Carrying 2 kayaks on my car...

I bought the extra long Thule bars for my truck so that I could carry two kayaks and safely use the Hullavators without dinging the truck. Not sure about Yakima bars. Of course, if you're not using Hullavators, then you may not need bars of that length. I have a pair of the standard length bars if you're interested.

Howard

Hey Howard! You got a picture of your Hullavators setup? If universe line up just right for me I may pull the trigger on a truck soon and I've been thinking how I might set up the truck to haul the yak. Thanks in advance.

Frank

Howard,

I found a video on youtube so I now know how the Hullavator works. Pretty sweet. Thanks anyway.

Frank, sorry to be so late in replying. The Hullavator is just what is needed to keep me somewhat into kayaking. Lifting the kayak over my head was going to work for only some many tries. I'm definitely getting weaker with age. If you still want a pix of my setup, let me know. Or you're more than welcome to stop by my house to get a first-hand look.

Howard,
No need to apologize I searched youtube as soon as I posed the question about the picture. I know I didn't give you time to respond quickly. So no problem at all. I just realized you're in Fremont too. That's awesome! The Hullavator videos are sufficient and gave me the info I was looking for. Besides, I don't have the truck yet so I'm no big hurry to see the setup.

Since you're so close we should fish sometime. Too bad RF season is almost over. I might go out one more time before RF is over. I'll let you know and perhaps we can team up.

 

Thanks
Frank

andrew, i have 48" load bars and the best way to fit two kayaks on top is to buy one set of J racks.  I had a set of kayak stackers and I didn't trust them so I never used them.  look for them on craigslist or ebay and you can get them cheaper than buying them new in store.

When I carry two kayaks, I have one on the J racks, and the other laying flat upside down like normal.  Tight fit but it's pretty much perfect. 

Or you could do what Tsuri did on the 97 SAAB ...http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,14071.msg214921.html#msg214921  Thanks Tsuri!

I got some used stackers off Craigslist and tried them for the first time this weekend. 

Two kayaks on their sides strapped to regular Thule Bars (50"?) on a 93 Nissan Altima for hours of driving, no problems.  Easily room for a third kayak if I wanted. 

Stackers, J-Racks, carefully positioned saddles, I bet any of those would work fine for you.

Andrew I too have been wondering how to get two kayaks roof top.  To be honest I bought two very fancy folding J's from Yakima that fit on my factory rack.  So I did not have to buy a base system.  But, the crossbars of my factory rack that the J's mount on are less than confidence inspiring. 

In hindsight, the better, and less expensive way I am convinced would be to by the base system (thats towers and crossbars from Yakima or Thule), but make sure the cross bars are long enough to support two kayaks upside down.  Wrap the cross bars with a split pool noodle zip stripped on.  Then mount the kayaks on the cross bars upside down.  We routinely carry two kayaks on tigerfishes outfit this way.  Sit on tops upside down rest on the cross bars with the sharp bend contour of the cockpit which is very sturdy against the cross bars even at high summer temps.  You wont need saddles or J's.   The only drawback will be having 60 inch or more wide cross bars on the top of your Honda and since you kayak is upside down you cant really leave it rigged.  You can still use the Thule hulivator or the Yakima equivalent.  This is far less expensive. 

The last time I needed to take two yaks I put them in saddles on top of my Saturn (a very amusing sight) and drove 3 hours to the coast. I don't think I'll do that again. The yaks rode just fine, but the Saturn really struggled against the added wind resistance. I think Civics have stronger motors, so maybe it's not an issue.

Maybe if they were both loaded upside-down it would have made the difference, or if the distance was half that I wouldn't mind. But I just decided if I take more than one I'll use my truck.

Ben