Kayak on Factory Racks?

[Leyritz]

I'm buying a kayak and wanted to see what you guys though about loading it on the factory racks. I've got no cash to sink into a Thule or Yakima system. On the racks I currently have a Rac Roll system that I use for my surfboards. They are just pads that wrap around the factory bars with straps that then extend over the boards to hold them down to both the pads and the factory racks. I've had three surfboards stacked on there at about 70mph, and they weigh more combined than the kayak does, but they don't overhang in the front as much. My concern is that the wind will get up underneath the front of the kayak on the highway and tear the factory racks out of the rails. I was planning on using a bow line, but I'm still not sure how confident I am. Any advice as to what the racks can take?

 

[GR899V8]

I'd try it with the bow line with a little slack in it. Then, when you gain speed you can see how much "lift" the kayak is getting. If it's lifting alot, tie the baby down.

I saw a kayak on the back of a black Cadillac the other day, what a tongue-twister... Ya think the driver's name was Jack??

 

[5.0Dad]

How much longer are you talkin? Is it white water or touring? Your factory rack is only rated for 200lbs of weight down onto the rack, not uplift, and that includes any attachments you may use to support the kayak. If you get a Yakima catalog, it has recommended cross bar spreads and configurations; generally the wider the better and centered over the rack - not the roof. Also the shop fit list gives the load limits of all the factory racks.

 

[Fish Man]

aint no thang, we put our 17 ft old town tripper (canoe) on the factory roof rack...but use front and back tie downs as well. itll hold it

 

[dogfriend]

I broke one of mine

I was using Yakama adapters to mount bike racks on the factory crossbars. Everything seemed ok at first, but on the way back thru windy Vallejo, I heard some loud thumping on the roof. When I stopped to look, I found that the plastic connection between the crossbar and the rail had broken off at the crossbar.

Luckily we didn't lose anything and I put the bikes inside the trailer for the rest of the trip. I inve$ted in the Yakama crossbars before the next trip.

I would keep an eye on the part of the factory rack where it meets the crossbar. This seems to be the weak link on the 97 version.

 

[DonM]

I had a Cobra Explorer Yak, which was like 12 feet for some thing and weight like 40lbs! I used the factory rack and never had one problem. Well, one little problem. It was hard for me to put the Yak on top of my X, for the simple fact the racks are so high!

I did however manage to load and unload my Yak by myself with out to much stress. Other then that it worked very well.


DOn

 

[Texan01]

the 91-96 racks are rated for 100 pounds. The later ones are beefier than the early models.

I don't think it'll be a problem as long as it's secured.