Best way to secure kayaks to my vehicle

Post Reply
yippee
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:44 am

Best way to secure kayaks to my vehicle

Post by yippee »

First of all, hopefully this is the right place to post this, wasn't sure where else to put it.

Anyways, me and my girlfriend are finally looking at buying a couple kayaks once we finish saving up for them. In the meantime, while I'm dreaming about living the kayak life, I've been pondering the best way to transport them from point A to point B - they don't do us a lot of good sitting at home.

I have a Ford Ranger with a 6' bed. I do have a toolbox in the front of the bed that takes up some space. I am most likely going to be buying a Wilderness Systems Ride 115, my girlfriend is still undecided but liked the looks of the Perception Sports Pescador Pro 12 she looked at. We will be demoing some boats, so these aren't set in stone but kind of give you an idea what we're looking at.

Originally I thought about going with a bed extender for the simplicity and price point of it. My concern with the extender is the kayaks are both in the 32-33" wide range and I don't know how I would manage them between the fenderwells of the bed, not to mention most bed extenders I have seen look to be less than 58" wide.

I have also considered the Yakima Outdoorsman 300 to be able to carry the yaks above the bed. Of course this is a more pricey option, but if it's the best option it would be worthwhile. I was also thinking about a trailer, but that gets even more pricey.

What's the best/proper way to secure the yaks without doing damage to them? I know there are the J-Hooks options or more of the cradle style mounts. From what I recall there are proper was to and not to anchor the kayaks without bending, breaking, or distorting them. Also, is heat a major concern for the kayaks or are they pretty resistant to it? The truck is black with a black truck mat. Of course in Texas we have plenty of 100+ degree weather every year and black is just going to absorb those sun rays, is this heat going to be too brutal on the yaks and further cause problems with warping/melting?

Sorry for all the questions, thanks in advance for any knowledge you can pass onto me.
Welderdude
Posts: 217
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:43 pm

Re: Best way to secure kayaks to my vehicle

Post by Welderdude »

Buy a rack for your truck. Bro in law got a decent one from Walmart online, aluminum rack. Mount your pads or J hooks or Sea Wings to the rack and lock your boats. Might be better to stay with 10 footers, nothing over 12 foot
User avatar
Jedi
TKF 2000 club
TKF 2000 club
Posts: 2481
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 12:13 pm
Location: Beaumont Tarpon 160 spotonfishing.wordpress.com
Contact:

Re: Best way to secure kayaks to my vehicle

Post by Jedi »

I recently have gone from a truck rack to a bed extender. I have a 5' bed and 13.5 foot kayak. I wanted to be able to still use my Yakima saddles. I designed a rail that I could mount to my truck bed that would allow me to use them . I'll be picking up from the welding shop tomorrow. I'll post pics after I pick it up. This would allow you to use j cradles to carry both your kayak with your bed extender.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
Tombo
Moderator
Posts: 16909
Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2003 3:32 pm
Location: Rockport, TX

Re: Best way to secure kayaks to my vehicle

Post by Tombo »

Ideally, get a Harbor Freight trailer. Don't know if you can store a trailer but its ideal for those with transporting issues.
Do a search on here and you will find all kind of ways to transport your kayaks.
User avatar
Jedi
TKF 2000 club
TKF 2000 club
Posts: 2481
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 12:13 pm
Location: Beaumont Tarpon 160 spotonfishing.wordpress.com
Contact:

Re: Best way to secure kayaks to my vehicle

Post by Jedi »

Here is the bar I made to use my saddles. You could use j cradles to carry 2 kayaks with this setup.ImageImageImageImageImage

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
texasstinger47
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2017 5:26 pm

Re: Best way to secure kayaks to my vehicle

Post by texasstinger47 »

Harbor Frieght.Image

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
bigbuzzard
Posts: 47
Joined: Sat Mar 18, 2017 8:57 pm

Re: Best way to secure kayaks to my vehicle

Post by bigbuzzard »

This is the rack I made to haul (2) 12' kayaks when me and my fishing buddy go out together. I had a set of overhead kayak carriers bolted to the unistrut base. They rusted out in a year and a half. Amazon and the manufacture didn't pay for shipping and cost almost as much as buying new racks. Got pissed, so I made my own. Image

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
emmetrock
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 11:04 pm

Re: Best way to secure kayaks to my vehicle

Post by emmetrock »

I manage my cargo using headache rack and bed extender that I recently installed.
User avatar
crusher
Posts: 536
Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2013 12:18 am
Location: Houston

Re: Best way to secure kayaks to my vehicle

Post by crusher »

Great respect for the good, creative ways mentioned to get multiple kayaks transported. I've moved from top of an suv, to a cheap harborfreight trailer, to now a shortbed truck with the Boonedox T-bone extender. When I take two kayaks, and they don't fit side by side in width inside the bed, I simply put the second one angled over on top of the first. I put some cushioning between their contact points. One thing I didn't realize early on, is I don't need to ratchet down the tiedowns too tight which can cause at least temporary warping. In the longrun, that stress can't be good for them. Just solid hand-tightening the straps is fine. Anyway, with the extender, some cushioning between them, one tie down on the bed holding both of them, then a separate tiedown for each on the extender, I've done a lot of trips and don't worry about warping or stressing them.
Google up some images of two kayaks in truck bed to get more ideas and see what seems acceptable. And of course good luck moving forward with your endeavor. Welcome to the game.
Post Reply