RFI: Kayak on Class C?

[dbeeke]

We have a 2011 Forest River Sunseeker 3120ds. I would like to buy a kayak for exploring the lakes here in British Columbia. I would prefer one that is not inflatable. The trouble is, how do you transport a kayak on a Class C? I have no roof rack but perhaps could add one? One time I saw a kayak on the ladder. Seems a bit sketchy.. Any ideas? We don't tow anything but normally have the bikes on a bike rack off the back hitch.

[JohninSD]

I use a Yakima trailer to haul sea kayaks - expensive but works well. For those times when I don't want to pull the trailer I bought a Gumotex Framura inflatable - 14 feet long, 28" beam, performs very well for an inflatable. It is a decked kayak with a cockpit so you can use a spray skirt if you want.

I used to carry kayaks on the roof of a Lance truck camper but that one came with a rack already installed so all I had to do was add a crossbar up forward and it was all set. I'm hesitant to drill holes in my new Itasca so plan to use the trailer or the inflatable for now.

One other possibility is to use a suction cup mounted roof rack - Seasucker has impressive specs, 200 pounds or so of holding force for each suction cup and their surfboard rack uses 6 of them. Maybe I'll try one of those next.

There is also a company whose name I can't recall right now that makes a rack that lets you load your boat at ground level and then puts it (or them) on the roof with electric motors. Costs about the same as the Yakima trailer though.

One other advantage of the trailer is that when we go camping with our usual group of kayakers we can get one of the other guys to pull the trailer to the launch site if we want to launch somewhere other than the campground. Most of them pull camp trailers instead of using motorhomes so they have the tow vehicle available once they get set up at the campground.

[KristinU]

We sold off our hard kayaks and went to inflatables when we bought our C. We have a couple of cheapy off-name inflatable kayaks for fun and splashing around (not high quality, but fune nonetheless) and then some inflatable SUPs - one is Tower and one is Solstice, I like the Tower better but could recommend both brands. We have a third off-brand SUP that is just OK, not worth recommending though.

[JAXFL]

I tow a small 4x4 Colorado and have the kayak in the back, but if you don't tow then some of the picture Rocky posted should work for you.

[fortytwo]

When I towed a Jeep Cherokee I carried two Hobie Outback Fishermen on top of the toad, probably 10 years and 80k miles with no problems.

Getting older and now have a Honda Odyssey toad - too high to lift a heavy kayak up. I switched to a Sea Eagle Fast Track 465 16 foot inflatable. It was about 1/2 mph slower than my 16 foot Old Town Loon, not significant for my purposes. I've downsized that to a FT 385 12 foot Sea Eagle, and purchased a swiveling fishing chair for it. The Fast Track models have an inflatable floor that's almost rigid. Six months return policy, for any reason, and a 3 year guarantee. My 465 developed a seam leak after 2 1/2 years and the hull was replaced without costing me a penny. Weighs about 40 pounds.

[garyhaupt]

I have struggled with this question, too. I am not light enough to make a habit of going up and down a ladder, especially the rear one, so a cradle, while sexy as all get-out, doesn't work. I have a Folbot Greenlander..a folding kayak, that I carry up forward, and that works well enough.


Gary Haupt

[rockylarson]

Try Google Images: Kayak on RV's

[WesternHorizon]

In a similar situation. I carry a dirt bike and a mountain bike on a hitch rack, so the back is not an option.

I'm thinking two Unistrut channels in a bed of Dicor secured with lag screws through the EPDM.

Unistrut A3300 channel

The cradles will just take a couple of 45 degree Unistrut fittings. I think this will actually be cheaper than the various Chinese kayak racks and vastly stronger.

PM me if you'd like to see my sketch of the concept.

[Dusty_R]

We had an Itasca with fiber glass roof. I made a carrier on the roof for my kevlar canoe. I epoxed wood blocks with stainless bolts to the roof and alumunm from awning arms across the blocks. Used a total of 8 wood posts so ther would not be any twisting efects on them.

Dusty

[letssay]

Rhino rack rtl002 T-load trailer hitch. I found this on The Rack Warehouse website. It may be something that would work for you. I had to scroll a lot and found it on page 10, but that's on my tablet. Good luck.