My Saturn SL2 needs a car rack

I just bought my first kayak in years, a used 11’ Liquid Logic Tryon. I own a Saturn SL2 sedan and the car does not have any rack bars or any luggage support from the factory. I enjoyed kayaking coastline when I was a teenager and would love to take my kayak to the beach. Problem is the beach is 120 miles away and I know that foam blocks are not suggested for interstate speeds, and I would be taking the interstate. I am trying to find a roof rack system that I can install for hauling my kayak to the beach on my Saturn and so far I cant find anything that installs on a vehicle that does not already have existing factory side rails. Any suggestions would be helpful

Something funny…
about your car that you’re not telling us?



Convertible? (sp?)



Thule.com has fits for it dating back to 1991 models. Should be easy.



See you on the water,

Marshall

The River Connection, Inc.

Hyde Park, NY

www.the-river-connection.com

Check Yakima and Thule web sites …
Check Yakima and Thule web sites, both sites have fit guides where you enter information about your vehicle and intended use and they will suggest a rack set up.



Yakima: http://www.yakima.com/ follow the steps in “fit my car” in the center of the web page



Thule: http://www.thule.com/en/US/FitGuide.aspx# enter the information in the fit guide


Saturn SL2
I also have a Saturn SL2. I installed a Thule rack. The only problem was that the cross bars are so close together the kayak didn’t seem stable enough. I ended up putting a set of Malone Sea Wings on the rack. Now, I feel comfortable taking the car with Kayak on top just about anywhere.



I also put a trailer hitch on the car and use a trailer when I needed to carry more boats than will fit on my car.



Reg

Our ‘99 SW1…
…has a Thule rack - just the bars, no special saddles - and we’re just finishing a 5,000 km. trip with 2 17’ VOLKSKAYAKs. including all the gear for each boat, up there. We use bow and stern lines and good straps. Did about 500 kms. today at highway speeds in high winds…absolutely no problems…

what I did was go
to junk yard and got a rack off a van. Cut it down to give me max use of the roof line aand drilled her on in. We used AZ nuts (I think that was it…)Cost was

15 bucks from the salvage yard, and two six packs of Killians to my budy with the AZZ nuts and tool to install them.

wagon vs sedan
On a Saturn wagon you have a much longer roof. The rear bar can attach to the rear side window trim. On a sedan, the roof is short and the door openings limit where the bars can be placed.

We have a Yakima set-up on a 1994 SL and depend on good front and rear tiedowns in addition to the cross straps at the bar locations. We attached four loops of strap to fender bolts under the hood and trunk. We melted holes near the strap ends for the bolts, removed the bolts, passed them thru the strap ends and reinstalled. The loops reside under the hood and trunk lid when not in use and are flipped out when hauling a boat, or ladder, or lumber.

Bill

Great Info…
…especially re the loops on the trunk - had never thought of that despite using 'em on our bonnet - thanks…

That’s One of the Nice Things…
…about older Saturns - works like a charm, and there’s no fear of ruining resale value by drilling a few little bitty holes in the roof :->))