My van now has the Yakima adapters for the factory rails. As I usually carry only one kayak, I leave a pair of shallow "V" saddles mounted. In my opinion, these saddles work as well as or better than rollers. To load a boat I tilt the rear saddle back and hang a sheet of Plastic so that it protects the car paint. It is quite easy to lean the boat onto the plastic ready to enter the "V". As the saddles are covered with carpeting, the boat slides easily into the front saddle. I have made hundreds of trips using these saddles over the past five years and have never damaged a boat. The saddles are as good as new. The saddles are home made although similar saddles can be bought. Will they work as well? Joe S *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I have a 99 with 4 front saddles and 4 rear rollers. I've used the Yakima towers that clip on to the factory rack and have been very pleased. They claim 250 lbs for this setup. cya *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Joe Sanford wrote: <snip> >I leave a pair of shallow "V" saddles > mounted. In my opinion, these saddles work as well as or better than > rollers. <snip> As the saddles > are covered with carpeting, the boat slides easily into the front > saddle. <snip> The saddles are home made although similar saddles can > be bought. Will they work as well? Yes, they do. The ability to slide the boat on makes them great for taller vehicles. They also bend to conform to the shape of the hull and give good support. I've used them for a couple of years and have friends who have been using them even longer. I just did a quick search and noticed they now have a picture and info on the web at http://www.marcosaddles.com Frank usual disclaimer: No connection with the company, I'm just a satisfied customer. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
one recommendation i didn't see anywhere, if you're going to keep the van until it falls apart ;-) take it to a good body shop & have the artificial rain gutters installed. We did that on our last vehicle w/out raingutters, and had LOTS of boats on that roof!! well worth the cost ~$75 parts, and ~$150 labor... mark -- #------canoeist[at]dotzen[dot]org-------------------------------------- # mark zen o, o__ o_/| o_. po box 474 </ [\/ [_| [_\ ft. lupton, co 80621-0474 (`-/-------/----') (`----|-------\-') #~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~ http://www.jacknjillz.com/paddler [index to club websites i administer] Rocky Mtn Sea Kayak Club, Colorado River Flows, Poudre Paddlers The Colorado Paddlers' Resource, Rocky Mtn Canoe Club Trip Page -- Fortune: A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner. - English Proverb *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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