I am trying to find a roof rack for my 2019 Ram 1500 crew cap truck that can hold a 17’ and a 14’ Kevlar sea type kayaks. I pull a trailer, so the rack needs to be over the cab, not the cap over the box. I have Thule J-bar style (on their side) and Thule hull shaped flat style (upright kayak) I’d like to use.
I can be reached via email, junewayskier@gmail.com
I’ve never even seen a rack that goes on pickup cab even just the one bar.
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We use an Adarac and a single Yakima bar on the cab
In this pic the boats are only 15 feet long but our sea kayaks are 18 so the bar on the cap necessary in order not to dentvthe trailer or mangle the boats
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Back in 2003 or so I used Thule feet/bars on my 2003 Dodge Ram 2500. I then installed a front 2" receiver hitch mounted to the tow hooks. I used a Goal Post style rack in the front hitch and put it in-line with the roof rack. Loaded 3 sea kayaks on the top, hooked up to the 5th wheel camper, and hauled them probably ~2K miles. I can’t find any of those old pics but it worked just fine.
While I think that a setup similar to Kayamedics is the best way to go, with a crew cab you can also just put a couple of cross bars on the cab. I’ve got a Silverado 2500 Crew Cab with a Thule Xsporter for the bed, but I’ve also got two crossbars that I’ll carry boats on sometimes. I carry an 18’6" Wenonah as well as multiple sea kayaks longer than 17’. I’ll tie down the bows to the hood and the sterns to the rear bumper. It’s not a ton of crossbar spacing, but it’s more than an awful lot of cars carrying long sea kayaks.
I have seen racks mounted two on the crew cab roof like all the small cars. Our trouble is it don’t like to be driving with stuff out over the front.
So we drive our tall truck with bed mount Thule bars and Hulivators and one Yakima bar rack on the cab. We have to have the 17ft boats moved forward to clear the AS. . Similar to Kayakmedic.
The Hulivators were necessary since climbing up in the bed was old and difficult. We sometimes bring a 14ft in the center on J- bars for the grandson.
Just across the Montana/Wyoming line.
Ps…with three tie down spots the boats don’t move if tied correctly.
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https://www.rackattack.com/store/austin/
Great selection of all things rack, they list a roof rack for your truck. For some reason I was unable to copy the link
Not sure if this would work for you, but we completed a 5000 mile loop out west this past August with this setup. We hauled 6 boats very securely and had no issues (even in some decent mountain crosswinds). Straps are at the bulkheads behind the day hatches in the rear, and just behind the bulkheads in the front. Bow lines only, but double bow lines on all of the boats on the trailer since they are harder to visually monitor while driving. The bar spread on the bed rack is just under 5 feet, I find it to be very secure even with the boats shifted forward like this.
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I note that you are not strapping to the middle bar, that seems like the right way to go. I would worry about flexing and damaging the boats with them strapped to all three. The cab and bed of any pickup will flex and move a bit independently.
Gotta love that bar spread, nice setup.
the middle bar does have load stops. Trucks do flex but less so on paved roads I think. We live on a dirt road 2 miles long and its getting time to grade it again…
These boats are well seasoned. The kayak is from 1993 the sea canoe from the 80’s.
Thinking on my three bar configuration you might not notice the first bar is ridgid and firmly strapped. The second and third, the Hullivators, are “loosely” tied. They are secure but have some room to move since the cradles are somewhat designed for wider, taller boats. Boats have been fine. This rig has been on a rutted mountain road where I had to go 4x4 to get up and the boats stayed put without damage…and other places since 2018.
Thank you all for responding to my question on a cab roof rack to take the longer kayaks more forward on my RAM so they don’t interfere when I’m towing the Rockwood camper/trailer. Haven’t move forward on this yet…almost time to park the trailer/kayaks and get out the skis/boots gear.