Racks

I am looking at kayaks and have a general questions about racks. I have a 2005 Toyota Tacome, Dual Cab. Any suggestions on how to haul a kayak is appreciated. Do you recommend a roof rack ? If so, what, if any effect does salt water have of the paint on car/truck ? I assume that kayaks are wet and full of salt water when transporting.

some variation on a lumber rack would do.

http://www.rackwarehouse.com/tr.html

There have been kayaks, campers, surfboards etc on my truck for 10 years and while it does not look new, I don't see anything that can be attributed to ocean toys in particular.

Yah, you'll get water and sand on your truck, but if you rinse it off when you  get home it shouldn't be a problem.

As for racks there are lots of choices. Yakama and Thule have a good selection. Stay away from the thule roller rack, it's a waste of money.
Besides, most of the cradle types let you yak slide fairly easily.

There is also a rear rack that slides into a trailer receiver and is level with your cab if you want something longer. Myself, I always preferred to have canopies  and put racks on the canopy. Then you lock your gear in the canopy. It also improves your mileage 3 to5 mpg.

Until just recently we had a Dodge Dakota Quad cab that was our kayak hauler.  We had Yakima racks on the cab and it worked just great....except that it was REALLY high (4WD)

I believe Jim had mentioned that he bought this form a guy who bought it at Sports Rack.

You gotta love a nice rack!    

There is also a rear rack that slides into a trailer receiver and is level with your cab if you want something longer. Myself, I always preferred to have canopies  and put racks on the canopy. Then you lock your gear in the canopy. It also improves your mileage 3 to5 mpg.

I have the 3ft bed extender from Harbor Freight and Tools and I personally didn't like it, because I had to have the tail gate down.  Since the tail gate was down I then had to find places to store all my stuff when I traveled.

Currently I just bought a Leer with a Yakima Rack for my Nisan Titan.  Cost $1650.  I do plan on sleeping inside the camper shell.

Better gas mileage?  I don't know.  Adding a camper shell will improve aerodynamics but there is added weight.  Also, by putting the Yakima Rack on top will decrease aerodynamics.  

Reminder to self:  Log mileage and see if there is a difference.

If you decide to get saddles think carefully about the shape of the saddle and the shape of your kayak hull.  I got saddles because It allowed my to put two kayaks side by side on my rack with the kayaks overhanging a little on the sides.  I have been very happy with my thule top deck saddles at 79 dollars per four.  They fit my kayak hulls very well.

Dont buy the yakima Hullraiser rack sets. It puts too much pressure on the roof of your ride with the wind resistance from the kayaks.

By the way I have two pair VERY CHEAP!!!!

Dont buy the yakima Hullraiser rack sets. It puts too much pressure on the roof of your ride with the wind resistance from the kayaks.

By the way I have two pair VERY CHEAP!!!!

 I was thinking about getting the thule hull-a-port racks but I decided that it would make the kayaks giant sails in a crosswind.  I also figured it would be harder to load them into a rack like that

Mr. Matt wrote:

Don't buy the yakima Hullraiser rack sets. It puts too much pressure on the roof of your ride with the wind resistance from the kayaks.

By the way I have two pair VERY CHEAP!!!!

How much ya want for them?
I am making a kayak trailer and those or the Thule "J" style cradles are what I was looking at using. I need enough to handle 4 yaks, but 2 is a good start.
I am still wondering how it put more pressure on your roof as opposed to regular saddles? Seems to me that even tho the yak stands taller, it is still narrower. Is it the cross wind that makes the difference?

Tote,

I had hulley rollers in back, Mako saddles up front on yakima bars.  I found that this didnt work very well.  The kayak didn't set very well in them and one time, a passing car yelled over that I was about to lose my yak.  That was enough for me.

I switched to just using the bar with a pool noodle and putting the yak upside down.  When I synch the straps, the kayak really bites down into the pool noodle and its ROCK solid.  WAY WAY more secure than the rollers/saddle.  Fred does the same thing on his truck, but he forgoes the noodles and he's confident that he won't lose a yak.

Stuart

Tote,

I had hulley rollers in back, Mako saddles up front on yakima bars.  I found that this didnt work very well.  The kayak didn't set very well in them and one time, a passing car yelled over that I was about to lose my yak.  That was enough for me.

I switched to just using the bar with a pool noodle and putting the yak upside down.  When I synch the straps, the kayak really bites down into the pool noodle and its ROCK solid.  WAY WAY more secure than the rollers/saddle.  Fred does the same thing on his truck, but he forgoes the noodles and he's confident that he won't lose a yak.

Stuart

I was using the pool noodles on the bars for a while but the pool noodles fell apart fast.  They also ripped on anything protruding from the top of my kayak.

You could get surf board pads. They are basically pool noodles with a cordura bag around them. I imagine they would hold up a lot better than just pool noodles on their own. I know when I strap my boards down they get rock solid. The car moves before they do.

For many trips I used my surfboard racks for the kayak.  Then I discovered the kayak did fine without them.  I just turn over the kayak and strap it down.

However, once my new "fish stalker" truck conversion is complete, I'll go back to the surf racks.  I'll be able to take my board and my kayak together to the beach.  Too much surf for kayaking?  Just get out the board.  Too light to surf?  Kayak time!