Tips to load kayak on roof J-Racks

Hey everyone
I'm thinking about J-Racks for my Ford Explorer.  My concern is it will be difficult to load/unload.  Thoughts?

I prefer towers and crossbars with foam on the crossbars.

Flip the yak upside down, tie down directly to the bars.

No foam, upside down, on bars.  My buddy had J racks and had bad experience, he and I load same way.

What kind of kayak and what year Explorer?  I would imagine that it's a pretty good stretch to get them up that high unless you're tall, strong, and have a light kayak. 

2015 Explorer, Hobie Outback, and OK Prowler 13.  The Hobie is definitely heavy, and I am vertically challenged

I have a truck bed extender w/ T bar that connects to the hitch.  It works ok.  Issue I seem to have is that it slides a bit inside into the back when stopping sometimes.  No real problem with the back door of the truck.  I bungie it down to the hitch, and it stays put.

If someone else does something similar, a picture of how it's done would be a big help.

Thanks

I'm confused..why do you have a truck bed extender on a SUV?

if you want to carry two yaks, a Hobie outback and a prowler 13, you would need bars that are a minimum of 28+33=61" wide to have them ride upside down on your bars.  Otherwise, you could do one or two J racks to make it fit.  I'd store the outback flat on the bars, upside down, and the T13 can ride on the J racks when you need them.  J racks save space but are definitely not easier to load than just being on a standard type roof rack or a Thule set up. 

The best way to load a J rack solo in my experience is to lift the kayak up and over your head, get one side of the yak into the J racks, then back up/out a little (away from the vehicle) while holding the kayak, and literally push/throw the other side up as hard as you can to make it go up into the recess of the j racks.  The kayak will pivot up into the rack and then you can adjust it.

you may want to look into malone autoloaders, a thule hullavator (this is how I load my Slayer Propel 13 on a Ford Excursion), or some sort of extension bar on a thule/yakima rack so you only have to lift one end of the kayak at a time.

Btw the thing I hate most about J racks is that since the kayak rides on its side, when you get hit by a hard crosswind (like going over Pacheco Pass), it acts like a sail and can really push you side to side.  Borderline dangerous for a top heavy vehicle.

I'm using generic ebay j cradles now.  Like this, only strapped in when driving.  It's an old toyota previa, likely a little taller than the explorer. 



When I'm out and about solo, I get up to the side of the vehicle and more or less dead-lift the yak, then throw it on the cradles.  Both simultaneously.  I tried one at a time, but it was scratching the van pretty badly, and it was easy for the boats to get away from me.  With the blue boat (55#), it sucks, but is doable, the yellow one (45#) isn't bad.  If there's wind, it gets difficult in a hurry.

It helps launching / loading at a place like ARW where there's a fairly tall dock I can pull next to.  I also have a harbor freight single-step stool which helps.

If I have help loading, I get someone to put the nose of the yak into the rear cradle, and I lift the stern and push the boat to the front of the van and into the front cradle. I've got older semi-beat up plastic boats, and it's yet to scratch them; I would be very reluctant to do this with fiberglass yaks. 

FWIW, The j-cradles are beginning to rust, and I'm thinking of just going yaks top-down directly on the bars like the others here are suggesting.

I use this by myself to get the bow up.  I rest it on the slide out extender just behind the front hatch cover.  ( Hobe Adventure, and Revo ).  Next I use a small step ladder if necessary and raise the stern up to the crossbar.  Note this is on a camper shell on an F150 Lariat 4x4, and I'm 66yrs. young.

https://www.etrailer.com/static/images/pics/Y/0/Y04018_500.jpg

Just be really careful lifting kayaks overhead by yourself.  I'm not a small guy or out of shape, and I have been very conscientious about lifting right and not bending at the lower back.  I  still wish I had never done it; and I don't plan to do it anymore. It's not just the weight.  They are unwieldy.  An FF battery or some other gear can throw off the balance and you have a lot of back bending all of a sudden   It is an unnecessary risk for disc problems, which paddling, driving, and duck diving all worsen.  I am taking a month or two off right now cuz it looks like these things are catching up to my L-spine, which I had never had problems with . . .  .  I have a Hullavator, and have also looked at the outrigger for a more simple fix.  In addition, get help or drag it . . . .

Just be really careful lifting kayaks overhead by yourself. 

Seriously.  I'm not an intelligent person.  They're definitely not designed for single-person lifting.

I guess you guys don't understand.  You are only lifting half the weight in the bow then the other half in the stern.  It is not a Super Hero feat by any means.

Someone dropped their hobie on nicks car trying to unload it by himself from the j racks so my advice is park away from other cars haha

Someone dropped their hobie on nicks car trying to unload it by himself from the j racks so my advice is park away from other cars haha

I love this.

I guess you guys don't understand.  You are only lifting half the weight in the bow then the other half in the stern.  It is not a Super Hero feat by any means.

It is for me at the moment as my weight has dropped below 120. I don't use J racks I use the Malone wings. They work great I had one outback on drivers side and one prowler15 on passenger side. then my old perception swing on top of those for the Albion event. The Wings worked well. There was about 4 inch space between the bottom two yaks. And I could have widened the wings out a little more and had a larger Gap.