Best Options to Carry a Kayak and 2 Bikes with a 2018 Kia Optima  

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The best way to transport a kayak and 2 bikes with your 2018 Kia Optima is to use a hitch mount bike rack and then add a roof rack for carrying your kayak. You could potentially carry everything on your roof but the 165 lb max weight limit of a roof rack can easily be exceeded depending on what bikes and kayak you have.

The trailer hitch I recommend using is the Class I Draw-Tite Sportframe # 24965 because it doesn't require the use of a support strap for non-trailer loads like the Curt option does. Then for a bike rack I highly recommend the Kuat Sherpa because it is a lightweight bike rack (only weighs 32 lbs) that can accommodate up to 2 bikes weighing 40 lbs. Since you are loading a lot of equipment on your Optima the lightweight bike rack helps keep the overall cargo weight down.

This bike rack comes in Gray # SH12G, Black # SH12B, and Pearl # SH12P, all of which feature bike and rack locks, a tool-free anti-rattle system, and the common tilting/folding positions for easy trunk access and compact storage. I have attached a review video of this bike rack for you to check out.

To carry your kayak I recommend the Yakima JetStream roof rack as the crossbars are aluminum (for corrosion resistance) and feature a rubber insert in the T-Slot that doesn't require trimming when adding accessories. The parts you need to add this to your Optima include the 50" crossbars # Y00425, BaseLine Towers # Y28TR, and BaseClip Fit Kit # Y06134.

The Yakima JayLow Kayak Carrier # Y04073 is then what I recommend for your kayak because it has a sleek look and built-in ramps to make loading your kayak much easier. The JayLow can accommodate up to 2 kayaks (if you go kayaking with a friend) but can also be folded down when not in use. One of the benefits of using this with the Yakima JetStream bars is that you can use the lock cores # Y07206 to lock the roof rack and this carrier using the same key.

If your kayak and bikes are lightweight then, as I stated above, you can potentially carry the kayak with the parts mentioned above and then add 2 of the Kuat Trio # TR02 to carry your bikes on the roof as well. To ensure that you can do this you need to subtract 27 lbs from the roof rack weight rating and make sure that the combined weight of your kayak and bikes doesn't exceed the 145 lbs that are left. Should you go this route you can use the lock core set # Y07208 instead which gives you the same cores for all of the Yakima roof products.

Review videos have been linked for you to check out some of the products I referenced above.

expert reply by: Jon G

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