Can I carry two kayaks on a small car?
Gail Chesler
San Francisco.
But if I still want to also take my kayak (and perhaps my
friend's kayak) on a trip, I'd like to be able to do so.
My present Saturn SL2 has a Yakima rack and wonderfully carries
both kayaks.
Any experience to share about how small a car can still be loaded
with two kayaks?
I figure I need enough horsepower in the engine (how much might
be enough?) - but now I'm thinking about the road-worthiness of
the two kayaks (or one) on top of a small car. Will it hold the
road?
Thanks for your discussion. Gail
Longyard William H.
I own an SL2 and have a Yakima rack. I love my car, and got all the
recommended Yakima parts and installed the rack exactly according to the
instructions. I used the rack to carry a small ten foot Walden, but last
summer I used it once to carry a 12.5 foot yak and a 10 foot folding yak. I
was driving down the highway at 55 mph when I happened to look in my
rearview mirror and saw both yaks flying in space like the solid rocket
boosters separating from the Space Shuttle. I was alarmed not for the
boats, but because a friend of mine was driving behind me and I was worried
they would hit him and cause and accident.
Fortunately the boats continued to fly and swerve to the side and his Jeep
drove past them before they hit the road. We both stopped to inspect the
damage. The boats were fine, even the folder. Hardly a mark on either of
them. Both boats were still attached to the Yakima rack, but I found that
the clips and splayed open and been pulled off the car. (I use locks and I
know the locks were correctly installed and in the locking position.) We
had to do a field modification to get the rack to attach to the crossbars of
his Cherokee and that is a whole story in itself.
So here's what happened: The way the SL2's rear doors curve downwards and
flare outwards means that it is difficult to impossible to install a Yakima
system safely because the Yakima system requires clamping pressure to hold.
If you squeeze a tapered object it squeezes out. The wind on the bottom of
the boats added just enough pressure to squeeze the rear bar off which then
pulled the front one off. It happened in a blink of an eye, even though I
had already driven over thirty miles that day.
SOLUTION:
I was very mad at Yakima, which makes a fine product, and I have transferred
this rack system to many cars over the years, and ALWAYS used the right
clips, towers, etc. The Yakima SL2 design is bad. I want to be ultra-safe
so I was prepared not to use this rack again, and find something else. Upon
examining the clamping areas inside the door channel, I noticed that there
are small screws that attach a molded plastic trim piece to the door frame.
I took off the trim piece and found that the screws actually go into the
steel body shell of the car. Eureka!
1. I then took a 3/16" drill bit and drilled a hole 3/8" in front of the
rear edge of all the clips.
2. I reassembled everything and lined up the towers so the holes in the
clips would line up the scew holes. I tightened (but not overtightened) the
screws.
3. I next adjusted the towers as per instructions.
Voila! This rack system is rock solid, and you can easily shake the whole
car by rocking just one bar. The reason this works so well is that the
screws DO NOT hold the bars on, they simply LOCATE the clips so that they
can't be squeezed forward. Once their location if fixed, if you adjust the
clamping force as per Yakima instructions you have a great system. In fact,
I found that my method actually moves the bars about 1 1/2" further apart
than the specs call for, and this is good. I have now carried two boats
many times no problem.
However.... I'm carrying a 10ft and a 12.5 boat. I am currently building a
16footer and to carry that I'll have to either use ropes at the bow and
stern, or build a special arm to fit into the trailer hitch which I
installed on the car (I will in fact use this second method.) I you have a
long boat the SL2 roof is just too short to support it safely (too short to
prevent yawing under wind loads.) Power wise the SL2 has plenty. I pulled
a 1,000lb sailboat with one through the mountains of Va and WVa once.
Oh, and btw, I figure Yakima owes me some paint touch-up on my car!
Hope that helps,
Bill Longyard
John Fereira
news:geahav0jgp4voffk7...@4ax.com:
> I want to buy a small car so that I can find parking places in
> San Francisco.
>
> But if I still want to also take my kayak (and perhaps my
> friend's kayak) on a trip, I'd like to be able to do so.
>
> My present Saturn SL2 has a Yakima rack and wonderfully carries
> both kayaks.
>
> Any experience to share about how small a car can still be loaded
> with two kayaks?
When I was down in Florida for the Sweetwater sea kayak symposiom in
February I saw a Mini Cooper (one of the new ones) with a Romany Explorer
on it and the roof rack had room for another. A Romany Explorer is 18'
long.
