I have a Toyota FJ Cruiser with a roof rack. If you aren’t familiar with the type of rack on this vehicle, it has a round outline bar what makes a U shape and the inside bars are flat.
I currently use the foam bars and tie down straps to haul my Pungo 120 kayak. Someone suggested I get rollers on the back (round part of rack) to assist me when I lift and load my kayak, which is done from the rear of my SUV.
Does anyone know if there are rollers that would fit round bars? Or is using something similar on an FJ?
Go to a West Marine store, or a boat…
yard supply store. They have all sorts of rollers.
If you are a do it yourselfer, you can innovate.
Last year I bought a single roller and using two L brackets bolted to my Yakima bar and a through bolt came up with a neat assist for loading our 23 foot long 100 pound tandem kayak.
The total cost was less then $15
Jack L
Perhaps you don’t need rollers.
I’ve been sliding boats onto roof racks, especially high roof racks, for close to 40 years, and never with the aid of rollers. My cross bars are padded with carpet, which of course is a lot tougher than foam padding (and I don’t need foam padding because I carry open-top boats in the gunwale-down position, but I understand your need for it). Instead of buying rollers, you could probably lay a rubber-backed bath mat over the foam padding and slide the boat on that, then remove the bath mat before tying down the boat. I’m sure the rubber backing of the bath mat would be “grippy” enough to make it stay put (many people lay a bath mat right on the sheetmetal or the sloping rear window of their car and it doesn’t slip), and the carpet on its top surface would be slippery enough so the boat slides easily.
I second a bath mat
They work great!
Mat worked great
Tried the mat this weekend and the boat slid into place like pushing it through warm butter. Thank you
Cheap Door Mat
I use a cheap door mat, rubber on the back, carpet on top. Works great.