Boat Rack Quesion

[12guns]

I've searched and found a few old threads, but no good pics and not clear on what the options are.
I'm looking to carry my Blue Hole canoe this spring. I realize I might could strap it down on the factory rack, but I would like to have Yakima cross bars for the extra capacity. What are my options? Anyone carried a canoe w/ an 05' or up? Yakima says on the 05' sport the roof rack system isn't an option, but looks like they have a "lowrider" set up that might hook to the existing rails. Thanks for any help here.

 

[Gordo]

Canoe/Kayak

I have a tandem kayak that I carry on my 05 Limited. My truck has the rear spoiler which really made it difficult to figure out how I could load and carry the kayak. I wanted to re-use my Yakima HullyRollers and and Mako Saddles that I used on my FJ60, but had a few issues with mounting them to my stock 4Runner rack - the main issue being that the stock rack's rear crossbar wasn't close enough to the back of the vehicle to allow me to use the rollers without dragging the kayak across the spoiler.

I ended up building a trailer hitch set up, similar to the Yakima DryDock Boat Hitch Mount Truck Adapter, that allowed me to attach the rollers on a top crossbar. I bought Yakima adapters that fit the flat Toyota crossbar and mounted my Mako's to the front stock crossbar.

This combination has been great, with the only drawback being that it takes up my hitch.

Sorry, no pictures of the set up, but if you Google the Yakima DryDock setup you should get the idea.

Best of luck, Gordo

 

[ZandT4R]

I don't carry a canoe either but I do carry 2 kayaks. I use the Yakima Lowrider setup with the Landshark saddles. This keeps the boats plenty high over the rear spoiler. When I was mounting the boat right to the factory rack I had issues with clearing the spoiler. I imagine you could use the Landsharks with a canoe but you would probably better off with the Gunwales. I will try to find a picture to post later, I am sure I have one on a one of my computers somewhere! =)

 

[12guns]

I don't carry a canoe either but I do carry 2 kayaks. I use the Yakima Lowrider setup with the Landshark saddles. This keeps the boats plenty high over the rear spoiler. When I was mounting the boat right to the factory rack I had issues with clearing the spoiler. I imagine you could use the Landsharks with a canoe but you would probably better off with the Gunwales. I will try to find a picture to post later, I am sure I have one on a one of my computers somewhere! =)

So the lowrider setup will give you a touch more height? I think that's the setup I need! Thanks Pics would be great if you have them