John Fereira
news:b8adv1$tc1$1...@slb6.atl.mindspring.net:
> Chesler,
>
> I own an SL2 and have a Yakima rack. I love my car, and got all the
> recommended Yakima parts and installed the rack exactly according to
> the instructions. I used the rack to carry a small ten foot Walden,
> but last summer I used it once to carry a 12.5 foot yak and a 10 foot
> folding yak. I was driving down the highway at 55 mph when I happened
> to look in my rearview mirror and saw both yaks flying in space like
> the solid rocket boosters separating from the Space Shuttle.
That's what bow lines are supposed to prevent.
Longyard William H.
line that is relatively flat. If you can get the bars about 40 inches apart
you can carry about anything.
Bill Longyard
"John Fereira" <ja...@cornell.edu> wrote in message
news:Xns936891CA167A...@132.236.56.8...
William R. Watt
> The Mini is an ideal small car for kayak carrying because it as a long roof
> line that is relatively flat. If you can get the bars about 40 inches apart
> you can carry about anything.
exactly. I have an '89 Ford Festiva with a 1.3 L engine. owners manual
says don't put a trailer hitch on it and don't exceed 80 mph. I carrry
home made boats, one at a time, on the roof. nice flat roof with a high
hatch back. If I had to carry two I would.
the one problem reported in this thread seems to be one of not securing
the boats to the roof. I open the rear side windows and put the strap hook
on the window frame, then close the window on it. no way that sucker's
coming loose. bow and stern tiedowns, of course.
BTW I've seen kayaks carried on edge on a roof rack. more room that way.
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
National Capital FreeNet www.ncf.ca Ottawa's free community network
website: www.ncf.ca/~ag384 "Tank, take me in."
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Paul Skoczylas
which) whitewater kayaks on a Ford Festiva. Not only that, but they weren't
even on a real roof rack--just one of those "temporary" ones made of foam
blocks and broomsticks.
The key, of course, is to make sure they are secured to the car properly,
and not just the rack.
-Paul
"William R. Watt" <ag...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA> wrote in message
news:b8c2so$1c7$1...@freenet9.carleton.ca...
Chris Webster
> When I was down in Florida for the Sweetwater sea kayak symposiom in
> February I saw a Mini Cooper (one of the new ones) with a Romany Explorer
> on it and the roof rack had room for another. A Romany Explorer is 18'
> long.
We had a friend with a Pontiac Fiero which had yakima's. He carried
10-11 foot whitewater boats with a 16 inch spread (at 120 sometimes).
--
--Chris
Alex McGruer
I own a VW Jetta and a VW Golf both Diesel less than 80 mighty horses
on a good day.
The cars are 1985 and 1992.
The Jetta is racked for two sea kayaks the Golf has J saddles for
three. The Racks are VW dealer racks and are not expensive. You could
use the racks to pick up the car.
Thule has excellent racks as well and I have them on the Fox.
My Fox VW # 3 has a stacker for white water boats and my mother in
law drives it.
The boats typically on my car (GOLF) are a Capella 16' 6" my NDK
Explorer 17' 8" and a Wilderness Systems Sealution about 17 feet.
I don't normally use lines to the bow or stern but will next week as
three boats are headed out over the highway.
With the boats strapped to the J saddles they are rigid. It is the
best way to carry boats and you can put three on a VW.
Over the highway I will be puting a rope loosly tied through the bow
and stern carry loops, VW has a nice place to secure them. These lines
must be made fast but not necessarily tight. Should a line get loose
and slip under a tyre it could smash a boat. These lines are safety
back up, they play no part in the securing of the boats but will stop
the boats from going to far should calamity strike.
The back line or break line is realy the important one. You can get
from 60 MPH to zero much quicker than you can go 0 - 60; at least in a
VW Diesel.
The power of the car means little. My VW's keep highway speeds most of
the time. If I want to pass something I have to think about it a
little but those cars get almost 65 MPG . It we get cheesed at Iraq I
can run my cars on corn oil. ( and afford it ).
I am in the slowest car sold in North America but not to many cars
pull out and pass me. The speed limits here are 100 KPH about 60 MPH
I travel at that speed twice on most highway trips, once on the way up
past it and the second going down through it to stop. That in an old
kayak laden VW.
Small cars work well, the VW Golf does fine with 3 boats extending
about 18 feet.
My total miles on the cars and our service truck per year is about
105,000 KM so I don't spend much time stopped.
Re Wind: I live in NEWFOUNDLAND wind is normal here 40 KM is still
fine for paddling 60 is over the top but we have all been out in it.
