need advice on RACKS for Toy. 4 Runner

Hey everyone,
I am a newbie to this site and also to the sport of kayak fishing.  I recently purchased a Tarpon 140 by Wilderness Sys. from a boat show.
I have Toyota 4 runner with a factory rack.  Is the factory rack sufficient for a 14' kayak ?  Or should I get the Horizontal bars on top of the factory rack ?  Since the rack on the 4 runner is more toward the back or the car, should I install a horizontal bar toward the front of the car to distribute the weight more evenly?  Do I need saddles ?  Roller ?  Yakima or Thule ?  Or should I just go with the Foam noodle on the factory rack ?  I don't want to spend a lot of $ but I want to make sure it's securely fastened.  Can anyone help me?

Eugene - Newark CA

I have the Yakima Racks with the 62" cross bars so I can carry 2 yaks on my '95 4Runner. They are great and are all you need. The Yak rides upside down on the bars, no need for pads or anything. You may want to get a load bar, see a few post in the kayak rigging section about them. It makes loading your ak solo a bit easier.

I think I paid around $350 for everything new from REI. If you have some time to wait, watch Craigslist as people sell racks on there frequently.

Here is pic of how a load mine with my best redneck pose. This is on the factory racks and it seemed stable enough. I got the Yakima so I could carry 2 yaks easily.

ive got 2 crossbars for free for the Yakima rack...Pm me if you want them

I carried my X-Factor on the factory rack of my s-10 blazer with pool noodles for a while.  It worked fine but the pool noodles don't hold up to the weather very well and anything protruding from the top of the yak tore them up.  I ended up getting the thule rack with the 58 inch bars and 8 thule saddles and now I can haul two wide yaks no prob.

Eugene,

Welcome to the group.  I bought a 160 in Oct and have gone out only a few times with the guys so I'm a newbie myself.  I'd be glad to share with you my experiences but I'm still learning as I'm going along. 

I waited for a rack to appear on craigslist for $50 and snatched it up.  It turned out to be a Thule system but I think the Yakima racks are just as good.  I didn't consider EBay for racks because of the shipping.

I drive a Tacoma pickup with a snugtop camper shell.  The racks sit on artificial gutter mounts that I attached to the sides of the shell.  The distance between the towers should be about the same as your horizontal bars so I don't think you should have any problems using your stock bars like Bill did. 

In case you'd rather transport your kayak right side up, have a new set of Thule kayak saddles.  However, they wouldn't fit on your bars.  I also have a set of big portable foam cushions that I used to transport my kayak home (Danville) from Sacramento.  Before I purchased my rack I bought my kayak from Adventure Sports.  To transport the kayak home I bought these foam pads with tie down straps from them.  Originally I was going to continue using the foam pads at home to store my kayak but I then built a kayak stand instead.

So if you're interested in checking out my set up or spare parts let me know.  I work in Emeryville and should get down to Tri-City (thanks for the tip ChuckE) before there's nothing left.

I'm in the process of installing fishing gear on my Tarpon at the moment while I'm waiting for my shoulder to heal (pinched nerve).  The project is about half way done so I may have pictures for Bill to post in a couple of weeks.  Nothing fancy, strictly functional and hopefully it'll help me catch something good enough to have my picture posted on this site.

Gary

Sandman how is old Danville? Grew up there went to Green Valley,Los Ceros and Monte Vista, Diablo Valley Collage.
Moved out about 20 years ago.
Was a small town its crazy how it's grown. I remember Tassaraja and Blackhawk had no houses only farms.

If you grew up in Danville you would be totally overwhelmed.  One time when I was walking my dog in Osage Park (El Capitan and Greenbrook) one of the guys who was raised there mentioned that he used to hunt pheasant and rabbits where the park is now.  It was just wild open fields, Oak Trees, Walnut Groves and lots of space.  Hard to envision now that its all paved over with the new Charlotte Wood Middle School, sports fields, houses as far as you can see, swimming pools, suburban stuff and more (unaffordable) houses being built.  You moved out about the time we moved in (when it was affordable) and yeah I remember the farms up on Camino Tassajara.  Good reason to get a kayak and get away from the mania.