tacoma + kayak

J hooks on my old tundra. Have not put them on my taco yet. Do not get the 10 footer, go for at least a 12. It will track so much better.

 

Two 15' Scupper Pros side by side. Yea, they are narrow, but fast for a SOT. Room in bed for some gear.

If I wanted to carry bikes at the same time for some reason I'd get a Mobtown hidden front receiver hitch and use my bike rack up there.

No, its not ideal for extended camping, but it's easy for local fishing/touring.

 

Ive seen that pic somewhere before

If you notice the silver uprights on my bed those are for the Thule xsporter, they have adjustable heights.

@tomwil where were you headed?

 

Sorry, was not me. I'm not nearly as adventurous or daring!

 

Nice set up! How did you attach the posts to the bed?

 

I'm looking at the same Rola rack but thinking about cutting down the height of the posts to make the rack level with the cab roof.

 

Eye hook and turnbuckles to the bed. I can send pics in PM if you like.

 

Ordered the ROLA truck rack and 4 J kayak racks the other day after reading this thread. Spent most of today assembling and test loading/unloading them. Work good so far.

 

I tried the J rack with the OEM roof rack and I was not comfortable seeing the kayaks shaking at highway speeds right in front me, because of how the cross bars of the roof rack are set into the "rails" they can pivot a little bit. This is my first Tacoma so that pivoting scared me a little bit. So I just mount the kayaks directly in the OEM roof rack, no more shaky shaky in the highway and it works just fine, made a 1000 mile trip with the kayaks on the rack to the Canadian Rockies at highway speed up to 90 miles/hr sometimes and no issues at all except for the noise maybe but you will have that anyway. One is a fishing 12 footer and the other one is a regular 10ft, both cheap ones so maybe that is why I don't really mind putting them directly on the rack... and upside down.

 

Make sure to use a bow strap securing kayaks to front bumper or frame. Wind can rip a complete rack system let alone j rack right off. My woman use to work at Yakima, she’s got tons of horror story’s like that from customers that didn’t use bow strap.

 

Easy hood strap attachment

US https://www.nrs.com/product/62647.01/yakima-hood-anchor
Canada https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5022-901/Quick-Loop-Tie-Downs

 

Some nice solutions here for loading hardshells. I just put my two double ride-in 18-footers in my shortbed, close the tailgate and camper shell window and lock them up. They are out of sight and secure until we get to the beach or lake...yeah, they’re folding Folbot sea kayaks.

I used to use a modified ski rack on my old BMW 1600 for a single C1- it was longer than the car so I made a support bar for it from the front and rear bumpers for support. It was long but had great wind resistance so it doubled as a gear case, too

Im sure I could do the same with my two folding kayaks on my truck when they are set up by using a support bar from the front reciever, that way I dont have to pack them up if we are still using them the next day.

 

Good idea to anchor them down to a good point but I would use the tie downs in the bed instead of going over the hood to the front of the truck. I have seen paint jobs messed up because of that. I have taken mine for 800 plus mile trips and never had a problem with them moving with j cradles. If you have a SOT with scupper holes just make sure you load them facing forward. If loaded backwards the holes will make the yak shake bad. Trust me on this!

 

I've been tossing around so many ideas for how to build my kayak rack system, my head hurts.

On one hand I could build a full tube rack that covers the bed yet hangs a bit over the rear section of the cab. This would also be built wide and tall enough to fit a Softtopper under it.

On the other hand, I could just make a rear hoop near the tailgate, and then install the Rhino Rack ditch channels on the cab. Add one cross bar and be done with it.

I normally haul a Hobie Revo 13 and Hobie Adventure Island (hull only) for ocean fishing.

On my 1997 Taco, I just made a front hoop near the cab, and welded a "T" bar on top of my hitch reciever. This has served me really well for 10 years, but can't open the tailgate with this arrangement.

 

What brand kayak J racks did you use with the rola rack? Also did you have to modify them to fit?

 

Sub to this for future reference

 

I used the ROLA brand J racks. I bought the ROLA rack and 4 Rola J racks from Etrailers.com. Everything just bolted together.

Also, I bought the hoodloops but just didn't like the idea of them against the paint. I decided to do just what @gator2764 said. I used a ratchet strap to also tie the kayaks down to the bed tie down. It worked well and I feel better about it.

 

Just build one out of 2x4 and strap it to yer roof rack.

 

Another way to tie down bow strap is to attach a web strap to inside of fender. I have one on each side of hood. Holds a 17ft canoe securely without ropes touching paint.

 

I use a Thule Roof rack with J-racks when I tow our Pop-up camper and take our kayaks. If I am not towing the pop up I use the $50.00 bed extender from Harbor Freight. It easier on my back using the bed extender. I have an Ocean Kayak BG2 (12ft, 70lbs) and a Pescador pro (10 ft 57lbs) I have driven 75mph with the yaks on the roof rack and the bed extender with no issues.