kayaks mounted on top of bed rack

A few weeks back I was asking about mounting kayaks on the Tacoma. Thanks for all the recommendations. Here's what we came up with.

I bought a set of bed rail racks from Voodoo and a Rhino hitch rack with a hitch extender so I can open the tail gate.

We mounted the kayaks down below the roof so we could travel at highway speed with little to no drag and worry.. It worked great. We were doing 85mph easily fully loaded with gear food and beverages. Went on a 500 mile one way trip to the wilderness in Canada for the month of August.. and here we are! We have SAT but no running water! hahaha its great.

One kayak is laying flat the other is n J-bars. I'd have them both flat upside down but the Rhino Rack cross bar wasn't long enough. I will get a longer bar so we can lay them both upside down and flat next run.

The red Kayak is a Prijon Combi 359 and the Blue one is a Dagger Catalyst 12.8


Anyway here's some pics of the setup:

 

Dumb question. Is there a requirement to have some sort of reflective device or red flag hanging off the back of the objects overhanging the bed by 3 or 4+ feet?

 

As dumb as this looks, it's a really convenient way to carry a kayak for those of us who don't trek cross country with gear as well as the kayak.

Bed extender cost $60 and extends the 5 foot bed to 9.5 feet. The 12 foot kayak sits back there and doesn't move an inch. So much easier than lifting the damn thing up and onto my 4Runner.

 

The challenge comes when you have two and gear. It also depends on the size and weight of the yak. Throwing two 9.5 footers on the roof of my Taco is pretty easy and our trips aren't generally very far. I also have a trailer I can use but it's usually full of ATV's and other toys.

 

You're absolutely right. It's not for everybody. It sure works well for me though.

 

Yep. However, bed racks below the roof line seem like my least likely route. The voodoo rack design certainly doesn't meet my needs. Couldn't even get the specs from the maker, even after asking.

 

What spec's did you need?

 

I asked you for the specs on your tacoma bed racks and bars.

 

What exactly did you need to know?

 

The bed racks work great the only issue was the factory tonneau cover. Kinda sucks now that I needed to pack the bed full of camping gear. I need to get some sort of soft cover when I need to use the truck bed. The hard cover really is a hassle when I need more space.

 

Why is this so troubling for you? I realize you are trying to protect your ip, but I am not going to buy and have something ship only to return it, at my cost, if it doesn't work with my kayaks and carriers. Specs let me make an informed choice. No specs mean no sale. Your choice.

I can get hyper specific later when on my computer back at my desk.

 

He's asking what specs you want but you can't answer him?
Height? Width? Tolerance? Weight? Color? Materials? Thickness?

Just asking for "specs" is too vague.

 

It's not troubling at all, and I'm not trying to protect anything.

 

nice setup. Canada is a great place to yak this time of year!

slight jacking here...

whats your tire setup? can you post tire size and rims and whther the suspension is stock? along with the side bars?

thanks in advance.

 

I need the specs on the 18" rise rack, crossbars. The bars I am referring to are the ones that run parallel to the rear window, and the tailgate. Those would be the mount points for my current Yakima J-Low carriers. I need length, width and thickness. It appears they are not solid so I would like to know if they are angle iron or what. It isn't clear from the pics.

The angle iron part (or whatever material) is important because the carriers I have clamp on. They are not bolt on. I don't want the bar cutting into the rubber of the clamp. Yakima has other inserts for round or square bars but I need the width and thickness to ascertain what is viable, and what isn't.

Materials and finish would be nice, but it's a little academic at the moment.

 

The top crossbar is a channel shape. Picture an upside down "U".

The width is 3.5" and the height is 1.5".

The thickness of the steel is 14 gauge.

Finish is black texture powder coat.

 

Thank you. May I have the length please?

 

The length across the top is 50.125", for the 18" tall rack.

 

I have a couple of additional questions.

What is the distance from the front cross bar to the rear?
Is the top edge and surface of the rack above, flush, or below the cab height?

If it's slightly below it's probably ok because the carrier is going to raise the hull a couple of inches, but it would be good to know the exact measurement below if you have it for the 2nd and 3rd gen.

Thanks. Sorry to be a pain in the ass but now you know why I asked for published specs before. So I wouldn't have to ask so many questions.

 

Long bed or short?