I have used Thule roof racks for upwards of 100,000 miles travelling between Alaska and the Lower 48 states. My truck is an extended cab, which makes it too long for my Mad River Explorer canoe. For the canoe to fit and not break my wind shield I had to put on tall towers on the front cross bar, then the bow of the canoe was in no danger of contacting my windshield. The things we go through to bring along our toys! The canoe, being upside down on the roof rack and raised-up in the front a bit, becomes somewhat of a wind scoop(though any canoe,due to their upside down position scoops air and creates resistance). I never had any problem with Thule components breaking loose, though I have grown accustomed to checking out the components when I stop. I never had second thoughts about my kayaks riding up there on the angle caused by the tall front struts. That's very interesting that the Yak rollers will fit on Thule crossbars. Since I got an Aleut Sea II kayak (23ft. long & extremely heavy) I've realized that I'm going to have to get some kind of a roller system to help get the boat off and on the truck. How did you get the rollers to fit? Don W. -----Original Message----- From: A Burton <aburton1_at_maine.rr.com> To: PaddleWise_at_lists.intelenet.net <PaddleWise_at_lists.intelenet.net> Date: Tuesday, November 24, 1998 8:53 PM Subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Roof Racks Speaking of roof racks, I have changed cars and am now adjusting to my delightfully lower Subaru Legacy wagon. (I'm short.) I am trying out a new configuration - Thule rack with Thule saddles in the front and Yakima rollers in the back. Seems to work fine, but the saddles are lower than the rollers. Therefore the bow slants downward at (total guess) maybe 10 or 15 degrees. It's a jaunty look, but I'm concerned about the wind forces at highway speeds with the kayak at this odd angle. Does anyone have any thoughts on the safety or advisability of carrying the kayak this way? It was not alarming on local roads.... Thanks Anne Burton *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
A Yakima salesman at a ski club sale enlightened me on mixing and matching Yak and Thule, when I explained my need for easy loading. It was his suggestion to buy the Yak adapters for Thule racks, which are: "Mighty Mount 4H", about $8 each for 2 set, required to install one complete set of 4 Hully Rollers. I later learned from a store that they don't plan to market the 4 Hully Rollers next year, but a combination of cradle and rollers. Using 4 rollers gives a somewhat wobbly feel to the strapped down kayak - but it is more or less horizontal on top of the car - using 2 rollers and 2 cradles gives it a much less wobbly feel, though there is still some play in it even after strapping down as tight as I can pull. Thanks for the info on your Thule experience. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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