Bed rack that extends over the cab?

Looking at hauling 2 Kayaks and will be pulling a trailer so can't have them extend back. Have a double cab SR5 with 5ft bed. Kayaks are 10' long. Thinking some kind of rack that extends a bit over the cab and doesn't go to the back of the bed would allow someone to stand on the back of the bed and tailgate for loading/unloading. If the rack extended all the way back I could still stand on the tailgate but more room would make it easier. If it ends at the front of the bed then half the kayak will hang over the cab unsupported. If the rack extended over the cab a couple feet that would be good IMHO. And would like no drilling - attach to existing bed rails and possibly the bed hold down bolts. Anyone make something like that?

 

Why not get a roof rack and mount them there?

 

That's definitely an option. Looking at both. Both roof rack and bed rack would be best but then I would need to have the heights match.

 

Any type of cab rack would work. Truth be told, throwing them in/on that trailer would probably be the best solution. 10' kayaks wouldn't warrant any kind of worry about overhang on either end if you had them fastened to a cab rack. Or, you could get any kind of bed rack/bed bars that are higher than the cab, but you run the risk of overhang being too much off the back towards the trailer. At the end of the day, you want them supported at the center in 2 spots, so you're gonna have overhang. Just have to decide where works best for what you want.

 

The trailer is a bumper pull RV. No way I am putting them on top of that!

 

what about inside? lol If not, I'd check into a roof rack for your cab with some kayak mounts. Or maybe the cheapest option, look for "ladder racks". This seems to be what you're describing and would do the job.

 

Another vote for a ladder rack.

 

There are a lot of ladder rack options out there.

 

I found a nice looking one that attached to the existing rails. Only $2700! I need to do some more looking.

 

Check etrailer.com.

 

Google “over cab ladder rack Tacoma”

 

Looks like for this length kayaks a full height bed rack could work well. Most of the trailers I have looked at slope back on the front so I can hang maybe 2' off the back or maybe more with no clearance issues. That only leaves 3' extending over the cab so don't really need any support over the cab. Might be good at some point to match height with some cab cross bars for longer stuff so an adjustable height rack would make that easier.

 

I went with a slightly, uh, different solution.

This is what I used to run:





Lemme tell you, it was a pain in the ass to load, a pain in the ass to drive, and an even bigger pain in the ass to bring out of storage in my garage. I never used it as a result because all those pains in my ass made it not fun.












This is what I run now:




It stores inside a suitcase, it transports inside a suitcase. Its not even a thought to toss it in the bed just in case the mood strikes to use it. Its a 20 minute pain in the ass to inflate, but I keep telling myself that the benefits of storage and hauling outweigh that. The only major part is that I'm also sacrificing 1-2 mph on speed - for an inflatable it tracks amazingly well in the water, but no inflatable will ever outglide a rigid hull.

And for that $2700 rack I could have bought two of these and had enough change to fully accessorize both. ^^^






I know, its probably not the direction anyone wants to go. But the folding/inflating game is now getting good enough to entertain the thought.










In this picture is my boat, a week's worth of groceries, and an RC toy truck. You know, a typical camping weekend.

 

Thanks! Definitely gives me some alternate ideas. We actually bought a foldable kayak that is pretty cool and folds down to the size of a medium size suitcase. My kayaks are only 10' long so I think a tall bed rack would work well. I saw a video of someone loading them. They stood in the bed between the rails and put the end over the front rail. Then pushed it forward until they could put the back end over the rear rail. Didn't look too bad. What brand/model inflatable do you have?

 

This one looks less ugly than some of the others I’ve seen.

I have two single kayaks and a double. I wouldn’t mind a better solution for transport. So far I’ve been tossing them in the bed of the ‘05 or ‘02.

 

Advanced Elements convertible tandem with the dropstitch base.

It's been a fun one, but the tech has definitely improved since I bought it.

 

I have hauled my 2 10feet kayaks and my DIY cedar canoe with this setup and still able to lock and load my truck bed.
Transform the space above your tonneau cover into a versatile storage
haven without compromising the security of your valuables inside the covered bed.
https://youtu.be/KY0ZyfxkYCo

 

Well done I like this!

 

Interesting and looks good but not at all what I am after. As I stated I am looking to pull a trailer too and this definitely won't work for that. And it hangs out too far to be legal in most states without lights on the back. Just sayin...

I found a used Yakama OverHaul HD rack for a good price. Looks to be about perfect for my use. It doesn't extend over the cab but don't think that's really needed for 10' kayaks. 5' bed with 18 - 24" stickout on the back and 36 - 42" in the front.

 

Saw this in a lot today.....