Roof Top Tent vs. Bed Rack Tent

So my kayaks are just 10 footers but I have two sets Yakima JayLow's that clamp perfectly on the Prinsu excursion bars.



I originally used the JayLow's on my Yakima bed rack but the kayaks BARELY cleared the cab and I wanted to use the bed rack for a RTT anyway.



The JayLows are pretty spendy but I really like how easily they are removed when aren't in use.

 

Looks like I'm going to be picking up a set of those now... haha. Excellent. Thank you!

 

Absolutely. I feel like I should make clear one thing. I know I said they "fit perfectly" on the square Prinsu excursion bar (in my opinion they do) they're obviously designed to actually fit perfectly on Yakima's oval tube but they too clamp onto the square bars very securely. I had my kayaks on them for a 600 mile trip though the Olympic Peninsula this past summer with zero issues.

Also, Yakima claims you can use a single pair of JayLows for two kayaks but I couldn't get them both secure enough to feel comfortable on a long trip. Hence me buying a second set. You may have better luck than I did with two kayaks.

Also, also, another tip I got from another member here is using an under the hood bolt and tie down straps to provide a front tie down location instead of having to use a point down the front of the hood and bumper. I know that's probably confusing but I'll take a pic later today to show what I mean. Haha

 

I think I understand what you mean. I have some Yakima hood straps that we used for when we tied them down to my girl's SUV and a set of Thule J-style racks attachments for her rack (but I'm not sure what model) so I'm going to check out which ones they are when I get home and see if they might work. I'm fairly certain hers are going to be too thick though just from memory but I know what you mean by the oval tube set-up.

Did your set cause any issues with denting/dinging up the Prinsu rails with the oval-to-square set up? Just trying to think ahead for switching set-ups around in the future from camping trips to springs and thus, needing to switch out the accessories to accommodate; so I don't want to dent or clamp down hard enough to cause problems sliding in a different accessory (maxtrax/Roam containers/etc).

 

No denting or dinging at all. Those excursion bars are very tough. The clamps are plenty strong enough but not so strong they would damage the bars. If anything, the JayLow would fail first.

 

Excellent! Good to know. Thank you