Truck bed hitch extenders?

Does anyone have a comment on using hitch bed extenders to carry a canoe/kayak?

Yep
We have a one that we use in the extended position for laying them flat in the truck bed and we can also use it in the up position with a roof rack on the cab. It works good. If you are going to use it in the extended out position you will need a sturdy hitch because it has a lot of leverage on the hitch. A flimsy bumper with a reciever may not do it.



Also keep in mind that if it extends up to 4 feet past the truck it must be flagged. If it is more than 4 feet is you are suppose to have a light. That is Georgia law which took me months to get a correct answer. A simple clip on battery powered bike light is enough to be legal. I also zip tied swim noodles on the part that the kayak rests on.



Harbor Freight seems to have the best deals and I would buy it again for sure.

I used one on a pickup with an inflatabl
Smart Rack on the cab. It worked fine but rattled and moved a lot side to side. I put a strap from one end to the bumper to stop that.



SYOTR

Randy

What type of pickup?
I looked at those but wasn’t impressed. What kind of pickup do you have, 2 door or 4 door crew cab? We have crew cab so roof is large surface that works fine for saddles. We use tail gate with Thule water slide mat to easily slide our boat up on to the saddles.






racks
Does anyone know of some good brands?

I use mine for my 15’ SOT.Very solid
and a great way to haul the beast without breaking my back. Got it on E-bay for $67.

My truck was a Dakota 4-door
The cab wasn’t quite long enough so I used the extender with a foam block and an inflatable Smart rack on the cab. It worked fine for two boats up to 18’. With some boats I had to put a foam block in between to prevent rubbing.



SYOTR

Randy

ALL I’VE USED
Bought my set up from Harbor Freight, the bumper receiver hitch and the bed extender. I haven’t seen any flex on the bumper itself, I have a Ram 1500 and that portion seems rock solid. Same as a previous reply, I have ty wrapped pool noodles to the top bar also for some padding. I did see some bounce in the extender, which I cured using a plastic paint scraper where the extender slid into the receiver. It’s not a defect, just how the two parts size tolerances are.

I duct taped a minicell rack pad to the
horizontal bar of mine.

We use ours not only for kayaks but
also to haul 4 X 8 sheets of plywood, shorter boards, or 4 X 8 wallboard. For longer boards we open the rear slider window.

We have a Ford F150 Crew Cab, short box.

For hauling kayaks,we put them in the box, pad the hitch extender where the yaks will sit, fasten the boat into the box and onto the extender, then add a flag. I don’t know if it’s required here in Michigan, but we do it as a safety precaution.

Due to my heighth, I don’t haul my Chatham 16 on this vehicle. For that I use my Explorer and a Hullavator.

Love my Hullavator.

Yakima
I use Yakima Mako saddles. They come in 2 styles, one for factor cross bars the other for Yakima cross bars. Thule is the other popular brand.



You be surprised how easy it is to slide a kayak up onto a roof over a tailgate onto a pickup roof. You just walk the kayak right up into the rack.


I’ve used one for the past 2 years
I’ve used one for the past 2 years. I forgot what brand but I think I bought it on Amazon.com. I ducktaped foam to the metal where the kayaks touch and I slide kayak foam carriers over the flat metal vertical sides. Then I use bungees to hold the kayak tight against the vertical sides and a foam kayak carrier where the opened tailgate lies flat. I use regular straps to tie the bow to in the truck bed so that the kayaks don’t slide out and most importantly so that they do not sway sideways. This is important as to avoid rubbing of the fiberglass hull on the side of the truckbed (i.e. the protruding cavity of the truck wheels).





This all works really well. Here are my perceived advantages:



1.Better gas mileage. I feel that the kayaks draft with minimal wind resistance.



2. Easier on your back. Less lifting and easy access to the boats.



3. cheaper than a good kayak rack or (with an addition of a boat rack) an ability to carry 4 boats on a small truck.



Here is my list of disadvantages:


  1. Parking can be complicated as the length of your truck is significant. Sometimes I offload the kayaks and then remove the extension and store it in the truck bed.


  2. ‘redneck factor’ - it’s a bit loosey goosey setup. Although I have all the faith in it, I would say it is still more practical for remote locations than driving in city traffic to a boat put in at an urban location.


  3. Additional 10 minutes of extra setup to get your kayaks ready.

bed ext.
I wouldn’t use it for much more then a 14 ftr. With the bed ext and ladder rack I can carry 8 boats. just be careful of the length and put a flag on the end.

Not for long boats with short truck bed
I considered buying the Extend-A-Truck but reconsidered after realizing that a 7-ft bed with a 17-ft kayak left an enormous amount of overhang. Might be OK in an area with all wide roads, no tight curves, etc., but that is not the case where I live.



A trailer is longer overall, but it is articulated. When you turn, it pivots around so that the kayak tail is less likely to smack something or someone.



If it were an 8-ft truck bed with a 12-ft kayak, go for it. But use a bright flag on the rear.

Extend-a-truck has dual positions
It can be bed height or roof height (for longer boats).

Here is what I have
I looked up my Amazon.com history from 2009 - and this is what I bought:



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000051XJ3



I have a Toyota Tacoma and I’ve been transporting Valley Nordkapp, Q-Boat, Aquanaut, Pintail on it as well as Seda Ikkuma. I’ve had no problems at all.

Then you’re back to rooftopping
The dual positions are handy, as long as you’re set up to rooftop.



From what I’ve seen, most of these devices are used in the low-long position so that the owner can just put the kayak in the truck bed.

Harbor Freight $49.99
http://www.harborfreight.com/truck-bed-extender-45830.html



You can probably use the 20% coupon in their ad flyer as well!.



I bought one for my Silverado, and use it for my 14.5’ kayak. I boxed the top & sides with 1x pressure treated wood and fastened an old Yakima cross bar onto it. Now I’m able to put a foam block on it for my Kayak. I can post a picture if anyone’s interested.