Updated: Nov-01-09 5:25 PM EST –
"Can you load a boat on a car with a spoiler?"
Rear spoilers vary tremendously!!
How the hell should we know? What EXACTLY are you doing?
I can load all my boats on my Porsche Wail-Tail spoiler, and the don't get much bigger than that.
Care to tell us what you're referring to? It would help if you're really looking for some advice.
Sorry about the non-specific question
I’ve never had a car with spoiler and didn’t realize they come in all sizes, shapes and construction. So I ask what I thought was a simple question about “spoiler” in general, because one of the car I was interested in had spoiler.
(Also at the time of posting, I hadn’t seen the car and the shape of the spoiler yet. I was merely trying to decide whether I bother with going to consider it at all)
Now, the question is moot. After test driving, the one I like the most don’t have spoiler. So I’ll continue to slide my boat on the trunk lid as before…
Judging from the number of responses “suggesting” OTHER way of loading, it seems not that many people load their boat by sliding it from the rear. (or those who don’t don’t happen to have spoiler)