kayak carrier bars

[yotgirl]

i recently had some work done on my 2010 wrangler sport to fit some bars across the windshield and another bar across the back over the hard top to carry my ocean kayak which is 17' long.

i started from an idea i saw where a "light" bar is fitted above and across the windshield. then basically copied the idea for the back of the truck. i intend to "join" the front and rear bars to give the assembly rigidity. but ive made everything capable of coming apart so i can fit the soft top when i want.

well, it sort of didnt go to plan and i have to get more mods done to the bars to get it right.

has anyone got any ideas or pics of their setups for carrying a kayak?

i would really appreciate any help i can get.

thanks.
bernadette

[CCGRUNT0331]

I have a TJ but I see where ya goin, do you have a pic of the rear bar assembly?

[dude960]

I did the same thing on the front you are talking about. I used a light bar, found one local, took the lights off and refinished it. Then I wrapped it in the insulation that you use for the copper piping that goes to your outside AC unit and wrapped it all with a ridiculous amount of black electrical tape.

For the rear I modified the top of my swingout and made a "T" that extends from the top of the swing out and forms a T above the soft top. Same thing with insulation and tape. The T is removable. The drawback is I have to have the yak off to open the swingout and rear.

Sorry no pics but I hope you get the idea.

[Netpackrat]

My setup is probably more cost and effort than you want to go to, but I welded some tabs onto my rack basket, used to mount Yakima bars. The customer service people at REI can order individual Yakima replacement parts, so I had them order a set of the aluminum loops and plastic saddles that are normally part of the standard 1A raingutter towers. These attach to the tabs with a single bolt, and then I can use any of the Yakima attachments. Not visible in the following picture is a third set of tabs in the middle of my rack, so I could install an additional bar for carrying shorter objects, or attachments such as a bike rack:



For another view of what I was using prior to building the basket, see this:



That's just a simple piece of angle adapting the above mentioned parts to a Kargomaster Congo Cage. They have changed the design of the Cage so that exact arrangement won't work with the current units, but it gives you an idea of what can be done.