Kayak rack

[meg38]

I have a 2019 F-250 crew cab short bed. I'm looking for the best options for a kayak rack & would love to see what others are using. They make a nice rack for the hitch of the 5er but I don't want to block the rear camera. Was thinking about a removable roof rack. Not sure if there would be enough room between the rear of the kayaks & 5er cap. Thanks for any ideas

[Jeff n Susan]

RVKayakracks.com Quite pricey but they would work. I personally have helped load one, but I have yet to buy one. I like them. Unfortunately you have to deal with the camera and mount. Possibly move it to the back of the rack???

[mtlakejim]

Depending on how long your kayaks are you should be able to use a roof rack on the crew cab with no issues. We have seen plenty of those. Another option is to buy kayak bags at Academy, cover the kayaks and put them inside the camper. That works better than you might think.


With a long bed you can usually put the kayaks in the bed on either side of the hitch but it does require leaving the tailgate down. We bought our HC381TH specifically because we could put our two kayaks and our shuttle motorcycle all in the basement garage. Its an ideal floor plan for white water floaters!

[lightsout]

The solution for hard Kayaks is add a hitch receiver to the front of the truck then use a Goal Post style Kayak rack with a roof rack on the Truck. You are just moving the kayak from the back to the front.



The 2nd option if you have not purchased Kayaks yet is to buy inflatables there are some very high quality inflatables out there. We have the Aquaglide Chelan series Kayaks. I have it out of the bag and completely inflated in about 10 minutes, same for deflating. These are not your off the shelf inflatables however only designed to class 2 rapids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP2pvTm1lfI

[Daryles]

I think I have seen pictures of a vertical rack that holds 2 and goes in the RV hitch. It may have been custom made.

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by Daryles

I think I have seen pictures of a vertical rack that holds 2 and goes in the RV hitch. It may have been custom made.

There is a company that make those but I don't recall the name offhand. That's a fair amount of weight on the rear of your camper if you have a flimsy OEM bumper but if you have something more substantial it is an option provided of course that your kayaks aren't so long that they stick way above the height of your trailer.

[BB_TX]

Originally Posted by Daryles

I think I have seen pictures of a vertical rack that holds 2 and goes in the RV hitch. It may have been custom made.

The link provided above by Jeff Myers is one.

[lightsout]

Originally Posted by Jeff Myers

RVKayakracks.com Quite pricey but they would work. I personally have helped load one, but I have yet to buy one. I like them. Unfortunately you have to deal with the camera and mount. Possibly move it to the back of the rack???

WOW $1500 for a Rack that cost more than most Kayaks. That is also more weight then the Monty receivers are likely rated for...

[Golfmedik]

We carried ours flat on top for a while like in the pic, but then bought holders for the Thule racks on top of the truck. I then put a winch on the front of the truck and custom made a receiver to match the winch bolt pattern so I can still carry like this is I want to.

[Daryles]

Found the rear mount kayak holder
https://m.facebook.com/groups/274058...41359389587802

[jeffba]

Originally Posted by Golfmedik

We carried ours flat on top for a while like in the pic, but then bought holders for the Thule racks on top of the truck. I then put a winch on the front of the truck and custom made a receiver to match the winch bolt pattern so I can still carry like this is I want to.

How long are the kayaks?

[Golfmedik]

Originally Posted by jeffba

How long are the kayaks?

The ones pictured are 10'. We have a new 12' that fits much better in this configuration, however as I stated earlier, we bought kayak racks that fold for my wife's car when all of us go, and Swagman flat racks for the dually as well. The Swagman are too wide for my wife's Odyssey, so sometimes we use whatever racks we grab first. Traveling with them out over the front takes a little getting used to but I wanted several different ways of carrying them. Pics below are of similar foldable mounts, but the Flat racks are what we have. ALSO, USrack.com has what they call a 5th wheel rack that is incredible.

[lightsout]

Unless you are running class 3 rapids there is no reason not to just buy Inflatables like Aquaglide, Sea Eagle and Advance Elements. Those are all rigid floor and high quality inflatable Kayaks that require No rack. We are so happy with our Aquaglide Chelan inflatable that we also just bought two inflatable Stand Up Paddle Boards again no rack needed.

