Re: [Paddlewise] Racks on pickups

From: Erik Sprenne <sprenne_at_netnitco.net>
Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 08:02:04 -0500
> Jack Martin wrote:
>> Would like to know of any practical roof rack experience from anyone who
>>  has carried a kayak with the forward rack mounted to a pickup roof and
>> the aft rack attached to a fiberglass cap. [snip] The obvious concern is
>> that if there is some significant flexing or movement between the cap
>> and the cab, the kayak might be stressed or the finish scuffed over
>> time.
>
Dave Kruger responded:
> Yeah, I did that truck cap/cab rack jack thing on a Mazda and then a
> Toyota, totalling some 12 seasons of hauling boats <snip> The rack
> manufacturers will tell you not to do it, but I'll tell you it
> works fine.  There is some working side to side of the cab/canopy system,
> but I never noticed any damage to any of the four or five different boats
> I hauled that way.  A good bit of the travel was on rough logging roads.
>

Much depends on the particular truck and how it's built.

My Mitsu had a bed that had a fair amount of lateral movement in relation to 
the cab, though maximum separation of the racks minimized relative lateral 
movement of the attachment points (through-bolted on the reinforced FG cap, 
rain gutters on the cab).  Worst case scenario was a bit of loosening of the 
tiedown ropes - which was mitigated through religious use of bow and stern 
lines - though I never went four-wheeling or traveled rough roads for any 
distance with the sea kayak (when doing so with whitewater boats, they were 
mounted on racks attached only to the cap).

Erik Sprenne
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Received on Wed May 23 2007 - 06:02:20 PDT

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