Bringing kayak with you...

[texasAUtiger]

I tow with a pickup that has a 6.5' bed and am thinking about getting a hard-sided kayak---preferably a tandem kayak---to bring with us.

I was thinking it would just need to be strapped down in the bed with a good bit of it hanging out over the tailgate.

Do any of you do this? How does it work? Have any size suggestions for how long of a kayak this would work for?

[NanciL]

JD and Beastlet wrote:

texasAUtiger wrote:
I tow with a pickup that has a 6.5' bed and am thinking about getting a hard-sided kayak---preferably a tandem kayak---to bring with us.

I was thinking it would just need to be strapped down in the bed with a good bit of it hanging out over the tailgate.

Do any of you do this? How does it work? Have any size suggestions for how long of a kayak this would work for?

As it happens, we have a new-to-us 2013 F-150 with the 6.5' box. The truck came with a tonneau cover and we wanted that to be usable with a kayak rack installed - that meant a stake pocket rack. Dissatisfied with the commercially available options, we made our own - it uses Thule cradles and carries our three kayaks perfectly. Installation, loading, unloading and removal are all simple.



You can see my build thread here on RV.net... Stake Pocket Kayak Rack.

Unless you are towing a low pop -up trailer, please tell me how you make turns with out the end of that kayak hitting the trailer ?

jack L

[austinjenna]

Hey thats nice, How is it held down to the bed?

[2012Coleman]

Why not build something like this:

[mfifield01]

dwayneb236 wrote:


Just an FYI. I tried this with my 12' kayaks and while making a turn my kayak hit the corner of my trailer. No real damage but it will hit it on occasion. I won't do it again. We have a couple we camp with that has a kayak trailer who comes with us. On this occasion we were meeting them to go on a trip and had neglected to take the kayaks to them beforehand. Figured I could get away with just leaning them in the bed with the ends hanging over. If I never made any turns it would be fine.

If you had a 10' kayak, would it work?

[dwayneb236]

texasAUtiger wrote:
I tow with a pickup that has a 6.5' bed and am thinking about getting a hard-sided kayak---preferably a tandem kayak---to bring with us.

I was thinking it would just need to be strapped down in the bed with a good bit of it hanging out over the tailgate.

Do any of you do this? How does it work? Have any size suggestions for how long of a kayak this would work for?

Just an FYI. I tried this with my 12' kayaks and while making a turn my kayak hit the corner of my trailer. No real damage but it will hit it on occasion. I won't do it again. We have a couple we camp with that has a kayak trailer who comes with us. On this occasion we were meeting them to go on a trip and had neglected to take the kayaks to them beforehand. Figured I could get away with just leaning them in the bed with the ends hanging over. If I never made any turns it would be fine.

[CavemanCharlie]

JD and Beastlet wrote:

texasAUtiger wrote:
I tow with a pickup that has a 6.5' bed and am thinking about getting a hard-sided kayak---preferably a tandem kayak---to bring with us.

I was thinking it would just need to be strapped down in the bed with a good bit of it hanging out over the tailgate.

Do any of you do this? How does it work? Have any size suggestions for how long of a kayak this would work for?

As it happens, we have a new-to-us 2013 F-150 with the 6.5' box. The truck came with a tonneau cover and we wanted that to be usable with a kayak rack installed - that meant a stake pocket rack. Dissatisfied with the commercially available options, we made our own - it uses Thule cradles and carries our three kayaks perfectly. Installation, loading, unloading and removal are all simple.



You can see my build thread here on RV.net... Stake Pocket Kayak Rack.

Nice and helpful write up. Thank you for taking the time to post this so that anyone who wants to copy it can easily.

[JimNH]

instead of a tandem, we have two 10' LL Bean singles. They actually go through the door of our 16' trailer and nest in the middle of the floor between the benches just perfectly. It leaves the truck bed empty for all the other stuff.

IMHO, two single kayaks are better for your marriage than a tandem anyway...

JIM in NH

[hawkeye-08]

I'm currently using racks with kayaks pads on them, but will likely switch to using front rack coupled with mount on front receiver hitch so most of the kayaks are towards the front (none hanging past tailgate of truck) since I want to put a bike rack over the propane tanks.

[Bonefish]

DH does like wishbone51, but he uses pool noodles with PVC pipe inside the noodles and straps it down from front to back and side to side putting the straps inside using cab doors to hold it in place. Been doing this for 10 years with not one problem and times 2 will be on top of the roof.

Sharon

[Dennis_Smith]

Here is a photo of our kayak on truck. Can't find any photos with the trailer. Just make sure your not over hanging the rear to much.

[ZeeLet50]

@ Wishbone, they make vee sculpted foam blocks you can purchase to help stabilize your kayak and keep it from scratching the roof. Just google kayak mounting blocks and you should get some hits.

[ralph_day]

Instead of placing directly on your vehicle roof try one or two 13inch inner tubes. They keep any scratching at bay, and the load is a little wiggly maybe. Just be sure the inflation valves are not scratching the roof.

Ralph

[tcp]

Check out point 65 kayaks:

http://www.point65.com/kategori/5050/modular.html

Modular designs make singles or tandem at will. We have enough of their martini model parts to make two full tandems.

[Wishbone51]

This was my setup last weekend with my tandem. Haven't found a roof rack for the Titan yet.