Roof Rack Redo Number Two

I think I have used this roof rack on several cars so,

 I have the feeling that the Yakima stuff is pretty long lasting. 

First it was on the Buick Road Master

 

 Then on the Ford Focus

 

 



At least if you wash the salt off,

it stands a good chance of out lasting your car,

 or maybe a few of your cars. 

Original Set up on this car.

 



This iteration was more about making the rack more useful as the basic rack has been on this car for a few months.  This car is not our " Paddling Car"  as I use it to take customers to lunch.  So it cannot smell like a dog even if it is summer.  So the boats live on another car most of the time. However this car is god for long trips and rougher roads and dirt roads so I am setting it up more as a shuttle vehicle.

One advantage of these racks is that they disengage from the "Landing Pads" on the tracks very quickly so they can be removed from the car to make it "work ready" in a couple minutes.

I offset the stacker to one side so it is still easy to carry four kayaks but I can now carry one kayak and one canoe. 

Nice DIY Roof Rack!

John Larkin made an Excellent example of a wood roof rack that he uses to carry a 90 row pound boat on his Subaru wagon.  He used j bolts and wing nuts to hold the rack to the cross bars. The bike tires keep his boat from sliding around. Really nice job John!

Roof Rack Re Do

Well I had to get a different car for my new position and so I had to move some roof racks to the new car.  I had the old aerodynamic Yakima Cross bars from my Buick Roadmaster that were unneeded because I'd already drilled it for a very long spread of Thule Cross bars.

To put racks on the Focus Sedan I had planned to used self sealing jack nuts like I did on this Scion:

Then I found these rails from Proline: http://www.prolineracks.com/proline-roof-end-track-slats.html

With shipping and some accessories it cost me less than $60 to put these rails onto the car so I could move my racks back and forth anywhere I wanted on the roof.  They came pre-curved to fit the roof and arrived in less than a week with all the mounting foam and self sealing screws needed.  I think the paint job on the rails was less than ideal, but it is basic black semi gloss so I guess I can repaint them in time on my own.  The project was easy to do in an evening and the racks are quiet and cost me less than a single mile per gallon in efficiency.

I think the finished project looks OK. It is a car I can drive to work without looking like a boat bum and yet it has a very usable rack:

I think it is too bad you cannot buy these wide Yakima Aero bars today.

To finish off the project I added a front tie down strap that is so unobtrusive that I expect I'll just leave it out all the time instead of tucking in every time I take the boats off:

What do you think?

Roof Rack redo the best Kayak Roof Rack

OK, I've been running it like this for a while and I wanted to share it.  

These are 48 inch Yakima Bars connected to my curved roof with curved tracks from Proline Racks. The stacker is actually a set of Yakima cradles like this:

http://www.prolineracks.com/yakima-bowdown-folding-kayak-racks-240.jpg

This J cradle it mounted far over on the driver side as possible and then three boats can stack on the passenger side.  Additional accessories are pads on the passenger side of the bars and the all important bath mat for loading from the front, the side or the back.

DIY Cheap Roof Racks

We built these racks for a john boat but they worked great for canoes, kayaks, and SUPs.

It is just a 2X4 cut to the right length for the roof and then attached to a suction cup handle with very heavy duty zip ties.

It rack has no trouble with heavier kayaks or other light boats.

This design only keeps the load off of the roof.  To keep the load and the racks on the roof you can see that we put straps though the doors and tightened then very snug.  ( Open the doors to strap down the load).

The suction cups are not what is holding this load down so please don't do something dumb and blame me.  In fact I'll just say don't try this at home!  I just think it might be neat for others to see what worked for me.

New Car with Old Racks

My son came over today to help me drill holes in the roof to add a set of tracks from Proline.  The tracks were about $50 and will allow me to use my old Yakima racks that have served me through several cars. 

I decided to reuse them instead of buying new racks because they are still in great shape.  If later I choose to spend several hundred dollars to upgrade to wider Thule racks I can get ones that fit these rack tracks. 

It took about an hour after I went to the sotre to buy new drill bits.  Unfortunately they were having a tools sale so I bought more than just the bits.

The racks can be removed in about two minutes but the tracks are now a permanent part of the roof.  I think it looks good on this car.  Even better than it did on the old Focus.

Maybe the is even better looking on this new car than it was on the old Buick Roadmaster.  The new Caliber hauls gear more like the Buick Roadmaster. Get fuel mileage like the Focus, and with 7 inches of ground clearance handles dirt roads and trails better than either of them. 

The Mothership

The plan is to modify the boat and add a top to carry kayaks and canoes just like our car carries them on a rack.  This will allow us to get to the coast on Friday night without the need for a hotel or a night paddle to a campsite to set up a tent.  Then on Saturday morning we are already where we want to paddle and we have a nice bed, kitchen, and shower nearby.

It will often be a mother ship for our kayaks and we are also naming it after our mothers.

Other than the hardtop we have a  lot of work to do to get this 40 year old boat in good shape.  But like our 54 year old house it has good bones and is worth fixing up.

Good bye old boat; hello new boat.

Recently I sold my Tarpon 160.  It was a great paddling and sailing boat and it did everything well and a lot of thing wonderfully.  But I had a faster boat, a lighter boat that surfed better, and no short boat for really twisty creeks or whitewater so I decided to let it go.

So long to my old friend the Tarpon:

In it's place on the boat rack is a new to me but very old kayak made by New Wave Kayak Products called  a Buzz. Here is a picture of the Buzz:

Please call me when it rains.