Roof Rack for a Kayak - DIY

[upchurchmr]

The Eclipse has a fairly curved roof which is short. I really did mean to make some kind of cradles to give a more support than a piece of carpet pad at a single point.

Perhaps I am being too restrictive, but driving down the road with a kayak at 70MPH makes me want more support.

Marc

[Submarine Tom]

Your stability, security and structural integrity would come from the cross-tied ends, even at 100 MPH.

-Tom

[Jeremy Harris]

I've driven a couple of hundred miles, much of it high speed highway, with my 16ft boat (the one in this post: beautiful skeleton) strapped to an inflatable Handirack on the roof of my 2010 model Prius (which is also short and curved). I found that I didn't need to tie the ends down, as it remained stable up to the maximum speed I wanted to go, which was around 60 - 70 mph.

I'd guess that strapping the boat down to a couple of bits of foam, or even some old carpet, would be OK.

[Submarine Tom]

Originally Posted by upchurchmr

I am making a kayak for my son and need to provide a roof rack for transportation. Thule or Yakima products are very good but cost around $600 for all the new components - thats what I plan to spend on the Kayak (assuming I don't make any more mistakes).

Does anyone have a concept or know of plans for DIY racks which can be tied to a typical car - no guttered roof attachments? Everything else will be homemade so why not the roof rack. I am not partial to blocks of foam that require straps running thru the passenger compartment windows.

If it matters, the car is a Mitsubishi Eclipse, the kayak is a Laughing Loon Northstar.

Thanks
Marc

He's not keen on that kind of attachment...

-Tom

[Jeremy Harris]

Originally Posted by Submarine Tom

He's not keen on that kind of attachment...

-Tom

I understand the objection to straps going across the inside of the car roof, but there's no reason why a different strap system couldn't be used. Straps around the car underside have already been mentioned (not ideal, as they risk contact with the hot exhaust and may interfere with door closure). However, many cars have grab handle attachments inside the roof, above the doors. Even though the drivers side doesn't normally have one of these fitted, because car body shells are made the same for LHD and RHD there may well be attachments there under the headlining.

These handles will be designed to take the load of an adult hanging from them, so should be OK for a strap attachment for a kayak.

[Squidly-Diddly]

front and back underneath, or find a place to secure loops of stout rope at the 4 corners.

But before you do that, tie those foam blocks to the boat, and to the boat only, so you don't have straps through the cab.

This means including good attachment points in the boat build, and not overtightened the tie downs, but well spaced foam blocks should be plenty grippy, and aren't supposed to scuff paint. I got the ones with grey body, and black 'paint saver' veneer of foam on the flat side, and pre cut 'strap groove'.

Two for $35, but quite good....double as floatation.

These are $25 and look the same on screen.

http://www.amazon.com/Malone-Standar.../dp/B000SXQCVA

Woops, these look more like mine, a little bigger....

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...GG39EFK5X1KJ1S

Don't be afraid to cut deeper vees to better form fit the boat.

And remember it is the "V" to widely spaced points from the ends of the boat to corners of the car that will keep it all centered, so you probably want to use 4 ropes, and ropes that don't stretch much. Just compress the foam blocks a LITTLE and recheck tension often.

[JosephT]

Originally Posted by upchurchmr

the car is a Mitsubishi Eclipse, the kayak is a Laughing Loon Northstar.

Thanks
Marc

You could go with the lower cost foam block & strap kits, but I would suggest if you go this route you have good tie-down mounts on the kayak. The Northstar tie downs don't look tough...they look cosmetic compared to many tie downs that pierce the hull. Beef up the bow/stern boxes with some extra material to ensure you have good tie downs.

That's a lower cost alternative that will work.