Easy kayak rack

[Longshot270]

This was what I built first which works great if you are only hauling some light weight stuff once in a while.

I took two foam blocks from a canoe car top kit from Academy, ran a piece of 3/4" electrical conduit and ran a ratchet through the middle and ran it through the cab. I used a piece of water hose around the rope to keep the pipe from cutting it, worked very well. I also tied some loops to act as strap anchors and wrapped them in electrical tape to protect them from rubbing on the roof.

In the back I bolted two 4 foot boards to to the bed in front of the tailgate and put a cross board to make a shelf.

Threw the kayak up there and went to one of the rough river access areas to test it out.

It worked great except that if I left the kayak up there the lid for the storage compartment was getting caved in and the foam blocks were compressing.

Having the kayak up top was great because I could throw gear in the bed and close the tailgate. No more worrying about stuff blowing out (like the paddles I lost on my way back from New Braunfels) or people hitting the kayaks because they are morons.

It worked so well I went and spent $150 on 1/2 of a Yakima roof bar set. I wasn't a fan of the clamp but I didn't want to drill into the roof. Whenever I got to installing it I realized I could rearrange the trim so that it would still make a seal.

This morning I modified the back portion for two reasons, 1) to keep from crushing the storage compartment lid and 2) reduce the angle from raising the end over the cab because it was catching too much air on the highway.

Overall it still has more drag the the first setup, but now I can carry two kayaks or any long, heavy object without worrying about damaging the roof.

The next mods will be locks so that the bar can't get stolen, paint the wood black (or weld a new one) and add some fishing rod holders.

 

[buRRp]

 

[Black02Silverado]

 

[tonkatoy37]

 

[Texas Jim]

Nice...

 

[dirtyoldman]

Yeah,paint the wood black,it would look better

 

[ScottyBoy]

That rack came out pretty good.

That's one of the few benefits a Suburban has over a truck. I can strap a 12 foot ladder to my roof rack in seconds. My father in law was trying to figure out how to get his extension ladder to the deer lease without my 14 foot trailer (because I sold the trailer). I quickly reminded him that we could strap it to my roof .

 

[Longshot270]

Been a while but since my last post I added a 16 foot square stern canoe to my collection. Since the boat was so much longer and heavier than the kayaks, some modifications were made.

First I found a better place for the yakima bar. I expanded the feet so that it could sit a little more forward. It is a PITA on opening and closing the doors but the stability increase in noticeable.

Next I upgraded the cross bar. Rather than having a board across held up by some flimsy metal and wood screws I drilled 1 inch holes in the boards and slid a piece of metal electrical conduit through. I used large 3/4 inch washers and pins to secure it. I also put pieces of PVC pipe to help save the canoe from the rough metal pipe. The benefits here are that the boat slides much easier on the pipes and the whole thing can be taken down easier.

A few days ago I replaced the J bolts that held it against the truck rails with standard bolts. I made it so that the bolts are bolted to the truck with another washer/nut holding the board on top. That way, to remove it I undo the nuts and the top bar and the wood comes right off. To put it back on I just slap the board on and thread the nut on. Before it took 20 minutes of jiggling to get each board on or off because the J hooks were a pain to work with.

Now I can go from having the boat on the truck to it looking normal in about 5 minutes without any kind of "negotiating" with parts.