The number of days with over 90 KM winds in this province is quite
high. I don't have any problems with the wind and kayaks, you may have
to adjust your driving a little but no problem.
One thing: It may be an idea to tie a ribbon or flag to the bow and
stern of the boats that way you will be reminded that the boats extend
well past the car as you back into that big flat restaurant window.
As I realized what I was doing I hit the brakes and stopped as the
Explorers bow touched the window just tapping it. No damage but the
folks in the window booth got a fright.
Hope this helps.
Alex
David J. Van den Branden
"Joachim Kaiser" <pino...@gmx.de> wrote in message
news:8kXwb...@gmx.de...
> have a look:
>
> www.kschannover.de/berichte/bild_2002_3/mcpomm2002_0008.jpg
>
> ;-)
>
> greetings from germany
>
>
> Jo from Han(g)over (sorry for my poor english..)
Greetings to you!
So, when you are in the water, do you strap the car to the deck of the
kayak?
DV
Michael Daly
> Any experience to share about how small a car can still be loaded
> with two kayaks?
My old Honda Civic hatchback frequently carries two sea kayaks
with ease. 92 horsepower. Don't worry about the power.
Mike
Brian Nystrom
> I want to buy a small car so that I can find parking places in
> San Francisco.
>
> But if I still want to also take my kayak (and perhaps my
> friend's kayak) on a trip, I'd like to be able to do so.
I carry two 16' - 19' boats on a '94 Hyundai Excel all the time. It
struggles a bit on steep hills, particularly with a headwind, but
overall, it works well. Oddly enough, having two boats on the roof only
costs me 2-3 mpg compared to driving with just the rack on the roof.
--
Regards
Brian
William R. Watt
> I carry my Kajak Sport Viviane 19'1'' (581 cm) on a Opel (GM?) Corsa
> 11'1'' (337 cm)
used to drive an Opel Kadet here in Ottawa. very nice cars. GM owns Adam
Opel in Germany and tried importing them for Buick dealerships for a while
in the 70's. getting parts was always a problem.
> But only short distances, on longer trips I take it apart.
never took my Opel apart. :)
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dancewater
<ja...@cornell.edu> writes:
>Subject: Re: Can I carry two kayaks on a small car?
>From: John Fereira <ja...@cornell.edu>
>Date: 25 Apr 2003 18:20:58 GMT
and stern lines....don't get on the highway without them!!
dancewater
remove "nospam" from address above
Sofjan
If you really need to travel long distance, A small trailer will probably be
better than putting two oversize kayak on top of the small car roof.
Harbor Freight has several very small trailer for less than two hundred
dollar. Acouple of 2x4 wooden frame to support the kayak and proper strap will
secure your canoe or kayak.
And also putting the Kayak low on the trailer instead of high on top of the
roof you will have less risk of sever wind loading at high speed that could rip
the kayak out of its mounting and sent it flying. (especially when the kayak
is mounted on the roof at an angle , either pointed up a slight angle or
pointed sideway at a slight angle.)
Worse still is the big kayak that is mounted on its edge. (Big kayak not small
white water kayak). That kayak on its edge on top of a small car will almost
function like a sail if a sudden cross wind hit you when you traveled nicely at
interstate speed ( I said interstate speed since nowaday speed limit vary
around the country. plus nobody drive at speed limit. i constanly drive 10mph
over no matter what the speed limit say)
I have a 4x8 with a 12 inch tires folding trailer that i bought from Harbor
Freight. When things goes from push to shove in term of garage space. This
trailer could be folded a little bit on the back side and be made to stand uo
vertically and stored against the wall.
Even a used jetski or PWC ( abomination vehicle) trailer could be pressed into
service. They might require a trip to welding shop to lengthen the trailer
tongue so the trailer will be long enought to fit our 14-16 foot kayak.
I understand that 99.9 % of small car warn you not to put any trailer hitch on
your small car. Well that is mostly a warning to the Moron wannabes who plan to
pull a trailer loaded with a pallet of lanscaping retaining wall stone. :^)
Our kayak are mostly weight less that 90 pound ( Tandem fully or partially
rigged)
You can safely put two kayak and still be under 400 pound.
Right now i drove a Toyota Camry Sedan and a 92 Toyota Camry Wagon. Both have
trailer hitch. Even though The wagon have a roof rack and long straight roof. I
don't always used the roof rack.
Trailer are easier to load and unload from.
YMMV
remember i lived in Kentucky so trailer option might not be available for those
who live in Bigcity. especially where parking is premium.
