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Topic: Truck camper shell extender to help lift kayak  (Read 6000 times)

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potto

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Warning!  This has become a very bad idea.
The nuts and washers on the rack end up scratching the kayak when you slide the kayak over and they also
 get in the way making it difficult to load and unload the kayak.  You have to raise the kayak over the nuts and washers (not good). 
I have removed this addition and do not recommend this unless you don't mind scratching your kayak.

This post will stay here so you know what NOT to do.



My Nissan Titan with its campershell is a royal pain to load the kayak. :smt013

There are a couple of options to deal with this.
a.) Bring a ladder or step chair with you.
b.) Buy the Yakima extender for $50
c.) Have a friend help you
d.) Build your own extender for cheap.
e.) Be at lest 6.5 feet tall.

Option a is not good because what if I forget it?
Option b is expensive.
Option c, there are those times when there is no one around to help you.
Option e in HighSchool I was 5'11", last time I checked I am closer to 5'9". 

This leaves me with Option d.

There is a how-to on kayakfishstuff "Kayak Loading Bar" http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/articles_view.asp?Kayak_Articles=37

The parts I bought where stainless steel, so the final cost was around $10.50 for everything.
I used my old Yakima roof bar to be the extender.
At the end of the U-bolts I used nylon nuts to keep the fly nuts from falling off.
Foam on the bar is to stop vibration.






« Last Edit: December 11, 2005, 04:48:53 PM by potto »
--
<><


Jonah 1:17 "Now the LORD had prepared a great fish"


Peter Joseph Otto


Potato_River

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Pete,

Looks nice. 
Chuck wanted an extender as well.  I think he just popped off the plastic end cap on the yakima bar and inserted another smaller diameter round bar inside.

His was a simple, removeable option.  Not sure if he used PVC or Metal.

Stuart


potto

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So far I have used it twice.  Give me a dozen or so more runs and I'll give my thoughts about it.
Both times I have used it it has been awkward.  The heavy eXtreme hasn't helped either.  But it has worked.

PVC pipe will only work if there is either wood or metal inside.

Keep you posted.
--
<><


Jonah 1:17 "Now the LORD had prepared a great fish"


Peter Joseph Otto


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What about a split noodle stuck on top of your car door?
Group IQ is inversely proportional to the size of the group.

A Steelhead always knows where he is going, but a Man seldom does.


Travis

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What about a split noodle stuck on top of your car door?
I was doing that for a while but I don't think it is good for the door pins.  I got my bars long enough that they stick out a little bit on each side.


potto

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I need to remove that noodle.
It was first used to prevent the load bar from over extending itself and falling off.
It was also used to prevent vibration while driving.
The problem happens when it is time to load and unload the kayak.  The kayak would get stuck on the noodle.
I would have to raise the kayak even higher to go over the noodle.

I think I will try without it and see what happens.
--
<><


Jonah 1:17 "Now the LORD had prepared a great fish"


Peter Joseph Otto


jmairey

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I think the real issue is lifting that sucker. which is ironic as you have a pickup!

how about solutions that don't involve the lifting, here you go:

carry an actual ladder on your roof, then just use it like a ramp, slide your boat right up onto the roof from
the back. or some other solution of raising the bow up first to the back of the truck, then just pullling it
forward.

I know that camper shell was expensive, but if you really tire of the heave-ho, take it off, get a ladder rack.

then you can just slide the kayak right into the bed for short trips, otherwise slide it in, then stand in the bed
and lift it up on to the ladder rack. takes longer, but will save your back.

you can still sleep in the bed of the truck, just run a tarp over your ladder rack. for real long trips, like 6 months
to mexico, pull a trailer, :-). see, you still don't need that camper shell.

I do know something of pickup truck camping rigs. over the years I've done some thinking on this.

I have a big dodge. I carried an alaskan hydraulically raising camper for years, including a year long trip 6/2003-7/2004,
with 2 boys, my wife and the doberman that included six months in baja (for that I pulled a utility trailer with bikes, surfboards, etc)

We rented houses in mexico and the florida keys, but still ended up using the camper for 1/4 of the nights, usually on the road.
but I sold the camper at least partially so I could take up kayak fishing. For that I have a ladder rack.

But even that only gets sporadic use as my scrambler is so small I just slide it into the bed diagonally and let it stick out 18 inches.
When my friend goes, we stick his on top, but then there are two of us to put it up there.

