Carrying a Kayak on Top of a Pace American Trailer  

Question:

Expert Reply:

This will be a difficult load, but it is possible to carry your Hobie Kayak on the roof of your vehicle.

First, you'll want to verify the roof capacity of the trailer. This capacity will include the kayak, the carrier and the roof rack itself.

For a rack, you will get the best flexibility out of a track system. I recommend Thule's square bar kit, consisting of the following parts:

Thule 60 inch Track, part # THTB60
Thule Podium Foot Pack, part # TH460R
Thule Podium Fit Kit, part # THKIT3101
Thule 79 Inch ProBar Evo, part # TH713700

This will give you a 150 pound capacity rack on your roof that can be adjusted forward and backwards along the track to best fit your needs. I recommend installing it in the center of the trailer because of the size of your kayak to provide it the best support.

For an actual carrier, I am recommending the setup around the need to overcome the 7 foot height of the trailer, plus the height of the wheels on the trailer.

You have two ways of loading the kayak, either from the back or from the side. I think given the size of the trailer, that the side will likely be easier, and provide you with a better range of load assist options, plus you won't need to go over the four feet of the rear end of the trailer to load the kayak.

First and foremost, you won't be able to use traditional load assist options because they do not have enough weight capacity for your kayak, so we're going to be using alternative load assists that temporarily attach to the bar.

For the carrier setup, I recommend the Rhino-Rack Nautic Roof Kayak Carrier, part # RR570. This will let you use the rotating supports to help transition the kayak to the center of the carrier. This saddle style also doesn't have a weight capacity as most of the weight is directly loaded onto the bar, rather than the saddles.

To actually get the kayak up onto the vehicle, we'll use Rhino Rack's Universal Load Assist Bar, part # RR-RUSL . This bar has a capacity of 132 pounds with its included support pole that reaches 87-1/8 inches to the ground.

You'll also want a tire step like part # HE4040 to help make the loading a lot easier.

Your setup will require that the saddles are loaded as close as they can be to the towers of the roof rack. You'll use the Load Assist bar to guide the front of the kayak up and onto the crossbar, then pivot the rear of the kayak onto the crossbar, then stand on the wheel step and push the kayak over the saddles and it will fall into place.

To strap it down, you'll need to wrap the included straps around the kayak after its loaded and then secure the straps to the bar. Your front and rear tie downs can clip to the front and rear of the trailer's frame.

expert reply by: Jacob W

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