Roof rack options to carry kayaks? On hardtop

[Rock God]

Have a look at this link

http://www.ausjeepoffroad.com/forum/...=131242&page=8

My Frontrunner rack is mounted through the roof to the roll bar see further link, the other is the cheaper load bar system which is the rails and yes is drilled into roof, there website does say 2010+ but it's really up to 2010 as the rack won't fit a 2010+ as I experienced.

http://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com...l#.U2Tac38aySM


http://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com...l#.U2TZvX8aySM

[ian]

Anyone have a aev one, So much for wanting to keep the price down .

[Rock God]

Aev rack is pretty much the same as the freefrunner rack as to how it mounts.

[Fathead]

Hey there, know your talking racks, but an 'easy trailer' is worth considering @ $850 delivered to your door. As I have 2 yaks, I have added a H frame since the photo. Will try and get a photo up. Re racks the AEV rack looks the goods, but goes through the hardtop to attach to the roll bars

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[ian]

Originally Posted by Fathead

Hey there, know your talking racks, but an 'easy trailer' is worth considering @ $850 delivered to your door. As I have 2 yaks, I have added a H frame since the photo. Will try and get a photo up. Re racks the AEV rack looks the goods, but goes through the hardtop to attach to the roll bars

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Hi fathead, the trailer is a good option but I will be pulling a jayco expanda behind the jeep. And wanted the kayaks on top of jeep. Cheers

[Fathead]

Hi ian, fair call if also wanting to tow. Pro 4x4 (I think) here in adelaide also do an internal frame (their design) which bolts through the hardtop to rhino racks.

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[Harley]

As promised, pics.

The pros of this option are that no drilling of hard top or body. The rack is super solid in way it is mounted to A pillar and chassis. And the big one is that it can be used with soft top or no top. Depending on where you live and your own preferences, this might not be an issue. But for me, having to have the hard top on any time I want to load stuff to the roof was a big deciding factor. This rack can swap between hard top, soft top, no top readily.

Dave at Uneek recently designed me some steel spreader bars that are removable and can be added across the rack in any position. These are perfect for taking the load of kayaks and can be removed to put set up a double swag on the roof or load other camping gear etc. Dynamic weight limit around 125kg, static over 300kg

The loader you can see in the third pic is a strongarm kayak loader. It lets me load and unload the kayaks by myself while the kids throw rocks in the water. It is height adjustable to easily meet the Jeep's overall height. Fortunately I am 6ft 2.

The cons of this sort of full setup are cost, and overall height increase which needs considering in carparks etc. It just fits in my carport by 50mm.