The goal is to haul as many kayaks as I can

maverickboater said:

And finally, Yakima "Overhaul" bed rack.

That's five ww kayaks comfortably (there's a white one behind the blue one).

For the canoe, I'm using a "soft rack" that straps through the doors, like this product: https://www.rutabagashop.com/collections/crossbars/products/sea-to-summit-traveller-soft-racks

We have yet to figure out a good bow line (a line at the front end of a long boat to keep it centered), but will have to figure that out before hauling a canoe longer distances.

The rack is very quiet on its own, but I heard some wind whistling with the canoe up top.

Stay tuned for further fine-tuning of the system.

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Hardening2753 said:

This looks like a ton of fun! Where are you normally going for a weekend trip?

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iWayner said:

What length are your crossbars. I ended up ordering the 68" but was wondering if the 60" would work. I put a lot of toys on top too. My Outback/Impreza racks were 66"

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Silverado90 said:

Great pics and interesting subject. I plan on couple of kayaks. I did not know about hauling in the bed so I just ordered an aluminum bed rack. I noticed mostly sit in kayaks. Any preference to sit in or sit on top and good brand and length?

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maverickboater said:

Oh man, you've got me started on kayaks.... brace yourself (heh).

Kayaks are like golf clubs.... different shapes are optimized for different purposes. So boat selection is based on your goals, the location you're paddling, and the appropriate characteristics for that situation.

Every boat design balances many different characteristics. In general, longer = faster, shorter = more maneuverable, wider = less tippy, more rocker = tighter turns, and so on... Sit-on-top are easier to get in and out, which is great for purposes like fishing.

I primarily do whitewater kayaking with sit-in kayaks. The whitewater kayaks in the photo are designed for maneuverability on rivers and to interface with moving water. They are fairly short in length and the shape of the hull is made to carve into turns; they don't like to go straight on flatwater.

The longest kayak in the bed in this photo is the green one, which is 8 foot 8 inches (Liquid Logic Remix 69).

Assuming you want something that will glide well on flatwater, a typical recreational kayak, including a sit-on-top, may be more in the range of 12 feet. So it would overhang the bed quite a bit more. In that case, a rack (or maybe an extender on the trailer hitch) would be better. I have tried hauling a 12 foot kayak in the 63 inch bed of a Dakota before, but it was definitely not as stable as I wanted.

I will absolutely talk your ear off about boat selection if you want to hear it.... Let me know! I also recommend visiting a paddlesports store to test-paddle different options and reading the manufacturer's description of what the boat was designed for.


Also, creating a safe hauling system for boats is one of the topics I'm most interested in discussing here on the forum. I have rescued a boat from the edge of the highway after it fell off someone else's car; that was a dangerous situation. I am all about promoting boat-hauling safety.

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maverickboater said:

I have the 68 inch Yakima HD Bars.

Initially we held a 60 inch bar above the bed; it spanned across the bed opening, but did not surpass the outer dimension of the truck bed in width. My preference was to go wider (to haul more kayaks), so I decided to buy the 68 inch bars. The 68 inch bars are wider than the cab, but not wider than the side mirrors.
The 60 inch bars would also fit just fine. With the 68 inch, I have about 10 inches of bar extending out from the tower on each side.

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