Kayak Rack Questions...'12 Limited

[mgh-pa]

I did a quick search here and found a few threads discussing kayak roof rack mounting solutions, but nothing really solidifies my decision. My wife and I are about to purchase Kayaks (Elie Strait 140XE and 120XE). We are purchasing from a local dealer who specializes in outdoor recreation (want to avoid big box stores). They are also a Yakima and, I believe Thule dealer so they had plenty of rack options to look at.

The dealer recommended going with Yakima Round Bars (48-58" I believe) and the LandShark Saddles. The Yakima Kit (not including the Saddles) is $229, but I see that the Mako Saddles would fit the factory cross bars. The only concern being width (which is what the dealer was concerned about). I wouldn't mind saving some money and not having to utilize a round bar setup, but he wasn't sure without throwing two up there on top of the roof), if we would have enough width for two side by side laying flat on the rails.

Thoughts?

 

[kowski49]

Unless you're getting some crazy-skinny kayaks, I don't think you'll be able to mount two kayaks without tipping them on their side and using a J-cradle. I carry a WS Tarpon 100 on my roof at least once/week using the Yakima "Even Keel" saddles on my factory crossbars. It works great, but my boat's about 33" wide and there's no way I could fit another pair of saddles up there unless I had crossbars that extended beyond the factory rails.
I've seen some yahoos roll around with 2 kayaks stacked on top of each other, but that's crazy man.

 

[SgnDen]

I have used these for 5 years. Yakima HullRaiser roof Watersports Rack

First on my 4th Gen and now on my 5th Gen. Just had to pay the absurd price for the new mounting brackets as well as install new mounting plates to the front (drilled into the top of my brand new '13) but they are great mounts with caps and look sorta cool when the rack is off.

In fact I only used the Hullraisers about 6 times to carry 2 sea kayaks as I didn't have time to do it much. Now, in CO I am canoeing only. So will probably sell the Hullraisers...in excellent condition.

Have fun!

 

[scanny]

I guess you've seen thread with pictures of my setup - I got 58" bars and they fit two 28" beam kayaks side by side.

 

[Doublehaul]

I use Thule hullavator on one side of my gobi rack and Yakima bowdown on the other side. One lies flat and the other is on the side edge. It's the only way I can carry both my wilderness systems ride 115 and tarpon 100 with the allotted width.

 

[Ducmonsta]

I'm pretty sure [MENTION=64864]GotMo37[/MENTION] hauls 2 kayaks at a time on his factory rails. Maybe he'll chime in.

 

[swampimp]

I use thule hull aports to transport 2 kayaks on factory rails. I do have the trail roof rack on my sr5. The thule brackets fit nicely on the flat rails. I hual a wilderness tarpon 120 and an Ascend fs12.

 

[Chrisinvermont]

You may have stumbled upon pics of my set up, I think they were in the show us your rack thread. I used Yakima bars on the factory limited rails with hulley rollers in the back and saddles in the front. I could put both my wifes and my kayak side by side. We each have Necky's, mines is almost 15 feet long and hers was about 13.5 feet long. Both are pretty narrow setups.

The biggest downside was mounting the yakima bars to the factory rails kept the two yakima bars pretty close together. I like them farther apart so that the front and rear of the boats are a bit more stable. It worked fine even for hour long highway trips but I swapped out the factory rack for a full lenght baja rack and I like it much better. The yakima parts fit right on the rack with just a bit of padding out of the bars.

If you're interested I still have the yakima bars and attachments for the factory rails. They have only been used for a summer and are in good conditions. I can cut you a good deal on them if you want them.

Chris