anybody carrying sea kayaks on this vehicle? suggestions please.
Yep…
Yakima bars with Thule j’s. Have had this set for about two years without problems.
Comparable Nissan Set-Up
– Last Updated: Sep-19-07 3:07 PM EST –
On my Nissan Frontier Crewcab I have a Thule crossbar attached to my factory rack siderails with one set of saddles to hold the front end of the boat/boats. The other/rear set of saddles is on a Thule T-bar (I think they call it the Goal Post) that plugs into my 2" trailer hitch receiver. I leave the front bar on most of the time and pop the back T on and off between uses...takes about 60 seconds to attach/remove. There's roughly a 6 ft spread between the saddles so the boat is very stable. Also, the rear T is height adjustable. I drop the T all the way down (to about shoulder height), slide the boat into the saddles from the rear of the truck (no risk of hitting/scrathing the bed rails or the roof) and then slide the T back to it's regular height and lock/strap everything down. That keeps me from having to lift the boat over my head and put extra strain on my shoulders or upper back. I've used this set up to transport a 13' rec boat, a 14 ft SOT and a 16 ft touring boat and it seems to work fine with them all. Yakima makes a similar T-bar style unit also.
Tacoma
I have a 1996 Tacoma Crewcab (the type with 2 doors) which now has a cap on the back. My rear Thule crossbar now mounts directly onto the cap.
Before the cap I used the Thule 477 short roof-line adapter to extend the distance between the load bars so that I could utilize the full length of the cab roof, since I had only the 1 pair of doors. This was fairly rigid, and I think would give enough distance between the bars to be stable for transporting a sea kayak. I certainly hauled 16 1/2 foot long canoes this way. I use the 878XT type kayak saddles for transporting sea kayaks and have had good luck with them.
I have had Thule products for a long time, back to when Yakima was just getting started. I have found Thule equipment to be quite strong and dependable. If I was purchasing a rack now, I would probably look at Yakima stuff since their products are more commonly available in the US and more commonly seen on sale.
I have a Tundra crewcab
Very similar to the Tacoma, but wider. I use a TracRac on the bed and carry my boats that way. Tracrac makes their own kayak saddles, or you can use either Thule or Yakima saddles with little adjustment. The tracrac can be adjusted by sliding either “row” forward or back, or it can be removes completely in about 30 seconds.
On my 2004 , I have a Yakima
– Last Updated: Sep-19-07 10:03 PM EST –
Sportsman back by the tailgate and a bar on the front of the cab. Works great.
Not Sea Kayaks but,
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2335089790090600625fosAmD
This vehicle has mostly carried whitewater boat of late, but a few rec boats up to 16 feet have been seen on it. I have also put a 17ft canoe on it with no problem. Longer than that and you would probably need the T-bar off of the hitch.
Pics # 14 & 15 show some boat on my truck. The canoe is only 12.5 but it gives you some reference. This set-up is a set of Thule Tracs attached to the roof with Thule Qwik connect towers and bars.
Good Luck,
Jay
thanks everyone
nice to know the options!
Tacoma setup
I’ve got a Yakima bar and q towers up front, and a Thule goalpost into the receiver at the back. This seems to work well, and I remove it to get better mileage during the week. Hope that helps!
DIY Rack
On my 2002 Tacoma (extra cab) I wanted to put one Yakima bar on the roof and one of the Yakima racks designed to clamp onto the bed rails, which I would have mounted near the center of the bed. That would allow me to better center boats on the truck. However, Yakima had migrated to a new tower design, and did not make clips so that I could fit my SST towers to the truck. I was going to have to replace my towers, and that pissed me off, and I now hold a grudge against Yakima.
So, I ended up building a 2x4 rack as a temporary solution, until I figured out a better arrangement. I’m still using the temporary solution, which consists of a square frame the size of the bed, to which are attached, at each corner, four upright posts, with two cross bars supported by two (each) uprights. I can slide this rack in and out of the bed when I need to use the pick-up as a truck vs. a shuttle vehicle. The rack has tie-in features that attach to the pad-eyes in each corner of the bed.
I routinely transport 19 and 20 foot boats on this rack.
Like I said, I’d rather have the rack and boats more centered on the vehicle, but until I figure out a convenient way to do that, without patronizing Yakima, I’ll keep using the temporary solution. It’s worked for the last 300 or so trips, so what the heck.
A friend with a Tacoma bought metal racks that slide on and off a track that is attached to the bed rails. Same basic geometry as my set up, but doesn’t clog the bed up with the frame and is easy to remove and reinstall. I think it came from Tygart, not sure. If I had to buy a system today, I think I’d go for that.
~~Chip Walsh, Gambrills, MD
Tacoma rack set up
I have a 2006 Tacoma, I ended up using the Thule 422 Xsporter rack set up with Yakima Mako Cradles. I went to this set up after I found out Yakimas set up for roof mount would only carry 100 lbs, The combined weight on my 2 kevlar boats and the rack material and cradles was around 110 pounds, pretty useless for carrying boats.
With the Thule I can now carry 400 lbs which now means I have the room and capacity to carry 3 boats which I now do as a way to get more friends out on the water.
The down side of this set up on the Toyota is that you cannot lower the bars when not in use as the bed liner flairs out and does not allow the rack to be lowered. But I have found out that I can simply lift the two bar sets out when I do not need them there, takes about 5 minutes to reinstall. All in all I am quite happy with this set up. Hope this helps.
I had this…
set up for my old Tacoma,are you talking the newer version? The same works for newest version,as I have seen some with racks.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1143964594050436027lQDlhG
billinpa