Kayak + Aluminum Roof Rack

[norcalhusky]

I would really like to be able to use my truck to carry my kayaks with the camper on since I leave it on nearly full time.

Is anyone out there carrying their sea kayak ( 17ish foot or so ) on the stock aluminum roof rack? I've tried putting mine directly on there, attaching yakima hully rollers, etc and nothing seems to work very well.

Should I just pull the stock rack off and put Yakima tracks on top?

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

I carry our canoe on the ATC,factory rack.
I made some changes to the rack.Added some stops at the front non movable and some on the rear that slide in/out.
The canoe is carried upside down and held in place with ratchet straps.Works well,don't know if the same setup would work for the 17' sea kayak though. My canoe is 12'.
Frank

 

[Trailbob]

Not sure about a sea kayak, but I have carried a single canoe upside down on the factory FWC rack many times. I modified Yakima bar clips to fit around the square FWC aluminum bar, with the open part up. I put two up front and two in the back to keep the canoe from moving side to side when it is strapped down.

I have carried two sit-in kayaks on the FWC rack also; they are lake kayaks that are about 13 or 14' long (Old Town). I put foam kayak pads on the aluminum bars, then loaded the kayaks. I would think you could put the Yakima rollers on the FWC bars by modifying the clips; they may even make bar clips for square bars so you could attach Yakima accessories.

I had Yakima racks on a previous (1999) FWC Hawk, but didn't like them due to the extra weight when I was putting it up. Our 2010 Hawk has gas struts, so this may not be such an issue now.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

In seeing Trailbob's post about the Yakima bars got me to thinking.I believe the other after market rack co.,Tule uses a square bar.
You might try something from them with your kayak rollers.
Just a thought.
Frank

 

[norcalhusky]

Thanks guys. I've tried adapting stuff to the square aluminum bats but it seems to be just a bit smaller then what it's meant for so stuff doesn't seem very secure for the heavy kayaks. I might just have to go with Yakima tracks as I have most of the other parts and wouldn't be a bad idea to redo a lot of the roof attachments anyway. I've also considered some sort of trailer but then you lose the advantage of a single vehicle unit and mise well just be pulling a camper with the kayaks on the truck itself.

 

[fuzzymarindave]

I have also placed a kayak on the factory rack with foam blocks and ratchet straps. I even carried the same kayak inverted on the roof of my Jaguar sedan with foam blocks front and rear of the reinforced sunroof and thin straps through the door openings. I've carried some pretty heavy lumber on the factory FWC rack and it handles it well.