Kayak Rack Under Basement

Schultz14

Member
Has anybody else tried this? I saw one post where folks had mounted a ladder carrier under the front, but nothing this low. I haven’t had it on the road yet but plan to next mont. The obvious question is how low is too low? Thoughts?
I’ll try and attach a picture.
Augie
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avvidclif

Well-known member
Leave the kayaks out and go for a test drive. Including a few driveways. If the racks don't get bent the kayaks should be OK. Maybe
 

Schultz14

Member
Thanks. That’s an idea but to be honest I won’t do it. I’m in a time crunch right now. Worst case is I damage a kayak and have to carry them in the truck bed. If that happens or worse I’ll report back here.


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jbeletti

Well-known member
If you can place some boards on the sloped portion of the driveway for the rear wheels of the truck to run up on, it will give you a better shot at getting out with no damage. Until the rear trailer axle breaks over that crest, the bottom of the trailer will be close to the crest.

Another thought is add the kayaks when you are out of the driveway, then be careful what sort of steep transitions you traverse during your travels.
 

Schultz14

Member
Thanks guys. The driveway isn’t as bad as it looks in the pic. But in a lot of cases it’s the most uneven transition of our trips. I’ll check how much clearance I have on my way out. That’ll give me a benchmark for the road.
Thanks
Augie


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Oregon_Camper

Well-known member
Hope you have them secured VERY tight!! There is going to be a lot of wind funneled under the truck at 60+ mph

Mount a GoPro so you can watch footage of them during travel. :)
 

edenston

Rotarian / Broker Realtor
Has anybody else tried this? I saw one post where folks had mounted a ladder carrier under the front, but nothing this low. I haven’t had it on the road yet but plan to next mont. The obvious question is how low is too low? Thoughts?
I’ll try and attach a picture.
Augie
19939f4ea1622f12b166cc071ceb1d2f.jpg



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Love it hope it works...Let me know
 

WillyBill

Well-known member
If you don't support the kayaks at several points(big contact patch) in the middle they will bend in the heat(Don't ask me how I know). Supports should match hull arch. How will you keep road grime out of those boats? Just curious. I hope you can make this work for the long haul since I have a kayak in my toy hauler garage that I'd like to haul elsewhere. Please show us the way, lol.

WB
 

Schultz14

Member
WillyBill, I suspect they’ll get dirty riding under there. That’s a negative I can live with. On the other hand they’re protected from the sun.
I’ll have them secured and supported when we go on vacation. We hit the road around the 8th of August, I’ll report back here soon afterwards.
Thanks all for the thoughts and ideas.
Augie


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Schultz14

Member
Looking at the picture closer you may not get out of the driveway.

Well we got home last night. Our trip took us to 5 campgrounds in the Sierras. We started on the west side and went to the Truckee/Tahoe area then down to the east side of the sierras and to Silver lake near Mammoth. Bottom line is the under the basement kayak rack was a complete success. Right off the bat, coming out of the driveway, we were all wrong, instead of getting closer to the ground the bottom of the 5er in front of the axels actually got farther from the ground. When the truck was on the pavement and the 5er was still pointed up hill on the driveway there was more clearance then when on level ground. Now if the situation was reversed, and I was towing up a hill with a very sharp transition to level ground, the basement would get closer to the ground. And even then it would have to be a very sharp transition. I never came close to scraping the kayaks on the ground.
The other discovery is the wife loves kayaking! That’s even better news then my kayak rack working. The kayaks we have are lower end models we bought used. Now we’re looking on Craigslist for nicer (more comfortable) kayaks.
Bottom line, the kayak rack under the basement works and is easy to load and unload.
Augie



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Schultz14

Member
This pic is from the last campground we stayed at, the Silver Lake Resort. It’s about the only pic from our trip that shows the kayak rack and it also shows how they park your rig for you (save your “I’d never let anybody park my rig” comments please). They park/move them like this at the local RV repair shop here in Palmdale too. We really liked this park by the way, the lake/boat launch is right across the street. Beautiful park, $39 a night. But no WiFi or cable
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carl.swoyer

Well-known member
I would do something like this.

images
I made the same boat carrier except I made a second receiver the pivots 358°. It was for a alumacraft Jon boat. This allows me to load and secure the bow then lift and walk around and load and secure the transom over the rear roof rack. I Still have it and it works great.

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