How to transport Kayaks

Mine weights like 60-70 pounds. Loading it up by picking it over my head and sliding it up there works every time no scratches.

 

Maui. My daughter lives there. Ready for some fun sailing, snorkeling, etc.

 

I deal mostly with sea kayaks, heavier poly boats can get over 80 lbs pretty easily and at the other end of the spectrum you can get a 15' carbon/kevlar boat that weighs less than 35 lbs. My 17'6" wood boat comes in at 54 lbs and my kid's 10' weighs a mere 16 lbs. The weight is easy enough to handle when loading my boat but the length is a real pain in the butt and I've left a couple of red marks on my canopy already this year. Kid's outgrowing his current boat so I'm just going to build a pair of new, shorter boats for each of us over the coming winter.

 

Mine are a little less than 40 pounds. Lifting isn't too big a deal but if I switch to a bed rack, I'll get some mounts with rollers.

 

That's what I have, works great!

 

A little late to the party... here's what we did and are still on vacay in the Canadian wilderness.

Bought one of those hitch extenders that actually has a feature to raise and lower the t-bar. I added a 10" hitch extender so I can open the tail gate ... this one is not like the rest of them shown here. It's sorter out the back. Why I had to add the hitch extender. I've got over the bed racks that attach to the bed rails and are easily removable. I'd prefer to have both Kayaks laying flat but I need a longer cross bar .. in the works. I was doing 85mph no problem with this setup.

 

Bed extenders are awesome!!

 

That's what I have as well

 

Got my Thule Fit kit in for my 2016 today. They finally came out! Just in time for my camping trip this weekend.

 

I went to Hawai'i and Kaua'i earlier in the summer, and as soon as we start driving around I see all these Tacomas all over the place, was like, "My People!" ... not a lot of Tacomas around Detroit where I live

 

Awesome hope you enjoyed yourself. I am on Oahu but been to those islands quite a bit they are nice.

 

My kayak weighs 175#s loaded. It's a heavy beast. Native Slayer 13 propel. I take it 5 miles offshore.

 

I have a DCLB and bought a bed extender to help carry my tandem (almost 12'). Got it for $50 shipped on eBay.Probably the easiest way to load/unload my boat. I thought about using the roof rack, but it's more of a hassle, I've tried that with one of my solo boats.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/191931418125?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

I don't have a pic, but I hual my 13'4" ocean kayak in the bed all the time without a extender. I have a bed rack I built but it's not always in the bed. The trick is to run a strap across the front of the bed before you load it. Then put the kayak in under the strap. That will hold it in place while you add more straps

 

Hookers n blow. I wanna fish with you

How well does that boat stay on your roof racks with straps only around 64" apart on a 17 footer? Im about to drive 3 hrs with a 16ft canoe strapped to the roof the same as yours.
Im debating adding a couple thule fit kits to the factory holes under the rain gutter on the cab for xtra support

 

Crossbars are a bit closer together than that (~40") and it's pretty rock solid. I can see the bow through the sunroof and it's not moving at all. I also use a stern line to the hitch on the big boat even though it's likely not going anywhere without due to the fact that the straps would catch on the cockpit were it to start to slide. That said, I would highly recommend a stern line on a canoe since they can slide through straps much easier than a kayak can, bar spread wouldn't be a big concern for me though. For years I used to pack a 14'6" canoe on my wife's Civic w/ 24" bar spacing, never had a problem.

 

Not trying to thread jack, but I had the same question, and don't want to start another unnecessary thread.

So I'm going to Wyoming, in a couple days and we are bringing a friend's kayak. Because of different things, he can't bring his 4Runner with roof rails, so I'm trying to figure out the best solution. It's going to be about 400mi each way so not the shortest trip, obviously since I don't own it, and am not planning to buy my own, I don't want to spend the money on a rack or a bed extender I won't use again.

So of these two bad options which is better?Tied down with ratchet straps and tailgate down or tied down tailgate up at an angle?

 

What model?

 

Its the Thule 480 Foot Kit, Square Bar, 2016 Fit Kit #1827, and the folding Kayak racks. Just got back from camping using the new fit kit and its solid as a rock. In that photo I was still using the fit kit from my 2012.