kayak carriers

[mmanolis2001]

Ryan,

Your carrier looks like Mike's carrier (on his Trailblazer).

I use the pivoting supports (w/ springs) for the front. Same ones in the pic. The problem I have is that my Outback (facing forward) is heavy and the hull bottom rests on the crossbar. The supports do not lift the yak up. The supports essentially provide lateral support only. Does your Outback rest on the supports without touching the cross bar?

For the rear, I use fixed plastic saddles. These work fine, but maybe I should use the ones you have (as shown in the pic they look like curved cradles with a groove in the middle of the surface that contacts the yak). Does the yak slide on these?

The Outback has such curvy hull profile that it's not straight forward on how to get the best support from different cradles/saddles.

The curved supports are adjustable and made of a non slip rubber. These are made to cradle the front of the kayak. The spring loaded slide supports are meant to be placed at the rear and closer together so the are almost parallel to the roof when the kayak sits on top of them. This makes it much easier to load and unload the kayak.

Edit: Doh Ryan beat me to it.

[tufnik]

I currently use the spring loaded supports (glides) for the front. I can't place the yak on the supports so that the supports are near parallel to the roof because the yak will slip off when I strap it down. Even when I space the supports so that they are about 45 degrees, the yak still slips and gets lopsided. Is the solution to use these supports for the rear? I guess. Does your slip?

Mike, you have a smooth even Trident Prowler hull profile that fits the support and cradle well. The Outback's hull does not fit that well.

Ryan, if I recall, I think your support glides are about a foot apart so that the surface of the glides face outward. In other words, the surface contacts on either side of the middle bump. And you have these glides at the yak rear. Right?

[MetroMan]

Meh...work fine for me just strapped down to the crossbars.

[Shady]

I currently use the spring loaded supports (glides) for the front. I can't place the yak on the supports so that the supports are near parallel to the roof because the yak will slip off when I strap it down. Even when I space the supports so that they are about 45 degrees, the yak still slips and gets lopsided. Is the solution to use these supports for the rear? I guess. Does your slip?

Mike, you have a smooth even Trident Prowler hull profile that fits the support and cradle well. The Outback's hull does not fit that well.

Ryan, if I recall, I think your support glides are about a foot apart so that the surface of the glides face outward. In other words, the surface contacts on either side of the middle bump. And you have these glides at the yak rear. Right?

Yep

[tufnik]

My problem is I have the THULE square bars but my rack on my ENVOY won't accept them. My other problem is the THULE supports that are made to fish the square tubing won't stay upright since my factory bars are slightly curved on top as well as not being able to tighten the thumb screws enough to keep supports in place.

I wind up after each time placing my kayak on top of my vehicle I have to re-adjust the supports. Just pain in the butt when it's raining or windy, cold, etc. Would prefer to have a system where I can just transport kayak and forget about it. I'd imagine there are others out there who might have encountered my same issue.

Didn't mean to hijack your thread, new2.

Do you have some pics of your problem?

[loupa5]

I bought the setup at eastern mountain sports 3 years ago. I just looked on the Thule site and i could not find this exact setup. I don't know if they still produce this type of rack. Did you use the Base rack fitting guide section of the site? I'm not sure how the Tahoe's factory rack is setup. Do you have a track in the base of the factory rack rails?

Yeah, I have a track on my rail with the cross bars that is factory. I did use the Thule fitting guide and it came up with something similar to yours. However it doesn't fit in the track like yours. Instead there is a strap that goes around the rail and you tighten the strap with a hex key.

[loupa5]

Does anyone have experience with this setup?


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTsmZ5SomIE"]Rhino Rack T Loader demo with Hobie Pro Angler by Scott Lovig Hobie - YouTube[/ame]

[mmanolis2001]

I currently use the spring loaded supports (glides) for the front. I can't place the yak on the supports so that the supports are near parallel to the roof because the yak will slip off when I strap it down. Even when I space the supports so that they are about 45 degrees, the yak still slips and gets lopsided. Is the solution to use these supports for the rear? I guess. Does your slip?

Mike, you have a smooth even Trident Prowler hull profile that fits the support and cradle well. The Outback's hull does not fit that well.

Ryan, if I recall, I think your support glides are about a foot apart so that the surface of the glides face outward. In other words, the surface contacts on either side of the middle bump. And you have these glides at the yak rear. Right?

What type of vehicle are you using? How are you loading the Kayak on your roof with your current setup? I have the load assist bar so it helps me allot but even without the load bar and i can place a bathroom mat on my rear hatch and place the kayaks nose on the mat. i then walk to the rear and just slide the kayak up onto the cradles. The rear cradles allow me to easily slide the kayak up into the front cradles keeping it centered.

I'm dont have any experience with an outback so i guess the hull shape is the issue. Dose the hull have a relatively flat area on either side of the keel? This is where you should set the sliding cradles at. Once the Kayak is on the holders and strapped down it wont shift.

Did you use the same rack for your Trident?

[mmanolis2001]

Yeah, I have a track on my rail with the cross bars that is factory. I did use the Thule fitting guide and it came up with something similar to yours. However it doesn't fit in the track like yours. Instead there is a strap that goes around the rail and you tighten the strap with a hex key.

I cant seem to find the setup i have on the web anywhere now.

I saw what the fitting guide showed for my vehicle and its not the same as what i currently have. I guess they changed things up. I have a base foot that is only about an inch high with a steel bar that attached into the track with a locking nut. The uprights lock into this foot and allow me to take the whole rack off with a push of a button. Its hard to tell in the pics on the Thule site. they use a generic pic for all the fitting kits. It could be the same as mine. You could send them an email and maybe they could give you more info on the current racks.

[tufnik]

You can see the curvy Outback hull. Rack adjustment is needed with the Trident.

http://www.snaggedline.com/showthrea...ck+revo&page=5

I use a wheeled loader, so I really need the front supports to slide.
http://www.snaggedline.com/showthread.php?t=1274

[Ahab]

I took the plunge on buying a Thule hullivator, though I have yet to use it yet - hopefully this weekend I'll get it out for its maiden voyage.

I have an outback, which is heavy to begin with and I have the additional problem of having a cross-bar (which is necessary for my stand-n-fish apparatus) that has raised edges on both sides. These edges were scratching the hell out of my suv as I loaded and unloaded it.

I figured that I didn't want to be penny-wise and pound foolish. I'd rather shell out some bucks then to get to the water and drop my kayak, which would cost more money and ruin my day to boot. I also didn't want to continue to scratch up my vehicle.

[loupa5]

I'm thinking of going with the Thule 887xt Slipstream, check out the video:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaI75CfiHck"]Thule 887 - SlipStream Demonstrated by Rack Outfitters - YouTube[/ame]

Prices vary on the web from $305 to $350. Ebay has it for $274. Does anyone have first hand experience with this setup?

[Pinch]

I have a slipstream.
Pros: its a great idea

cons: the aluminium tubing warped in 2 months making it hard to slide.

the "non slip" rubber on the front section peels off when you load your kayak

The locking mechanism pops up on ya if you arent careful



Im selling mine and buying a truck.

[loupa5]

Bummer, I thought the same...great idea. Thanks for the heads up, sounds like the slipstream isn't compatible with heavier kayaks.