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I bought a Toyota Tacoma truck with an access cab and was wondering if I can carry my kayak with both racks on the roof or if I should buy a rack that attaches to the box and then the kayak attaches to racks in the box and on the roof. My kayak is just a little over 13 ft. long.
It all works. I know a guy that uses a tall rack in his pick-up bed. One end of the kayaks (he can carry 2 or more) extends over the top of the pickup cab.
I use roof racks on my "crossover suv" (more like a station wagon really). The racks aren't that far apart...maybe 3'? And then I have the Thule Hullavator kayak mounts attached to the roof racks.
I don't seem to have a picture handy, but my forward rack is centered over the rear doors. The rear rack is centered over the far back window. So, they are close together, and positioned rather far back on the vehicle. But it works fine. You could probably put both racks in the bed of your pickup. But one in the bed and one on the cab might be a better choice than both over the cab?
The bed racks shouldnt be that expensive. you can probably get the lumber racks that are sold through lowes or the home despot and use those. But I know that I wouldnt want to use two racks that close together on top of a pickup cab. But I am kind of a coward about things falling off/out of my truck ever since my brother had about ten sheets of 3/4 plywood fly out and almost scalp a car behind him.
I have carried my 13.5 ft. WS Ride with two roof mounted Yakima racks on my regular cab F150 w/no problem. Only caution I got from dealer was not to leave the yak mounted full time in the Texas sun when temps are over 100 --a frequent event, as the yak might warp.
P.S. I always use a strap from the bow to my front bumper.
The further apart your rack bars are spread, the more stability you'll have
I cannot advise you on this since I just slide my NuCanoe into the back of my Ranger for hauling, but, as I think about your situation, I have a concern that may be thinking too much! Since the cab of the truck is not attached or part of the bed of the truck, I would think you would either want the rack all on the cab or all on the bed. As you travel ruts and bumps, the bed can twist and move when the cab does not and maybe this would create a problem. Trust me, this is just thinking through this and this may not present any problem.
Just thinking out loud and nothing more....
Thanks guys for all the input. I think I'll try the cab mount first especially as it rarely gets over 100 here in northwestern Iowa. If that doesn't work I may go with the bed & cab mount as even if the cab and box don't move together there would be enough give in the kayak to take care of it.
I'm just chomping at the bit to get out on the water again with my kayak and maybe catch some big fish with my fly rod this year.
If you don't have one already...invest in a trailer hitch. Cabelas sell a truck bed extension that goes into the receiver on a hitch. you put the Kayak in the back of the truck & whatever hangs over secures to the extension... Works for me...about $100
You should be fine. I use Thule J-racks on my existing roof rack on my Blazer with no problem and they are fairly close. My kayak is 14ft. I would definitely make sure you run lines from the bow and stern, though. I'm a big fan of redundant systems.
I used to carry a 16 ft canoe on the pickup, so I put a Thule T-bar in the hitch receiver to take the load over a longer span.
Problem is that the tail gate couldn't be opened with the pole sticking up from the hitch.
A good shop should be able to weld one up for way less that the store bought model.