Truck top with kayak rack - load capacity?

I'm unsure of the strength differences between aluminum and fiberglass canopies but imagine the load bearing limits are similar. The fiberglass look better but the aluminum have better access from the sides. We've hauled 2 kayaks on the pictured style canopy/rack arraignment for several years. First on a Tacoma and now a Ram1500. No problems. We swing the rear of the kayaks diagonally and load/unload one end at a time. We're not spring chicks anymore and have lousy shoulders so watching's probably a funniest home video moment for anyone watching, but it all works. The 2x4's are so we can easily raise and lower them both on and off the truck. We store them hanging.

Leer topper with built-in racks (from 2009). Manual says that the max load should be 300#'s and has some language about that should include the load bars.

I've used Thule bars and have probably had something close to 350#'s (lumber and supplies, no watercraft) or more quite a few times for journeys of less than 100 miles...no problems so far.

Yeah, another who loaded heavier sit-on-top kayaks on my canopy. I have (2) 12' SIT kayaks that weigh in about 60-65lbs each. My canopy was a SungTop Super Sport. I had the Yakama Rails mounted and the rails only increased the canopy height by 1/2" by themselves, of course the landing pads and then the rack itself would increase the add height even more. But nice thing was it is very easy to remove the actual racks and leave the rails landing pads for a reduced height.

Probably the biggest issue with those heavy kayaks on top of a canopy was actually loading them. The trucks now a days are high to begin with and trying to get those 65lbs kayaks up there is a bit of a challenge by myself. I know some just make sure the trailing rack is situated more towards the rear to make it easier to load from the back, but the might leave extended hang-over. I side loaded mine and could do it by myself but again, not the easiest thing. Other than that, I never had any issues with the kayaks up there.

Make sure you always bring a good, heavy duty step stool to help with loading/unloading.

I have been hauling a couple of yaks on top for seventeen years with no problems . Once , for 900 miles I had my mother-in-law up there and she weighs 340 pounds , no problems except the cops stopped me a couple times until I explained that it was my MIL . The cops said ' way to go , man '.

I think 250# max sounds about right.

My 8' Century/Leer cap has the built-in rails with Thule cross-bars and holds our two 12' kayaks just fine.

This is the third cap using this system, and we do like it. But we recently got a couple of new kayaks that only weigh ~26# each, so they're not much of a strain on the cap ... or on me, which was the whole point.

I have traveled hundreds of miles with my 12 foot Jackson Cuda and the wife's 8 foot kayak strapped to our Leer Camper topper without problems on my Ram 2500.

I've had two fiberglass toppers with the Yakima rail system. They easily held anything I put up there, including a 17' foot aluminum canoe along with ladders and other longish stuff (at the same time). I like the rail systems because they spread out the load and the racks are easily removable.

Halmfamily wrote:
We use a Yakima roof rack and J Bar racks from Amazon. We carry an 11'6" and a 8' kayak with no problems. Been using for example years. Easy to take the Yakima rack off the truck.

Is your rack attached to a truck top or rack?

The canopies I've looked at would have no problem with that amount of weight. I think most are rated for 250# on the roof.
I have a commercial SnugTop that is rated for 500# up there.

We use a Yakima roof rack and J Bar racks from Amazon. We carry an 11'6" and a 8' kayak with no problems. Been using for example years. Easy to take the Yakima rack off the truck.