Check out www.harborfreight.com
click on automotive and then click on trailer.
If you see two similar trailer with different price, the more expensive one
would have 12 inch tires and less expensive one would have 8 inch tires. (Both
are okay but IMHO 12 inch tires has less bounce when hitting a pot hole at
highway speed :^) People who live in areas that snow should know what i'm
talking about )
I have the 4x8 folding trailer with 12 inch tire.
Look at the 3 1/2 by 4 mini folding trailer. By extending the tongue (First
you have to promised not to load that poor trailer with anything heavier than
your Kayaks) you could lay 1 possible two kayaks on it.
Now go check out the trailer custom made to pull canoe and trailer and see the
potential saving.
One last thing my motivation to use trailer instaed on roof rack are:
1) I have space. (garage and etc)
2) I live in place that moving around with trailer is not a big deal
Well when you go on a trip for a kayak or canoe trip generally moving around
with trailer is not a big deal too right
3) For me loading on to a 12 inch high or so trailer is easier than roof rack
. This probably don't apply to those that drive Honda Civic , or even the Mini
morris Cooper. And probably apply even more for those who drive SUV or VAN (
You want me to load this thing on a 6 foot roof ??1.8 meter for metric people
)
4)I also used the trailer for everything else that need hauling.
I used to own a Pick Up truck but wise up when i found out that it is easier to
load a piano or couch or bed or any thing big on 12 inch high or so trailer
(30 cm or so for the metric people ) than 4 foot high (even higher ) for pick
up truck.
5)With my personal MPG (Miles per gallon ) or Liter per 100 KM or KM/ L is
lower with trailer than everything loaded up on the roof.
Final advice:
Do not be a Moron and overloaded the trailer if you drive small car. Keep the
total tow weight below 400 pound about 181 KG or so you will be okay. Also
make sure the hitch is connected solidly directly or indirectly to the chassis.
Hope Nobody fell asleep on this long post.
SOFJAN MUSTOPOH
Mathias Steiner
I would like to carry two small canoes (15' Pathfinder, 16' Penobscot)
on my Toyota Sienna minivan w/ factory rack. I've got the Yakima
lowriders, and it's a really solid setup, at least for one boat. But
two?
The load limit is 110lbs. for the factory rack; the lowriders+bars are
good for at least 150lbs. according to Yakima. The boats weigh 55lbs.
each, so I'm more or less okay on the weight limit... I also adapt my
driving to the circumstances.
But what do y'all say about the stability of those racks with respect to
winds? Do I have to worry about doing damage to my roof? Anyone ever
yanked on a factory rack really hard?
Your thoughts on the matter will be appreciated -- Thanks in advance.
FWIW, I always use bow/stern tiedowns when traveling at highway speeds.
Wishing I had my '86 Chevy Van back, I remain
-Mathias
Dan Valleskey
Just my $.02- but you should have NO problems. Do use the bow lines.
Maybe even stern lines. Unless a Sierra is especially week-kneed,
you'll be fine in hi winds, I bet.
-Dan
EnzoM3
I seen people carry a lot more than the factory/yakima/thule weight limit on
their racks w/o problems.
Jim
"Mathias Steiner" <stei...@pilot.msu.edu> wrote in message
news:3EAD9096...@pilot.msu.edu...
Sofjan
>their racks w/o problems.
>
>Jim
Famous last word :^)
Sofjan Mustopoh
------
with no problem and no concerns. Here's how...I have a yakima bar that
attaches to the rear of my factory rack and a free standing yakima bar
that I mount right over my head at the driver seat. That bar allows for
a great deal of extra weight to be carried. Two kayaks go on yakima
saddles and the third goes on j-cradles from some company in New
England. My bars extend a little over the sides but not too bad. I
used to carry two sea kayaks and a 18'6" canoe using stackers and canoe
brackets. Incidentally I carefully postioned my yakima bars so that the
kayaks rest on the bulkheads so as to prevent denting of the hulls.
One last comment...I replaced tires on the Sienna at about 60,000 miles,
bought Goodyear Riatta?? tires for it. They improved the ride and
handling tremeadously. I could believe the difference. It really holds
the road now and is much more responsive
------
back on the Mackinaw Bridge with the set up I described and I worked
great...Believe me...it is windy up there.
Mathias
> It is me again the Sienna van guy...One more thing I've been over and
> back on the Mackinaw Bridge with the set up I described and I worked
> great...Believe me...it is windy up there.
