I have a 2014 Ltd (stock) with only the original siderails. We want to put an 8' kayak up there with ratchet straps alone if this sounds doable. Can we support a kayak upside down with ratchet straps in place of crossbars? We're planning on tying down the bow and stern as well as belly straps, after we put straps on the siderails themselves.. all we have are straps for now. Are they enough? We live in the mountains and have some curvy roads to traverse.
I plan on investing in some legit bars or basket soon but looking for a temporary means.

I feel like you’d be better off using 2x4s as make shift crossbars. If I’m imaging a bay you’re trying to do correctly I don’t see that working well. Using something solid and secure them to the rails and rest the kayak on that.


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The roof itself is not that strong. It will probably buckle a bit if you ratchet strap something down directly.

I would not do this, as the side rail mounting points are just plastic. The tension from the straps+weight would possibly break the mounting points.

I don’t knkw the answer but I’d get aftermarket cross bars.

Once you have them, now you’ve got a functional roof to haul all kinds of stuff.


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I wouldn't do it. First off, you probably have some money invested into the kayaks so the last thing you want is to have them fly off the car. Second: you will be possibly causing damage of some sort to the vehicle.

I'd pick up a Thule or Yakima or Inno rack and bite the bullet for the safety of the kayaks, the car, and the people around you aka other drivers. Plus a legit rack's going to be more friendly to use.

I used Thule crossbars and the factory side plastic rails to mount a canoe. ITs workable. But to be blunt its a shit way to haul stuff. Get a better rack and do it right..course I guess you havent really lived until you see the Kayak go flying off the roof and right through some guys windshield who was tail gaiting you ....

Better be safe. Use the right rack and cross bars.

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From the original post it sounds like they have NO crossbars at all and wants to create cross bars using ratchet straps, then put a canoe on top and ratchet strap a canoe over that.

YEah without crossbars it will likely crush or dent the roof..its abit thin up there

That was my interpretation as well.

To the OP: You can pretty much mount anything to the roof with ratcheting straps. Many people around where I live will happily haul an 80lbs x-mas tree on their roof with basic straps and no cross-bars. You would just need to judge for yourself how much risk you want to accept for potential damage to the roof panel and your ability to keep the canoe secure based on how far and how fast you will drive.

I think if it were me and I did not have cross-bars, I would find something like a small mattress that can go between the roof and canoe to help distribute the weight and raise the canoe higher which would allow the side rails to more effectively pull down on the canoe to keep it secure.