Frame for Kayak Cradle

Sooooo, just called a Hobie dealer, he says you can do it with the cradle on the bars... Just make sure the weight of the kayak, and everything eles is below 140 (for my Rav4) and it should be fine, if I tie that sucker down good and tight with ropes to bow and stern also... which makes sense.  But without all your help, I would have just assumed I needed to do that.. .The pic I put up is a truck, with a small area to put a rack on... so well, it makes sense he put the extender on there.... Which means as soon as I get the cradle, I can put it on, and go fishing! Maybe it will warm up a bit since it was snowing a bit walking into work this morning.

Roger

Roger, there are no silly questions - as everyone likes to point out when I ask silly questions.

If it turns out you should use extensions, you've been given some good ideas on where to start, and if it turns out you don't need them, no harm, no foul.

Let us know what you end up doing?

If you read in the paper about a runaway kayak on I-5 and the owner heading for the Canadian boarder, you prob have yer answer. LOL

Look up "crossbar spread" on google and see if you can find your vehicle model and the Thule rack you have.  I'd suggest calling Thule and asking them what crossbar spread is needed for the load you're intending to haul.  I know Yakima is really excellent with their customer product support and fit recommendations.  If you don't have that minimum spread distance between your front and rear crossbar, you should probably go with extenders and put the cradles on extenders (or make your own extenders).  Regardless, you should tie down the bow & stern and the middle of the kayak.  I had a hard time getting Yakima to say that it would be ok to haul 140lb of kayaks on the roof rack of my Prius, but they did give me a crossbar spread recommendation.

Sooooo, just called a Hobie dealer, he says you can do it with the cradle on the bars... Just make sure the weight of the kayak, and everything eles is below 140 (for my Rav4) and it should be fine, if I tie that sucker down good and tight with ropes to bow and stern also... which makes sense.  But without all your help, I would have just assumed I needed to do that.. .The pic I put up is a truck, with a small area to put a rack on... so well, it makes sense he put the extender on there.... Which means as soon as I get the cradle, I can put it on, and go fishing! Maybe it will warm up a bit since it was snowing a bit walking into work this morning.

Roger

Glad you figured it out.  [emoji1]

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DO NOT REEF DOWN ON THE BOW AND STEARN LINES!!! There just to keep it from moving for and aft. The cross over straps will hold it down, if you pull down too hard on the front and rear you could stress and crack your hull.

Don't over-tighten them either...   

Yeah, I know about crimping down too hard, my white water kayak got a dent in it when it got really hot on the road, and I deceded to make sure it was in place.. Ended up heating it up with a torch to pop the crease back into place! By the way got a hold of Thule, they said max amount of space between the racks is about 40 inches. So if I want my cradle at 67 inches or whatever the number was, I will have to put in a rail of some sort going from front to back. Or I can chance it with the roof rack. Fun, I love choices. 

Figured you knew to not tighten it down too much when you mentioned the whitewater kayak.

Where did the 67 inch separation number come from?  I saw it in the first post you made, but where'd you get it?

Yeah, I have repaired my mistakes with a blow torch to soften the plastic up bit once or twice. Works on those, and well, in that life duct tape works just fine to patch a hole on a river... Oh to be younger and dumb again.  I cant remember where I got the number, I think it was a forum of some sort. I jotted the number down on a legal pad when I was researching. I am trying to find it again. I need to write my sources and such when doing that. Live and learn, if I find it I will post where I found it.

Roger

You might try a shop that sells and installs Thule racks and tell them your tale of woe.  As bb2fish said, Thule will do a CYA but - perhaps - a shop knows.

I'm clean out of ideas.  Good luck.  I'll follow your progress.

Found the answer as far as the 67 inch spacing, it was on a hobie forum from a moderater. Talking about the standard distance of the cradle for best fit is about 67 inches for the Pro Angler, and some of the others. So, after an hour of looking I found it... I will call Rack and Road, and see if they know about this or just laugh at me, and tell me to get one of the standard cradle thingys they sell!

So its done, got a old friend who welds to teach me to do it right, and now I have transport for the boat!!! Life is good!!

Nicely done!  I like DIY fixes.