>
bicycle (DALMAC -- Dick Allen Lansing to Mackinac Bike Ride) and once in
an '80 Chevy van with 90 degrees of slop in the steering... on a day
with a 30mph posted speed limit because of wind... and a boat on top...
zoweeeee!!
I put my setup together, and it's scary. If I wiggle any corner up and
down, I can see the sheet metal oil can where the rack attaches. I
suppose it'll hold alright, but I'm getting twisted nylon rope for
tie-downs -- i've got braided and it's too sloppy -- and I'm considering
duplicating your setup.
Here's the question: Have you got Q towers and clips for your front
bar? I looked and it's not at all clear to me how the clips are going
to hook around the door frame... it's plenty strong there, what with the
B pillar and all, but the frame barely curves in... Anyway, is that
how you do it?
I'm gonna call the store and see if they'll sell me just TWO towers;
don't need the set of four...
Your advice is much appreciated, thank you!
-Mathias
DanD
Savannah (14' 6", ~50 lbs) at the same time on a Subaru Forester. Have
been carrying 2 boats frequently since the early 1970s when two 17' home
built fiberglass canoes (~90 lbs each) went on top of my SAAB wagon
(without the boats his car had enough power to do 0-60 in about 40
seconds). Never had any trouble except for a couple times I had to pull
off because of severe wind gusts during thunder storms.
Dan
In article <geahav0jgp4voffk7...@4ax.com>,
Gail Chesler <gche...@ecis.com> wrote:
--
DanD
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http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----
Arne Varholm
------
line of the drivers window. My rear bar is also Yakima but it is
designed to mount on the factory rack at the point where the factory
rack is fastened to the rear of the roof. Therefore both yakima racks
are mounted to really solid stucture of the car. I bought two of the Q
towers and two of the rack mount towers so your deals should be able to
help. I have spacing so the kayaks rest on there bulkheads and never
anywhere else. With the system I use, I can load both kayaks, tie them
and be on the road in 15 minutes...with no one helping me. It is pretty
cool. John
EnzoM3
"Arne Varholm" <ar...@varholm.com> wrote in message
news:k7Ora.8363$8g5.1...@news2.e.nsc.no...
Jez Kent
> and stern lines....don't get on the highway without them!!
Strange the different approaches of folks. While I can see the safety
of stern lines on large, heavy canoes that may suffer under braking,
nobody ever uses bow or stern lines on their kayaks in the UK. These
are often 4 or 5 up and doing 90mph.
Jez
Sofjan
Does anybody see how many kayak and canoe are fitted in the trailer.
But seriously though. This truck is most likely used for canoe/kayak shuttle
between several of the put down point.
So i doubt you want to drive like that on interstate.
Sofjan Mustopoh
Wilko
Having just driven all over Greece (much of it on really bad gravel and
worse mountain roads) and done some long distances through Germany
(doing well over 160 km/h (~100 mph) most of the time), I find that two
straps work really well to keep a bunch (two to five) of boats on my
roofrack.
Mind you Jez, over in Europe most boaters I know use straps, whereas it
seems still rather common to use ropes in the U.S..
Wilko
--
Wilko van den Bergh wi...@dse.nl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.
http://wilko.webzone.ru/
Arne Varholm
http://www.kajakcenter.com/bilder/bygget/v41_Kajaktransport.jpg
I bought a kayak from this guy, and asked him about the picture. He told me
that he was driving with this load from Germany to Sweden!
But as you see, it's not any standard roof rack.
Arne
X-men
139.99 (8" tires) Item 42708 (reg $169.99)
169.99 (12" tires) Item 35967 - Sale Price in store only (reg. $199.99)
This is safer since you can anchor your boats to the frame of the trailer.
The trailer only weighs 125lbs and is on wheels so the strain on your
transmission is probably less than the drag with the boats on top.
You don't have to look at the tie down straps while driving.
The lights are recessed so I stand mine up in my garage and it takes up less
than 8sqft.
Anyone with a 1"7/8" ball can haul your gear instead of always yourself.
You can probably get a used hitch at a junkyard or on-line, if not U-haul
installs them on most every vehicle.
You can probably sell you existing rack for the same price as a trailer and
hitch.
Dan
"Gail Chesler" <gche...@ecis.com> wrote in message
news:geahav0jgp4voffk7...@4ax.com...
Alex McGruer
Driving with the trailer is another skill.
Mike McCrea
> Driving with the trailer is another skill.
