for those of you using the bed of a truck to transport your kayak...

[Pat Smith]

I am thinking of selling my jeep in favor of a pick up truck. What is the smallest bed size you would use to transport a 12ft kayak? The truck I am considering has a 5 1/4 foot bed. I figure with the tail gate down that makes the bed roughly 7 feet. This would leave 5 feet hanging out. If I get a bed extender is this a safe configuration?

[Steve6902]

I have a Ford F350 with the 6 foot bed. I use a bed extender from Harbor Freight. It was $50 bucks and works just fine for my Hobie.

[azmdted]

I've got a Toyota T100 with a six foot bed. I have no problem with my Hobie Outback with the tailgate down and no extension. I put my kayak in katty corner and tie a red flag to the end. My red flag is actually a $2 red camisole from Walmart.

[Yakman35]

I drive a 250 my kayak is 5" short of 12' but still no problems for me without bed extensions or the like from harbor freight etc.


Yakman35
Perception striker 11.5

[Slackdaddy]

Not trying to be a smart A$$, but 5-1/4' bed?? why not just keep the jeep, it's got to be close to that.
Never had a truck with less than an 8' bed,,, I see them "shorty short" beds on trucks and wonder what the purpose is??

I would really consider an 8' bed, there is NO downside to it.

Slack

[ronaultmtd]

I have a Ford Ranger Pickup that I used 4X4 wood landscaping timbers covered with indoor/outdoor carpet and 5/4 round deck lumber to build a easy load/unload system for my Hobie Outback...it is a breeze to load and unload...strap it in place...five minutes and I am done...gone...safe, secure

[silasvirus82]

I had a 5' bed with toolbox not long ago, transported an Outback just fine with bed extender. I now have a 6' bed and no toolbox, don't need the extender at all.

[silasvirus82]

Not trying to be a smart A$$, but 5-1/4' bed?? why not just keep the jeep, it's got to be close to that.
Never had a truck with less than an 8' bed,,, I see them "shorty short" beds on trucks and wonder what the purpose is??

I would really consider an 8' bed, there is NO downside to it.

Slack

Good luck parking that downtown.

[Pat Smith]

Not trying to be a smart A$$, but 5-1/4' bed?? why not just keep the jeep, it's got to be close to that.
Never had a truck with less than an 8' bed,,, I see them "shorty short" beds on trucks and wonder what the purpose is??

I would really consider an 8' bed, there is NO downside to it.

Slack

The jeep does not have a bed, it has a little cargo area and the door is a swing open door not a tail gate. This makes using the jeep almost impossible. I have a cargo rack for it and used that for a while but getting a 100lb yak way up on my lifted jeep is rough and when the yak fell off ALMOST destroying my wife's car while I was unloading it.. made me move to a trailer. But there are locations I cannot get to with a trailer.. and the trailer is a pain (I cannot store the yak on the trailer).

As far as "no down side" to an 8 foot bed... there a are a couple, even for a 6 1/2 foot bed. I like to off road and the longer the wheel base the less of a break over angle you have... basically a full size truck with a long bed does not off road as well as a shorter, narrower truck.

Also my wife has to drive my vehicle at times and she simply does not want a full size truck.

[Slackdaddy]

Current ride is a Crew cab dually,, yeah had fun parking in Crystal city the other week

Good luck parking that downtown.

[Slackdaddy]

Well,,, you know what they say: if you try to get a tool that will do all jobs, it will do none of them good"
So, yeah a truck is not an off road jeep, it's a truck. We have the XJ's for wheelin and trucks for hauling.
Think putting a yak on top of a jeep is fun? try this (and we had a 10" redfish stuffed in the gooseneck bed)
DSCN7235.jpg

The jeep does not have a bed, it has a little cargo area and the door is a swing open door not a tail gate. This makes using the jeep almost impossible. I have a cargo rack for it and used that for a while but getting a 100lb yak way up on my lifted jeep is rough and when the yak fell off ALMOST destroying my wife's car while I was unloading it.. made me move to a trailer. But there are locations I cannot get to with a trailer.. and the trailer is a pain (I cannot store the yak on the trailer).

As far as "no down side" to an 8 foot bed... there a are a couple, even for a 6 1/2 foot bed. I like to off road and the longer the wheel base the less of a break over angle you have... basically a full size truck with a long bed does not off road as well as a shorter, narrower truck.

Also my wife has to drive my vehicle at times and she simply does not want a full size truck.

[Steve6902]

A crew cab F350 with an 8 foot bed makes for a looong truck. Mine only has a 6 foot bed and it's long. The reason why I use a bed extender is I'm afraid that my $2,700 Hobie will get a crease where it hangs off the tail gate. I have to drive 1 and 1/2 hours or more to get to the bay. A $50 dollar bed extender is a cheap peace of mind. Besides it goes on and comes off in a couple of seconds.

[mikelreidd]

I have a crew cab Taco with a 5 foot bed. I originally carried my Yak on the rooftop carrier, but ran into sooooooo many Snaggedliners using short beds that I switched 2 years ago to the bed. Drop the tail, throw a foam kayak pad in the crack, tie it down and attach an orange flag, and away I go. Never had an issue. Saved probably 15 minutes every load up and more importantly, SAVED MY BACK.

[john from md]

I've got a Toyota T100 with a six foot bed. I have no problem with my Hobie Outback with the tailgate down and no extension. I put my kayak in katty corner and tie a red flag to the end. My red flag is actually a $2 red camisole from Walmart.

I have a Tacoma with the same bed and I set mine up the same way. I have never had a problem with it.

[Shady]

I have a Colorado crew cab long box. The bed is a couple inches over six feet and hauling the outback in the bed diagonally works great with out any extender. I don't miss my small suv for a second

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