Any tips on which rack mount for kayak I should buy?

I have a 2011 Fusion as my daily driver, before I saw the above photo I didn't think it was *possible* to carry even *one* kayak on the roof, much less two Outbacks.  Holy moly!

Dumb question time:  Is the entire rack from Yakima?  How does it attach, a Fusion lacks roof rails, etc.?  Does it harm the roof?  Is it through bolted?  On a windy day do you feel it?

I just put a trailer hitch on my Fusion but I have not hacked into the electrical system yet for the lights.

Joe

Ha !.. another Joe with a Fusion 
 
Yes it a Yakima system.. ADVsport Kayak looked in the book and said these are the mounts and here's the pipe.  9" from front edge edge of roof @ the windsheild to the front of the Front tower... 30" between the bars for the rear tower. 
 It mounts under the roof edge at the door and sucks the tower down tight.  On and Off in 5 mins.
Silicone pads are sticky and it stays put. no harm to the roof... if you mount it to a clean roof. 

maybe this pic you can see the towers and how they attach.





 Yes you do feel them on good cross winds or passing trucks. I dont worry about to much... years of riding motorsyckles in the wind.

 I was looking to put a trailer hitch.. didnt think they made one. Ford doesnt put out any info on towing with a Fusion and I couldnt find a weight to tow limit.
 

There is nothing for me to tie the strap. Oh boy!

 There is always a hole or 2 in the 'frame' to slip a j'hook into.  I've got one on each side of the rear. and one hole center in the core support.
 You could always tek-screw a hook or strap to the 'frame' rail somewhere.

Wow!! I wouldn't want to go thru something like that. I looked under my car on both front and back ends. There is nothing for me to tie the strap. Oh boy!

You could always buy the Thule straps that you could attach to a bolt under the hood. When you need to use them open the hood and slide them out, when not in use put them back and close the hood. Here is a link that shows what I am talking about.

http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11228216

Great, Thule straps will work perfect for my car. I just installed pipe insulation on the rack. It was less than 5 dollars!! 

Hidden Hitch makes a receiver hitch for the Ford Fusion and you can find it on www.etrailer.com.  It took me all of about 15 minutes to install, and when it's done all you can see is the receiver under the bumper, everything else is, well, hidden.

Ford officially does not recommend towing with a Fusion, and in fact I put the receiver on to carry bikes.  That said, a bare bones kayak frame trailer with a couple of 'yaks can't possibly weigh more than 400 pounds so I figure it's probably OK.

Joe

i have the wide stock crossbars on my pathfinder.  it's hard to find noodles large enough for them (still searching).  i've loaded it twice without padding and they left black marks on the deck of the outback. 

Same with me. Got some black marks on my yak so I rolled the pipes w/ towels. That's for my truck. For my VW, it is all good now.

Why not you insert two on a crossbar? Maybe a black tape to seal both together?

Same with me. Got some black marks on my yak so I rolled the pipes w/ towels. That's for my truck. For my VW, it is all good now.

Why not you insert two on a crossbar? Maybe a black tape to seal both together?

I've thought about putting two.  My bars are pretty flat, and the noodles really want to stay round, a bit cumbersome to ply them to the bars every outting.  Might just suck it up and buy the mako saddle/hully roller setup.

Just zip tie the pool noodles or pipe insulation to the bars.

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We'd love to sell kayak saddles, J-cradles, stackers, etc., but we'd much rather set someone up right. 

If you are just carrying one boat and it's a sit-on-top, carrying it upside down on a padded bar is the cheapest and most effective setup.  It protects the hull from deforming, it's more aerodynamic since it hugs the roof line, and it's very stable. 

To save money, you can use the the factory racks like those found on SUVs, just make sure they are rated appropriately and are solid racks.  Many factory racks are pretty weak, but some are quite solid.  An aftermarket crossbar setup is always a nice upgrade. 

If you are carrying more than one boat and and you don't have super long crossbars then you'll have to either carry them on their side in a J-cradle, use a stacker (vertical bar perpendicular to the crossbar), or put one kayak on top of the other.  In this case it's best to have an aftermarket crossbar rather than using a factory rack.

For trucks, there are different rigging scenarios depending if you have a shell, a lumber rack, a hitch, and/or a roof rack.

The reality is that every setup is very unique and depends on the boats you are carrying, the vehicle you have, and whether you have a rack or not.

When someone buys a kayak from us, we never ring them up for the rack/rack accessories until we have finished strapping it on their vehicle because sometimes the particular combination of things call for a change in rack and rigging plans.  The worst thing is when someone comes to pick up their new kayak with a rack they got from a place that does not sell or know about kayaks.  Oftentimes they have purchased the wrong items or spent money on unnecessary things.

If anyone wants to chat about racks just give us a call.  Remember we offer a 10% NCKA discount and we will even install the racks for free.

I covered my rack bars with pipe insulation from Home Depot. Then I wrapped the insulation with 10ml or 20ml I forget which, very thick, black tape which is normally used for wrapping galvanized iron gas pipe that is buried under ground. The tape does a great job of protecting the foam insulation and it's lasted for a couple years now already. jim