So is turning one around at some tiny dead-end dirt road put in or
take out. We used a small (4x8) trailer with our previous shuttle
vehicle and I was always kinda leary about heading up some unknown
dirt road to a put in, not knowing how much room there might be to
turn around. Fortunately that tiny trailer didn't need a lot of space
and, worst case scenario, I could unhook it and swing it around by
hand.
The real nightmare was finding that there was *no* room to turn, and
having to back the trailer out to the nearest wide spot in the road.
We upgraded to a full sized van a few years ago and I can easily car
top (van top) three canoes; haven't used the trailer since. I may just
gift the trailer to my bro-in-law, who has far more need of it than I.
Although when the youngest starts solo boating with more frequency
I'll either need to figure out how to van-top four boats, or go back
to the trailer.
Wilko
>
> mcgrue...@nf.aibn.com (Alex McGruer) wrote
>
> > Driving with the trailer is another skill.
>
> So is turning one around at some tiny dead-end dirt road put in or
> take out.
Depending upon the location, driving with a trailer means different top
speed (80 km/h(~50 mph) with trailer vs. 120 to 130 km/h (~80mph) in
much of Europe). Also, when it gets steep of if you're looking for a
parking spot, carrying on top will give some more benefits over pulling
a trailer.
Having done a couple of long (3000km/1900 miles) trips to be able to
paddle in the mountains when using a trailer to transport the boats, I
don't want to go back from using a roofrack.
Mike McCrea
I'll grant you that carrying a couple of small kayaks is a whole
different ballgame than carry a couple or three canoes, but I see
another value in using bowlines no matter what kind of boat is being
cartopped - almost everytime I've seen a post that started off "Lost
my boat somewhere on Highway XYZ" it has been a kayak. And I'd pretty
much guarantee it was a kayak without a bow-to-bumper line.
Having that nice taut line angling down in from of the windshield is a
good indicator that the boat is still on the rack. If your boat isn't
long enough or positioned far enough forward to see it through the
windshield how are you gonna know if it's there or not?
I will admit to having startlingly seen the bowline of of one of my
canoes suddenly veer over to one side while driving in serious
crosswinds. Pulling over I found that the boat had jumped a gunwale
chock and was sitting slightly diagonally on the crossbars. With two
belly lines and bow and stern lines off to the bumpers it wasn't
actually going anwhere...but it wasn't exactly attached the way I
wanted anymore either.
Mathias
I started by putting 78" cross bars on my factory rack... added two
canoes, and voila: oil-cans like crazy when I wiggle it.
Sooooo: back to the store, another $99 later, I've got myself two Q
towers and appropriate clips.
The good news: Drove 350 miles roundtrip, going up to 80mph briefly,
and no problems.
Bad news: The towers aren't as stable as they should be. I can move
the rack back and forth by 1" or more, and I don't have to use a lot of
force to do it. Went back to the store, and the mechanic there, who
says he's put Yakimas on cars for many years, couldn't get it any better
-- but he agreed the fit wasn't really satisfactory. Even after talking
to tech support at Yakima, who really couldn't suggest anything new.
John, you say you've used this setup for years... do you have this
problem? The rubber pads under the towers are quite thick (4mm?) and
quite squishy, so there's movement even without sliding... the store
will let me return it, but then what do I do? Thule?
Any thoughts, please let me know...
Thanks again,
-Mathias
Gail Chesler
what I had in mind when I asked the original question. I think
the key is the tie-downs - bow and stern. They are 17 ft kayaks
and your car may be a little shorter than I need, but thanks.
(By the way, did you see the thread a couple of years ago about
carrying your kayak upside down?) Thanks, Gail
> ja...@cornell.edu ( John Fereira ) wrote:
>
> >> Any experience to share about how small a car can still be loaded
> >> with two kayaks?
>
> I carry my Kajak Sport Viviane 19'1'' (581 cm) on a Opel (GM?) Corsa
> 11'1'' (337 cm). But only short distances, on longer trips I take it apart.
>
> have a look:
>
> www.kschannover.de/berichte/bild_2002_3/mcpomm2002_0008.jpg
>
> ;-)
> greetings from germany
>
> Jo from Han(g)over (sorry for my poor english..)
Gail
Leeplate
attachments-- sharpest end of boat toward front-- and at least one single strap
around both boats,roof rack cross bars and thru the inside of vehicle with
both doors in open position, tighten strap from inside the vehicle, then close
the doors.-retightenafter a few hiway miles,if it loosens much after that,look
for shifting etc.monitor tension& adjust from inside.
drive at resonable speeds helps too !!