Kayak on Jeep Roof Rack

Today was the day.  Finally hauled the kayak out from under the cabin's front deck.  The kayak is light enough to be carried by one person.  Loading it on the Jeep's roof rack seemed a bit more strenuous.

There are several YouTube videos on how to carry a kayak on a roof rack and they offered some good tips.  Bottom line though is that at some point the kayak has to be lifted onto the rack which is several inches higher than the roof line.  In many of the videos the kayak is placed on a roof rack that is mounted on a small car which puts the top of the rack at about shoulder height.

The Jeep Rubicon is taller than a car, plus the Rubicon model has a lift kit for additional clearance under the vehicle.  With the help of a neighbor, who was acting as a spotter just in case, I was able to lift the front of the kayak onto the rear crossbar of the roof rack and slide it forward until the front crossbar matched the small depression in the kayak topsides where the paddle rests when not in use.  This was quite convenient.

The rear crossbar then fit between the rear of the cockpit opening and the Old Town's hatch cover.  Somewhat serendipitous.  Couldn't (and didn't actually) plan it any better.  The crossbars have pads by the way.

For more detailed shots, see my web page: https://sites.google.com/site/herbskayak/

Finally!

Sorry for the long time between posts.  What you see in the picture at the left is the finished Yakima roof rack on my 2013 Jeep Wrangler.

Adding a roof rack to a Wrangler JK hard top (three piece factory Freedom Top) is a bit more challenging than putting a rack on a 4-door JKX.  I wanted to keep the ability to remove any combination of panels from the roof without having to lose the whole rack.

It was also important to be able to adjust the front to back spacing of the rack to accommodate different loads.  Especially since the interior space on a JK is limited and I sometimes have a need to bring home items from the home improvement stores, I wanted to maximize the front to back spacing.  For carrying my kayak I would need to bring the cross bars closer.  When I first mounted the tracks, however, the bars could only be mounted on the read roof section.  This put the kayak towards the back of the roof with a large overhang to the rear.  I was not completely comfortable with this arrangement.

For more details go to my kayak website at: https://sites.google.com/site/herbskayak/

Roof Rack

 

 

Yakima Wrangler Roof Rack Kit

Up until now I've had to rely on friends to get my kayak to the lakes in our area.  Thanks to a good sale on Yakima roof racks I was able to get a system that fits my relatively new (2013) Jeep Wrangler.  Things were a little more difficult because the Jeep is 2 door model (JK) with a three piece hard top roof.

Yakima makes a kit of parts, including rails that hold the upper part of the rack.  I purchased the rack from ORS Racks Direct.  You can view the catalog page at:

http://www.orsracksdirect.com/yakima-jeep-hardtop-roof-rack-tracks-kit-8001614.html

You can read more about the Yakima Wrangler Kit and my installation by going to my website:

https://sites.google.com/site/herbskayak/new-jeep/yakima-roof-rack

I'm looking forward to Spring and getting out on the water.  There is still ice on our lakes in the high country were we usually go.  The nightime lows have been between 5 and 6 degrees.