12ft Kayak on Cab or Shell

Alright guys I just got a 12ft fishing kayak & am trying to figure out the best way to haul it on the roof of the truck. I have a 2010 DCSB with a Leer shell.

Any thoughts on putting my rack system on the cab vs. the shell ? I imagine it would be easier to load onto the shell, but if it were mounted on the cab there would be no overhang.

Ive tried searching forums on here but havent found anyone compairing the two methods.

Thanks.

 

I'm assuming you don't have the factory rack on the cab of the truck yet. I have the both the rack on the cab and on a cap. I've found that it's much easier to load a boat on the cap. I would opt for the Yakima tracks with towers and bars. This way you can adjust where you want the bars along the cap. I've never had a problem with overhang. Here's a link to the tracks.

http://www.orsracksdirect.com/yakima-truck-rack-tracks-60inch.html

Shop around and compare prices. Memorial Day is coming up and a lot of vendors put the Yakima stuff on sale. Also watch for free shipping.

 

I put my 15' canoe on this rack with no issues. It overhangs some in the back...just be carfeul backing up near solid walls and you'll be fine.

 

I carried a canoe on my full size when I had it. I had a cross bar over the cab and I had a rack like above on my shell. The canoe was on the front (cab) and back (shell) bars. I would load other items on the remaining space over the shell bars. I had very little overhang on either end and it was balanced nicely. Worked really well for me.

 

I went with a bar on the cab and a bar on the cap, but I've got an extra 8' or so of length on you



At 12' you'd probably be fine just on the shell, just space the bars as far apart as you can. You might run into problems if you also run bikes on the roof rack and the racks are all the way apart.

 

Transport your kayak on the shell. It's easy to load the yak from the rear of the truck and just slide it up and on whatever rack system you choose. The overhang is no big deal. I was doing this for years with a dakota and shell with a 12.5' footer. Now it's with the tacoma. I too thought about using an oem roof rack but A. It's tougher to load, and B. It's no where near as rugged a system. You already bought the expensive part, the shell, finish it up with a rack system and you're done.

 

I have the thule rack system on my leer cap and haul my 15ft canoe no problem. If you take your truck to a cap place they could install a rail system so you can adjust it however you want if you have the right bars. I was quoted like $75 just to install the rails on a existing cap.

 

12 foot kayak on leer shell.

No issues.

 

Yakima racks on cap and I tie down front on OEM rack, rear to hitch

 

Run the rack on the cap. When I had my taco, I put the rack on my leer cap. Bought the tracks off of Amazon for $120. Installed them myself in a couple hours. I also did the same thing for the leer cap on my tundra.

My 12' and wife's 10' on the taco. Thule saddles.


Same rack on the tundra, just new and slightly longer tracks

 

Here's a 14' on the topper and cab roof rack.



12' and 14' together

 

Seems like there should be a cheaper solution. All of those components to make the complete rack are so expensive.

 

Cheaper, probably.

Something I'd trust at highway speeds for a few hundred miles, probably not so much.

 

I came from using a ladder rack that I trusted. To now having a shell and needing a way to carry my kayaks along with a bed full of camping gear. I am new to roof racks. It seems I need a rack track either from a comparable length car roof or a yamika/Thule track, towers that lock into the tracks and bars? That is everything that is needed? All seem to be $120 plus per component.

 

I got this, less than $300 shipped shipped.

http://www.realtruck.com/prorac-work-utility-roof-racks/

 

Thanks a lot. I will keep that one in mind. I like the idea of just buying one complete kit instead of separate pieces and having to figure out if they are compatible.

Oh and sorry op for jacking your thread to find the answers I need. I hope it's all helpful for you aswell.

 

It's a great kit. I had to cut a little off the tracks due to the curvature of my topper and being a short bed. But it has everything in it, including a tube of silicone.

 

Looks clean in your pictures. Can you easily remove the towers? I would want to take the off when riding trails for the unlikely event they get snagged on an overhanging branch and rips them off. Or is that me bring overly worried.

 

The kayak towers or the topper rack towers?

 

ARE z series with thule bars on a rail system. one 14' kayak

FOUR 14' and a 17' using J racks on the thule cross bars.

One canoe and one 14' kayak