Thule Hull-a-Port J racks for Kayaks

[sel1005]

I have an 04 Limited and just bought two Hobie Outback kayaks.

Want to use a J rack system like the Thule to haul them but am concerned on weight. The factory manual says to not load more than 66 lbs on the crossbars and the dealer says no worries, don't need to buy the extra Thule crossbars.

Anyone have these or know how they work? With two Outbacks on top I will have something close to 130 lbs there. I called the dealer and our service folks - as usual - said "let me go look it up in the manual"......

Thanks in advance for any ideas or experiences here.

 

[rdrunner]

I have them on my truck once Spring hits but my boats are pretty light. That said the factory cross bars don't seem to be made for a lot of weight. I would highly recommend the Thule cross bars. I don't think I'd want more than 100lbs on the factory ones. Just my $.02.

 

[sel1005]

thanks, I'm thinking the Thule cross bars too as I don't think anyone I'm working with really knows what they are talking about on this. Don't trust either the dealer or the retail store staff. Appreciate your .02 and insight.

 

[riverwolf]

I have an 04 Limited and just bought two Hobie Outback kayaks.

Want to use a J rack system like the Thule to haul them but am concerned on weight. The factory manual says to not load more than 66 lbs on the crossbars and the dealer says no worries, don't need to buy the extra Thule crossbars.

Anyone have these or know how they work? With two Outbacks on top I will have something close to 130 lbs there. I called the dealer and our service folks - as usual - said "let me go look it up in the manual"......

Thanks in advance for any ideas or experiences here.

My '03 manual says 66 KGs which is also 145 pounds. No doubt the Thule or Yakima bars are stronger, but the factory bars should be fine, especially given how the weight will be distributed. The J-bars will be transferring the weight to the bar near the roof rail attachment, not in the center of the cross bar span where it would be weakest.

If you go with Thule/Yakima cross bars, you can probably get a length long enought to let you flat carry two kayaks without needing the Hull-a-port. That was my reason for going full Yakima. If you're driving long distances with the boats on top, you'll probably appreciate the more aerodynamic flat carry.

-Brent

 

[riverwolf]

I also meant to add that manufacturer's roof rack capacities are generally rated by what it does to the vehicles center of gravity, not the strength of the actual components. It's a rollover liability issue. The Thule/Yakima bars are stupid strong, but they'll still tell you to observe Toyota's recommended load ratings.

Just to put the theory to practice. My '03 crossbars are sitting in the garage since I removed them when I installed the Yakima Lowriders and crossbars. I propped one end of the Toyota crossbar up on a ledge about 1' off the floor, other end on the floor. My 185# in the very middle of the bar cause less than 1" of deflection. It would likely be even less when mounted as the roof rails would have to move outward to let the bar deflect downward. The strength of the factory crossbars are most definitely not the limiting factor for load weight.

-Brent