Ideal Situation

Posted by Robert N Pruden on May 9, 2005

Hey, Susan

Your ideal situation for supporting your boat is to have any bracing occur at the bulkheads only, or very close to them. You don't need to support the greater length of the boat on the racks. I use a Thule rack with simple cross bars and four foam blocks. I have posted pictures of the setup I use. You have six feet of support to use. Foam blocks placed on the end bars will do you just fine. Tie the boat down with webbing so that it is very snug with care not to cave in teh hull/deck and you will have nothing to worry about. Make sure that rack is attached to the truck with great strength because that is what will take the stresses when you drive off. I would highly recommend a redundant system of fasteners - i.e. - use two straps at each end so that if one gives way then the others will hold. I always use that system when I know I will have the kayak on the racks at highway speeds. For short innner-city driving I use only one tie in the back and two in the front. I use bow lines only for highway driving.

I hope this helps.

Robert N Pruden


My Racks and Foam Blocks

In Response to: Re: Belly up or down? by Susan on May 7, 2005

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