Transporting on truck camper

I am trying to figure out a couple things regarding transporting kayaks on the roof of my camper shell.  My truck is pretty tall (~6.5 - 6.75' tall).  I am adding a rack system to the shell.  It seems like everyone adds rollers, or cradles that allow for transportation of the kayak in the upright position.  Shouldn't the kayak be transported upside down in order to rest on the strongest part of the kayak?   If so, do I need special cradles to avoid deforming the top of the kayak?  Also, I *think* I can manage to get the kayak up that high.  However, my wife won't be able to.  Any ideas on how she can load a kayak by herself? (Haven't bought hers yet...maybe the new revo 11 when it comes out)

Thx,
Joel (Apparently the other one  )

I had a lumber rack on my old truck and transported the kayak top side down with no issues.  If you go top side up, you need some kind of cradle or oil canning will occur.  If you can get the rear bar close to the back of the shell, just hoist up one end of the yak and place on the rack.  Then go to the back and push up the other half.  If height is an issue, you may need a step stool.

for my new honda pilot I invested way too much money on yakima stuff.  I miss the simplicity of the truck rack 

On my last rig I went the Yakima route and spent a small fortune on towers/bars/saddles, and in all honesty putting the yak upside down on a couple of pool noodles kept it just as secure. for about 1/100th of the price!

i covered the bars with 1inch pipe insulation and black duct tape, total cost was like 4 bucks, i have a really bad back so i use the yakima boat loader, makes loading solo pretty easy, cameron

http://yakima.com/shop/water/lift-assist/boatloader

ps. nrs has it on sale at the moment

I had a lumber rack on my old truck and transported the kayak top side down with no issues.  If you go top side up, you need some kind of cradle or oil canning will occur.  If you can get the rear bar close to the back of the shell, just hoist up one end of the yak and place on the rack.  Then go to the back and push up the other half.  If height is an issue, you may need a step stool.

for my new honda pilot I invested way too much money on yakima stuff.  I miss the simplicity of the truck rack 

I've got yakima bars and a hully roller/mako saddle combo. I load the boat just as E2G says. Longer bars can help (unless you bash your head on them daily, as I have done with the long bars) and adding stops to the ends may prevent the boat from sliding off.
I agree the prices on the rack stuff are insane.

I just went to rack n road for some yakima sideloaders for the camper..........$80 for 4 metal brackets 

I should just went to a wrecker and cut a couple sections of real raingutter off a car then bolted them to my camper.

Thx for the replies.  I forgot to mention that my wife will kill me if I spend any more this year on "kayak" stuff (such as expensive Yakima or Thule racks).  I picked up a used cargo roof rack system from a Jeep Cherokee that I plan to mount to my camper shell.  I like the bar extender thing and I may make my own version to see how that works.  I have seen the Hullivator before but the cost is way too much and it doesn't look like it is set up to transport kayaks upside down.  Maybe I should trade in my truck for a air-bagged truck that I can lower to the ground!

  Maybe I should trade in my truck for a air-bagged truck that I can lower to the ground!

Let's not go that extreme!    But I recently picked up one of the little Harbor Freight utility trailers and it has made things sooooooo much easier.  If you have room for it and don't mind being limited to 55ish mph on the freeway it's a nice way to travel.

i covered the bars with 1inch pipe insulation and black duct tape, total cost was like 4 bucks, i have a really bad back so i use the yakima boat loader, makes loading solo pretty easy, cameron

http://yakima.com/shop/water/lift-assist/boatloader

ps. nrs has it on sale at the moment

Ditto on all of the above. My truck has a lift kit so getting it on top was a bear. Now I use our CR-V more often than not, and still appreciate the boat loader. You don't need saddles, carrying it top-side-down is as secure as you'll ever need.

So I decided to go with some noodles and mount the kayak to my current rack with the addition of a home-made extender bar.  However, I sent my wife on a quest to get some noodles and no one is carrying them right now.  Anyone know where I can pick some up locally? (Around Sac)

So I decided to go with some noodles and mount the kayak to my current rack with the addition of a home-made extender bar.  However, I sent my wife on a quest to get some noodles and no one is carrying them right now.  Anyone know where I can pick some up locally? (Around Sac)

if you cant find them at toy stores, you can use the black pipe insulation sold at hardware stores.

You can use a steel pipe as a loader bar.   I bought a 5 foot piece for 2 bucks at a building recycling yard.   It works on the Yakima bars.

Anyone know where I can pick some up locally? (Around Sac)

Walmart in the pool section.  You also have Tognottis off  Fulton and El Camino.  I'd personally tired the Home Depot pipe insulation noodles and thought they were cheap so I went with the roll bar pads from Tognotties.  They should be by the car seat section far left/north end.  Zip ties to secure thoes noodles and make sure you have clearance  to make room for straps which will loop around the bar of the rack .   

While working in Novato, I spotted a case of noodles outside of the Dollar Tree.  I picked up 6.  Now I need to get back to mounting the rack on the shell.  I've been using a bed extender but I need the space in the bed.