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by lightsout

Unless you are running class 3 rapids there is no reason not to just buy Inflatables like Aquaglide, Sea Eagle and Advance Elements. Those are all rigid floor and high quality inflatable Kayaks that require No rack. We are so happy with our Aquaglide Chelan inflatable that we also just bought two inflatable Stand Up Paddle Boards again no rack needed.

Lightsout did use a disclaimer above and that's good. I won't argue with his flatwater experience in an inflatable but I have to disagree if your going to be in any moving water!

You can take a look at my signature picture (which has been on here since day one) to get an idea if I know anything about kayaking. There are a lot of occasions where I ran into a snag on class II-III where I was darn glad that I had the hard shell. We run a LOT of whitewater in Arkansas that can be Class II on day and Class III-IV the next. I could easily see where one strainer could put a hole in an inflatable and dragging a ruptured bag 5 miles down a rocky whitewater stream wouldn't be any fun at all.

A lot of folks float in inner tubes on the rivers here during low water and I have even fished from a fishing tube but there is no way I am risking it on normal water conditions. Only other time you see inflatables is for the cheap kids play toys in the slack water. I'm not saying inflatables don't have their place and I do know that professional guides use them for large tours on big water BUT that is a totally different kind of use and those rafts are multi-chambered with extremely heavy rubber. They are also extremely expensive.

Out of all of the thousands of people I have seen on all of the rivers I have floated, I have yet to run across a single hard bottom inflatable on any moving stream. Arkansas is well known for it's floating scene. There are dozens of kayaking outfitters each with dozens of different models. I don't recall ever seeing an inflatable of any kind in their shops and that is really saying something!

You could also reasonably make the argument that inflatables will not have the performance of hard shells. If your only occasionally going short distances on flat water that won't be a big deal. But on an all day paddling trip it will matter a lot. I started off in flatbottom aluminum Jon boats, moved up to canoes and finally kayaks. I can tell you that even a dent in a canoe can make paddling a real chore (one reason I will never again buy an aluminum canoe.

Having said all that, IF your only going to float in lakes and ponds then an inflatable might be a good fit. Just take the advice of someone who has a LOT of whitewater experience and don't take an inflatable out in moving water!!!

[Chasnracin]

We are using Thule roof racks with our 12ft kayaks. We do have a long bed, but I believe there would be enough room even with a short bed.

[jeffba]

My wife and I have 8 canoes and kayaks between us. No 2 alike and each has a specific. Had 9 but I sold my canoe polo boat.
type of water to paddle. Shortest is 8' longest is 17. None weigh over 55 lbs. best all around boat for me is my Scupper Pro 14' 6".

We only have 1 Tandem. Tandem boats were invented by divorce lawyers.

Longest single day paddle was 66 miles. No way would I do that in an inflatable

[colligsmith]

I use a rack sold by usrack.com, mounts to bed rails and extends over cab, I carry 3 kayaks with one being a double, I got the optional kayak racks that mount to the rack itself.

If you have a short bed truck this might not work as it will affect the turning radius.

Rack is well made and built.

[lightsout]

Originally Posted by jeffba

M

Longest single day paddle was 66 miles. No way would I do that in an inflatable

Most of us will not do 6 miles in a day and some of those will be with river currents.

I agree for hardcore yakers hard is king for those that want to conserve on storage and easy of transport, light weight and great stability Inflatable cannot be beat, however quality inflatables cost a little more do not buy sub $600 inflatables.

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by colligsmith

I use a rack sold by usrack.com, mounts to bed rails and extends over cab, I carry 3 kayaks with one being a double, I got the optional kayak racks that mount to the rack itself.

If you have a short bed truck this might not work as it will affect the turning radius.

Rack is well made and built.

If that is the rack I think it is, its rock solid and a great choice! If you had a short bed and could combine it with a goal post on the front bumper that should still work for all but the very longest kayak I would think. Of course that assumes crew cab truck (yikes did I mention a certain type of truck--should I get the popcorn out? LOL).

[mtibbet]

I have 2 hobie pa12 and they are over 100lbs each. I built my own rack that sits over the cab and hood that has slide out holders that slide to the front and tip down to load the kayak then tip it up and slide it in. This rack mounts to a headache rack behind the cab and has two receivers that mount where the tow hooks mount under the bumper. The kayaks can be loaded and unloaded by myself.