Re: Ideal Situation

Posted by Karl on May 11, 2005

Susan, I have a truck ladder rack that spaces just over 6' between crossbars. I'm carrying an 18' kayak. What I typically try to do is land the front set of straps right over the bulkhead and the rear set falls just a little behind. Yes it does leave some of the tail hanging in the breeze behind the truck, but it also supports the 'yak as close as possible to the strongest points of construction. I can grab the boat at either end and give it a shake, the truck wiggles. I like Robert's idea of redundant straps though, in case one fails. I figure I'm hanging 6.5' to 7' over the front and 5'-5.5' out back. By rights I should be hanging a flag off of it, but I usually forget. So far the only Police interest in my overhead load has been, "Wow, did you build that?" From a cop at the local gas station.

FYI, deck up, in my case. The blocks I use have a V-shape, so they match the profile on the bottom better.

In Response to: Re: Ideal Situation by Susan on May 9, 2005

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