Kayak Rack

[Jim Sherwood]

Hello,

Has anybody out there in Fiberglass land mounted a Kayak rack on top of a fiberglass trailer?

We have a Scamp 19 ft 5th wheel, so a rack on the Ranger size PU is out!

My wife and I want to be able to take our Kayaks when we head out. These are big water kayaks. Mine is a 17ft and hers is 15.

So far this has resulted in two trips out and back. A limit on how far we can go.

Any and all ideas are chearfully accepted, home made, store bought etc.

Please post pictures if you have them.

Thank you for any and all ideas

[Donna D.]

There's been several discussions about racks on roofs of Scamps. The discussion centers around the weight (some trailers can't take it) and the "How would you get stuff up and down?" .... carrying ladders has been discussed.

Here's read some of it: Roof Rack on Scamp?

Here's one specifically about 5th wheels in the Legacy posts: Kayak Racks, Trying to figure out how I will carry a kayak or two

[Frederick L. Simson]

I followed some of those links to find This Link.

Just trying to help...

[Greg A]

Frederick is that website from the 50's? Looks like June Cleaver could be popping out of one of those pictures.

[Jim Sherwood]

I followed some of those links to find This Link.

Just trying to help...

Well it would work for one Kayak. To bad I have two.

I did a search before I posted and checked the legacy sites. To bad there are no photos, etc.

Still looking for pics and info.

HELP!

[Pete Dumbleton]

Don't discount a kayak rack on the Ranger so quickly. This is a problem that has been solved by many folks wanting to carry a canoe or kayak with a 5W. The solution lies in connecting the front end of a rack to the bumper or to a front-mounted hitch receiver (ETrailer carries them for Rangers).

Here's a photo of a kayak rack on a full-sized pickup pulling a 5W. I have seen similar rigs in my travels.

[Donna D.]

Here's a poor picture I've had for a long time...don't know where I found it, so I can't give credit where credit is due...but hope it helps.

[Pete Dumbleton]

I took that photo in Grand Tetons NP but over time I've lost it (Not just the photo, I'm losing it in general according to my friends and family ). That one was a custom rack from a welding shop that mounted in a front receiver.

[Jim Sherwood]

The problem, a picture is worth a 1000 words. Here is the 17 ft Yak on the little PU.

Hello,
Has anybody out there in Fiberglass land mounted a Kayak rack on top of a fiberglass trailer?
We have a Scamp 19 ft 5th wheel, so a rack on the Ranger size PU is out!
My wife and I want to be able to take our Kayaks when we head out. These are big water kayaks. Mine is a 17ft and hers is 15.
So far this has resulted in two trips out and back. A limit on how far we can go.
Any and all ideas are chearfully accepted, home made, store bought etc.
Please post pictures if you have them.
Thank you for any and all ideas

[Roy in TO]

The problem, a picture is worth a 1000 words. Here is the 17 ft Yak on the little PU.

Just wondering if there wasn't a way of getting the Kayaks into the trailer? A window Mod maybe?

[Al Stansell]

I have a cab-over rack that allows free movement without the trailer hitting. Works great. Alec

[Steve L.]

I think that if you want to trailer AND kayak, you'll need to either build/buy smaller kyaks or a longer tow truck. ( There is a theory out there that goes along the lines of: sometimes you just can't have everything you want.) Doesn't hurt to ask, though.

[E. Graham]

Many years ago, my husband and I transported a canoe on the top of the vehicle we owned then, a Honda Accord.

The place that sold us the canoe gave us 4 styrofoam supports (fat "L" shaped things) which we placed on the car's roof under the canoe's gunnels, fore and aft. We then tied down the canoe, similiarly to what was shown earlier in this thread. Nothing moved while we drove for hundreds of miles, the last 60 over washboard.

We expected, when we got the canoe to our lake, that the styrofoam supports would be garbage but they served well for many years.

Before writing this response, I googled styrofoam canoe supports but found nothing. If this idea is workable for you, you might want to consider making supports for the kayak.

[Frederick L. Simson]

Just wondering if there wasn't a way of getting the Kayaks into the trailer? A window Mod maybe?

If your 5er has a side bath, then modifying the rear window to open (Hinged at the top, with struts?) might just do the trick.

[Brian B-P]

Before writing this response, I googled styrofoam canoe supports but found nothing.

The support blocks may well have been expanded polystyrene foam, which many people erroneously call "styrofoam". Styrofoam is extruded polystyrene foam. Anything which is moulded into shape is not made of Styrofoam, which may be why the search did not yield results.

For "foam canoe supports" Google came up with a bunch of irrelevant matches, plus the TenderCraft Boat Shop Accessories page (see the Foam Canoe Blocks in that page).

For "foam canoe carrier" Google came up with a whole bunch of matches for this sort of thing.

My canoe/kayak blocks, like most I've seen, are a softer foam, not polystyrene.

I wouldn't try this on the trailer itself (which was the original question), because it is impractically high (in my case), and because I don't see good tie-down points.

[Jim Sherwood]

Hello,

Has anybody out there in Fiberglass land mounted a Kayak rack on top of a fiberglass trailer?

We have a Scamp 19 ft 5th wheel, so a rack on the Ranger size PU is out!

My wife and I want to be able to take our Kayaks when we head out. These are big water kayaks. Mine is a 17ft and hers is 15.

So far this has resulted in two trips out and back. A limit on how far we can go.

Any and all ideas are chearfully accepted, home made, store bought etc.

Please post pictures if you have them.

Thank you for any and all ideas

Lots of interesting replys to this one.

Went out and spent $483.00 with WA sales tax today.

Solution:

A Yakima Outdoorsman 300 is the foundation of the solution. It mounts to the bed rails so can be moved forward or backward depending on trailer in tow or not.

http://yakima.com/Product.aspx?id=68

Front of Yaks mounted to a regular Q Tower on top of PU. Yes, additional tie down bow ropes will be used.

Spouse is happy, we can take the Yaks when we camp on the coast.

Will post pictures and make a report when I get it all set up and flight tested.

[Donna D.]

Will post pictures and make a report when I get it all set up and flight tested.

Yes, please do. It looks like it's going to be a very good workable solution.

[Steve L.]

I considered that set up (a pair of Outdoorsman on the bed rails and Q towers on the cab roof) to hold my Rocket Box while carrying the ATV in the bed and towing the trailer. Not much storage in the jump seat section of the truck cab. In the end, I felt the box would be too hard to get at while the ATV was filling the bed.

You've got a good sized kayak. I'll be interested to see if you can get them far enough forward that you can still hook the 5th wheel up.

I, too, will be watching for pictures of the whole kit n kaboodle.

[E. Graham]

Brian,

Thank you for the foam canoe carrier info. We're going to be carrying a canoe again at some point, and I now know where to look for the product I mis-remembered from years ago.

Cheers,
E. Graham

[Brian B-P]

... I felt the box would be too hard to get at while the ATV was filling the bed.

I had the same concern with a box on the top of my van, which obviously has no pickup bed to stand in for access. I typically stand in the doorway of the open sliding side door, but the rear-most part of the box (I have a long one) is still difficult to reach. This is really only an issue for installation and removal of the box (I must reach hardware inside the box at each mounting point), since stuff carried in the box is normally bulky enough to take out by grabbing the nearest corner.

I have also carried our canoe on the roof racks, and again stood in the doorway to reach the tie-down straps. Actually lifting the canoe on and off is done standing on the ground; the rack does not need to be reachable directly during this operation.