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Best way to orient composite kayak on racks?


rpg51

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I have an Aries. I travel with a pick up truck.  I have two racks in the bed spaced about 6 feet apart.  the cross bar is high enough to carry the boat either way and the bow will clear the cab roof.  I tend to use simple foam blocks that fit on each cross bar and provide a fairly flat - slightly v shape - foam surface for the boat.  What do you think?  Right side up?  Or, upside down?  My habit is upside down on the theory that it gives a more aerodynamic presentation and keeps any water out of the boat even without a cockpit cover.  But, am I risking cosmetic or other damage to the deck from contact with the foam?  I'm a rope guy, not a strap guy. I use a trucker's hitch with a locking finish knot. The hull gets snugged up pretty tight. Doesn't move much at all.  Very stable and secure.

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If upside down, aim for resting on the hatches since they provide a flat reinforced area to rest on. If upright, try to support at or as close to a bulkhead for greatest structural support. Don’t tighten rope or straps so much as to deform deck or hull, and run through one deckline if possible incase boat does start to slip. 

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On 5/23/2018 at 9:54 AM, prudenceb said:

Hey Rob,

When are you going to let that Aries taste the ocean ???

Prudence

Hmmm.  You mean I actually have to put this thing in the water?  Wouldn't that run the risk of scratching it?  I thought they were supposed to just hang on the wall and look pretty, no?  :)

I don't use a cap on my pickup, just an open bed with two racks, about a 5 foot spread.  I used to use a yakima clamp-on cross bar for the front. But, no matter how careful I am, the darn yakima clamp on system always seems to chew up the paint where it clamps on the door frame, and you do get some twisting between the bed and the cab.  So, last year I switched to two racks attached to the pick up bed rails.  Looks like you all do something pretty similar to what I do.  I guess I'll stick with the flatish foam pad and upside down method.  I've been through every rack, bar, and cradle system known to man.

2018-05-24_19_10_10.jpg

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23 hours ago, prudenceb said:

Scratches on a boat should be a mark of PRIDE!  That the kayak is being used as it is meant to be! 

"Your" old boat has a bunch of new dings!  I'm totally happy with that.

 

I was just joking Prudence.  I think you knew that.  I think of my tripping canoes like old beater pickup trucks.  They do get beaten on and I long ago gave up any concern about their appearance.  These boats are tools used to help me get into beautiful places that I otherwise would never be able to experience. Now, these gleaming new composite kayaks are a little different I suppose.  But, not to worry, it will be in the salt and it will have plenty of battle scars in due course if I can somehow find a free moment from my ridiculous work schedule that is turning out to be almost 7 days a week. But, you know about that as well. :(  Also, I have to get myself on the winning side of my life long weight control battle!  All of this will come to pass.

 

 

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I have carried my kayaks upside-down for years in order to keep the hatch-covers and decking out of the sun, since my boats more-or-less live on top of the car during the season.  Neither  do I load them so that the actual hatches coincide with the cross-bars: the foam pads compress perfectly to the form of each inverted deck.  I have gone through many, many pairs of Thule carrier bracket-thingies (whatever the manufacturer calls them) and they have <always> broken, in the end (the rubber gives way where the metal bolts run through them)!   Now my annual expenditure for foam pads is a fresh pair of swimming-pool "noodles", which cut to size in roughly ten seconds, each!

By the way, maintenance to cross-bars may be minimized by spraying some corrosion suppressant inside the bars when new and regularly thereafter.  They will rust, otherwise.

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Pintail - this is pretty much where I have ended up.  My truck bed is open so I use Spring Creek aluminum racks that clamp on to the rails.  I am very happy with them.  No corrosion.  They come with slide out extenders that actually work and they can be a big help when I am loading up by myself with my old man shoulders that have been cut open and fixed more than once.   Highly recommended.   https://www.springcreek.com/product/paddle-sports/one-tuff-truck-rack/

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  • 8 months later...

If you are using a tonneau cover you need to check with the rack maker to see if there is a way to attach that rack with the cover in place.  My answer is to keep things simple, ditch the tonneau in the summer, and leave the bed open to the elements. Works for me.  The other way, as shown in pic above, is to attach cross bars to a truck cap.  A lot of people do it that way.  But, these spring creek racks I have are excellent if they will work for you. You should speak with them before placing your order to make sure you get the right configuration for your circumstances. Upside down on cross bars with foam is the way to go in my opinion.  Simple and cheap and effective.  The pics below show my old version used with tripping canoes, (Prudence will be pleased to see the beat to cr**p condition of my truck and canoes which have all been to hell and back to carry myself and my buddies into some of the most beautiful places in New England and Canada).  I use an open truck bed because all my gear is waterproofed anyway and the tonneau or cap just gets in the way.  The pic shows a rack in the bed and a rack clipped to the cab.  I ditched the rack clipped to the cab last year and now I use to racks attached to the bed rails. 

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051913_7521.JPG.pdf

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