Custom kayak rack?

I just bought a kayak today and had to borrow my mom's car to pick it up. I don't currently have a roof rack or anything on my truck so I was thinking of building something. I'm looking for input. My current idea is to make these: http://www.jpmetalfab.com/products.html for the corners of my truck, and then I can leave those in 100% of the time, but when needed I could attach something. Each of the corner pieces would have a straight up piece that go up beyond the roof and then a flat piece connecting them. And then I was going to make something like for the trailer hitch. It would go straight up and then have a flat piece on top. I'm not the best at explaining my ideas, but essentially it would be two horizontal pieces above the roof, one coming from the front of the bed and one coming from the trailer hitch. This would work really well except when I want to go out camping with my kayak and take my tent trailer. I'd like to have the kayak(s) on top of the truck rather than my trailer so I can still put bicycles on the tent trailer. Any good ideas?

 

Subd

 

How about this. Looking to do this myself.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/334928-diy-roof-rack-kayaks.html

Or this:

$330 Darby Industries 944 Extend-A-Truck

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00008BKX5...TF8&colid=1QDN6WJ7XHXHS&coliid=I3W0DZBQDKBGNJ
Need something for front of bed/rear of cab to rest kayak on. Swim noodle or pipe insulation?

 

Pvc. Under $30.

 

I don't really want one out of wood or PVC, I'm thinking of making one similar to the wooden one, but with metal. I'm still thinking over lots of options. I'm also thinking of just getting a roof rack and attaching it to that. I have the double cab so the roof is longer, so a roof rack might give me enough space to tie a few kayaks to.

 

Just get a TracRac

 

What is the length and weight of the kayak?

I have a lot of both Thule and Yakima gear and have used them on the Tacoma, LX450, Subaru Outback wagon, Ford F350, Jeep Cherokee and E30 BWM. Mounting 14 plus foot kayaks, bikes, boxes and baskets.

I have been using a Thule 480r setup on the Tacoma with various cradles. I have used the Thule J-Racks (easy to put kayak on. Secure but a higher profile than the alternatives), Yakima Hully Rollers at rear with Thule cradles at the front (Secure and lower profile).
I run two 14.5 ft Perceptions at 75 lbs. each on my DCSB with no need for bow or stern tie downs. This includes 800 mile trips with speeds exceeding 80 mph.
I think that by the time you bought and fabricated the parts for your plan (not a bed plan at all) you would spend almost as much as if you bought a Thule or Yakima setup and you would not be using the bed at all.

TracRacs are great and allow high capacity but are quite costly and might not be you best option.

First picture is Thule 480r kit with Thule J-Racks. A single kayak setup should be less then 400.00 if you shop on Craigslist and ebay.

Edit...new looks like 444 from ORS Racks plus cradles at 150. More than I thought. I had already had the cross bars and J-Racks.
Sportrack is less expensive and may save you some $, but at this rate, you plan may be the most cost effective, and Oz-T's idea does not sound so bad after all.
The one thing I can say about the Thule and Yakima racks is the flexibility to carry other equipment. And you can add equipment, as needed, over time.
My current set up is a custom expo rack (Demello's one off TacoDoc rack with modification). Pic at bottom. Yep...it's tall but worked great on a trip to Flathead Lake and Glacier National Park last week!

 

I carried a 15.5 foot tandem on one of my roof racks for awhile. Worked great. Unfortunately we sold the boat and I never got any pics of it on the rack.

 

Thanks for the info Pyrite Mica, I actually have the same kayak. 14.5 foot Perception Carolina, I haven't yet taken it out, but I'm stoked to do it. I just bought the stock roof rack, so I'm going to install that when it comes, and I'm thinking of making a removable rack that locks into the bed rails (rather than hitch, that way I can tow a trailer and take kayaks).

 

I have two sets of these. for 22 bucks you cant go wrong. They work great

$60 TMS J-Bar Rack HD Kayak Carrier Canoe Boat Surf Ski Roof Top Mounted on Car SUV Crossbar

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003V57NUQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Picture from last weekend. Two 10' kayaks

 

Did you like the Yakima bars? Considering this for carrying 2 kayaks with j hooks.

 

I actually prefer the Thule bars as there is no way the racks will slip/rotate. The Yakima components are adjustable to fit the Thule bars. In most cases this is accomplished by removing a tab.
Most of my gear is Thule. I picked up the Hully Rollers at a shop that was going out of business (new in boxes and half price!).
The current set up is home brewed (in a short amount of time) with Yakima components and bars mounted to Ballistic Fabrications OD Tube Clamps. As this is not an out of the box set up, the few issues I had are due to the home brewed nature and not due to any fault of Yakima.
The new saddles up front leave some to be desired. They are the Yakima EvenKeel Kayak Saddles. They slip around and to the sides of the Yakima bars. These should work fine on the Thule bars though.
I think that some rubber sheeting within the clamping mechanism may resolve the issue.
That or strap the kayak around the EvenKeels and then use a separate strap to bind to the rack. Having the EvenKeels strapped to the kayak may prevent spreading but I have yet to test this.

The J-Rack set up is great. Solid, fast and easy to secure.

 

Wow! That looks like a heck of a deal! Do they seem of sturdy construction?

 

Thanks! Had Yakima's on my last car but limited usage since I sold it fairly quickly afterwards. But hauling 2 kayaks is going to be a problem in the future with a 5 ft bed!

 

They work great. Simple design. Hold my 45 pound kayaks no problem.

 

I use an 'extend-a-truck' bed rack for my kayak. I found a fairly inexpensive one at Harbor Freight -

Below is a picture of it on my truck w/ my kayak in it. I have a 6ft. bed. The boat is a 14ft. wilderness systems kayak. I took a trip out to the Finger Lakes in NY last weekend w/ a friend and we had two kayaks, both 14ft attached to this thing. I had no issues at all w/ the rack. I highly recommend it. I'm short (5'2") so being able to get the boats in and out of the bed as opposed to trying to lift it onto the roof is easier for me.

 

This is from my old truck and i will be building something like this for my taco... what i learned (the hard way) is not to use screws or bolts or as few as possible. I once made a rack that had screws and bolts, which split the wood and broke screws when i hit a rough road. The one pictured here is simply 3 2x10's that are notched out to fit together and held in place securely when the canoe is strapped to it. No bolts or screws, takes up no space when not being used, super simple to put in place, IMO the only way it could be better is if it was metal but i dont have a welder. Its also sad that my new taco has no stake pockets, so ill probly have to bolt my new one to the track system.

Just remember to keep it simple. Some peoples builds on here are way overcomplicated

 

Just posted this in the "post pics of your kayak mounted on your tacoma" thread so I might as well include it here:



you mentioned you bought the OEM rack which is what I have, with some foam blocks for it to sit on. My kayak is 17 feet and fairly heavy but I've carried it on the roof rack only (though I wouldn't take it on the freeway that way). The support in the bed is made out of 2x4s. It's a bit complicated since I made it so I could use it to mount the kayak unassisted (like I said, it's heavy). THere are more pics on my profile that show how it works, but if you can lift it on the roof by yourself it's probably not necessary. You could probably do something similar w/PVC pipes. just a simple support sitting in the bed for added stability

 

You want to mount your kayaks in a form fitted mount for the bottom of your kayaks. The sun and heat will warp them if they are on top for a long time. Just driving down the road they will be ok with out the form fitted mounts. Also tying down the front and back too tight can also warp them.