It just seems like you go fishing more than you go camping, so the shell is just not efficient. I know you used to have a
honda that was nice and low and you could get to the racks. But then the inside smelt like the fish market. So now
you got the big titan, but you kind of made it into a really tall car by putting the shell on it. The perfect rig does not
exist, only the best compromise for one's various uses.  my probably annoying opinion is that the shell is not worth the hassle.

another idea would be some sort of trailer that is so small, you can chuck it in the back of your pickup for parking.
some beefed up kayak wheels that are too big to take out on the kayak but big enough to actually trailer the
kayak on the road, and still small enough to be placed in the bed might be a cool idea. There was that trailer
for pullling the kayak on the bike, maybe that would work for the truck.

good luck peter, I guess this is all part of the fun of kayak fishing.

john m. airey


potto

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carry an actual ladder on your roof, then just use it like a ramp, slide your boat right up onto the roof from
the back. or some other solution of raising the bow up first to the back of the truck, then just pullling it
forward.

Sounds simple, but my kayak is the eXtreme which means I have to load it upside down.  Sliding it will only break things.
The eXtreme empty still weights around 75 pounds.   :smt009

I know that camper shell was expensive, but if you really tire of the heave-ho, take it off, get a ladder rack.

I plan on sleeping in the back during the summers, who knows, maybe also in the winter months.
Another must for me was keeping people away from steeling my stuff when I am out in the water.
An open bed will force me to store all the smelly fishing stuff inside the truck which is exactly what I don't want to do.

for real long trips, like 6 months
to mexico, pull a trailer, :-).

I really don't like the idea of pulling a trailer in Mexico.  The trailer will hit more potholes than the truck because you can't steer the trailer, only the truck.

It just seems like you go fishing more than you go camping, so the shell is just not efficient. I know you used to have a
honda that was nice and low and you could get to the racks.

It was impossible to sleep in the honda.  The honda didn't have the clearence I wish it did.
Honda worked well for one person kayaking/camping but two people it was just too tight.

another idea would be some sort of trailer that is so small, you can chuck it in the back of your pickup for parking.

Well that cost money too.  I think the camper shell has more advantages than no campershell.  I just need to work on the loading and unloading part.   
--
<><


Jonah 1:17 "Now the LORD had prepared a great fish"


Peter Joseph Otto


jmairey

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no doubt you will figure something out!

there is that articulated thing that cpkayak has, mooch posted a
picture of it.


john m. airey


Tote

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I have the easy boat loader extenders on BOTH of my Yakima bars. One is enuf for loading a yak and WELL worth the $$ if you are loading by yourself. I put one on each bar because I would have to load 3 yaks where there was only room for 2..all by myself ( me and 2 shorter people ). I would put the 1st 2 on and tie them down, then extend both bars and place the third yak between them. This way I could get my body under the entire yak and using my arms and legs toss it high enough to get on top of the other 2, then tie it down.
The loaders are extremely convenient, tuck away nicely, and the lack of any protruding hardware won't scratch your vehicle, or more importantly YOU.
<=>


potto

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Interesting to have 2 extenders.  I might do that.

Tried loading the kayak a little different this time, and it worked excellent. :smt003
Trial and Error until we get it right.
--
<><


Jonah 1:17 "Now the LORD had prepared a great fish"


Peter Joseph Otto


piscolabis

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I use two Yakima extenders also, but you only need one.   Just having one is good enough and  worth the price if you only have SOTs. On windy days the price of the extender has saved me from truck paint damage and dropped kayak damage.   I inserted them in the longest bars Yakima makes (72" I believe).  These are mounted on my Toyota T-100 pu (this is the old Tundra).  You only need one extender if you carry your kayaks upside down (hull up) on the racks.  When carrying two or three kayaks just slide the first over across the bar (I stand on the taigate to slide it over or pulll it over by the front end tie-down line).  (You'll probably want two extenders if you have saddles and closed-deck sea kayaks.  I often carry one closed-deck sea kayak for my wife while I fish with a SOT.  In my situation it saves a lot of time and hassle having an exterder on each side of the truck.)
My biggest problem ("awkward" is the real descriptor) is lifting the upside down SOT kayaks (I load Ocean Kayak 15' Prowler and Cobra FnD) from the ground to over my head (the kayak wants to flip upright).   I place a partially folded (wadded) old bathmat, tarp, or old small carpet on the ground so that the ground -based kayak end point is "seated" in the folds of the mat when I lift.  This prevents the plastic kayak from sliding away and prevents abrasions on the plastic. Once on the extender, I lift the mat end up onto the other bar.  Then I just slide kayak across the bar into position. 
I'm 5'6" and an old spring chicken (rooster).  I only carry a step ladder when I haul two or three kayaks. I use the ladder to reach the tie-down straps over the center of the truck and run the straps through the scupper holes (othewise I'd been throwing the ends of the straps all day trying to hit them under the bars).   I NEVER use a step ladder when I'm lifting the kayaks onto the bars from the ground.  (I'd be on my ass in a second, break my hip, and die from pneumonia within a week  :smt010  leaving all the fish for you guys!)