I’m looking for some help/advice on trailing a heavy sit on top. I drove a Tundra where I could put the boat in the back with extender-easy and super fast. I now have a 4Runner- no chance I can put this 120 boat on top cross bars. Can’t put in back, I think I need a utility trailer modified to carry 2 boats at a time. They look very expensive-any ideas/thoughts
thanks
Like Coosabass,
I went the route of buying a EZ-Rec Rack to carry two heavy sit on top kayaks. I could write a book on everything I encountered and had to overcome. First off I would like to say it is a good piece of equipment and the owner/designer was fantastic every time I called him to discuss my issues. I bought my rack for a 2011 Liberty with a sky slider sunroof. Immediately this added an addition 4 inches of height to the crossbars so as not to interfere with the roof opening. I bought the rack the second year he came out with them. The original models were not built to handle the weight of sit in fishing kayaks. They will flex and distort the carriage to where the wheels will no longer smoothly glide through the channels. He has beefed this up with the newer model as he wasn't expecting it originally to be used for heavier kayaks. The carriage stops have been beefed up also as the old style broke quickly. One thing that anyone buying one should be aware of is if you are loading/unloading on a side incline (such as the side of a road) or in a wind the carriage can flip and crash. I corrected this myself by adding a short guide channel. The final consideration to take into account is that with using J hooks to mount the kayaks to, I am requiring 10 feet of clearance. I won't be shortcutting through any woods with low branches to one of my hidden spots. I like my rack since I am in my mid 60s and it has served it purpose. I don't care to trailer because where I go I would destroy a trailer faster. I just wanted to provide some useful information that will assist someone to make an informed decision.
I run a Triton 4 place trailer. Two kayaks on it and a long Yakima storage box (think of a long extra trunk area to use as storage) The 4th spot is take another kayaker with us on a trip.
https://www.tritontrailers.com/watercraft/lxt-lk/
Not going to car top my PA14.
I got tired of building and breaking trailers. Finally got a ladder rack and an EZ Rec Rack (google it) for my Silverado. Let's me pull the camper plus take two kayaks on top easily. The EZ Rec Rack is for my NuCanoe Pursuit 13.5' that weighs in at 85 lbs. Mounted J-racks on the ladder rack itself for my wife's 57 lbs. Tamarack Pro (Lifetime). The EZ Rec Rack should work on a Rav 4. Their website shows a ton of different vehicles.
This is what I have for our two kayaks. Right now, one is in Wisconsin and the other one is in Florida. When they both come home I will make a rack for the utility trailer, so I can put the the second one above the lower one. The utility trailer has 4 inch PVC that the boat rests on. The utility trailer has stake pockets that I will use for the upper supports. I also toyed with the idea of making a carrier similar to a cartop carrier, where the boats would rest on their sides.
Hi - Okay have been in a very similar situation in the past. In 2010 we bought two Hobie outbacks roughly 90 pounds per. We put them on the roof for one trip and after the trip I said "nope". Not only were they impossible to get up there, I had zero faith that this was a good way to haul them. They wobbled all over the place and I was like "great, going to fling two state of the art kayaks on to I-90 at 75 mph."
Since 2010 we have upgraded twice, first Outbacks again in 2015 and then just last year we went to a 2021 Pro Angler 360 and a 2021 Outback.
Alright so now you have some context. Bottom line, we have two heavy kayaks, and have had two heavy kayaks for a long time. In terms of vehicles we have a Jeep and an Explorer, so no beds, ultimately we needed a trailer solution.
What we did is bought a Triton 8 Foot ATV trailer. Now, you can place the kayaks on the trailer as is and make it work - but it's surprisingly more difficult than you would think, simply because properly tying down and anchoring a kayak to an ATV trailer is well, just kind of weird.
The answer is buying a stake pocket kit and making a custom solution. Basically once you install the stake pocket kit on the trailer, the world is your oyster and you design with treated 2x4's to your hearts content. Our trailer is now beautifully outfitted with a modular and removable "jig" that fits both our kayaks perfectly. I also added two overhead rails that hold fishing rods most of the time but also can be used to mount a third kayak (which we have done).
Now, come winter when you are done with the rack, you remove it and store in the garage and you have a nice flat ATV trailer to use all winter. I absolutely love my trailer and I would love to make a business out of building them for people, problem is I just don't think there is a market for custom made double kayak trailer solutions! Its just kind of something you build for yourself if the need arises. If interested in going this route let me know and I can send pics, give further advice etc.
