Anyone have a suggestion for a full size truck ladder rack for Kayak hauling

So I picked up a camp trailer and now I need to figure out how to haul my 13' yak on top of my truck for the occasions I want to bring the camp trailer and the yak.   I am thinking of getting a ladder rack so that I can haul it partially over the cab and over the bed.  Does anyone have any experience with these, good or bad?   

Thank you in advance for the advice.

https://www.usrack.com/responsive/kayak-and-canoe-truck-racks.php

I have been told good things about these guys, I have NO actual experience with them.

I can custom weld you one for $25 (1/2 day) shop floor fee and cost of materials and supplies you need to bring the steel ,truck, and yak to Garibaldi if we go that route. PM me contact info if your interested and we can rough design something and build it on the truck.

I have the Tracrac http://www.tracrac.com/ and quite like it.  Pulling the travel trailer and bringing multiple bicycles as well as a kayak along can be a challenge.  The rack is plenty sturdy and is easily configurable to add bike racks or cargo boxes in addition to hauling the kayak.  The only down side is that anyone with an allen key set and a little time is able to remove the rack.  Crime is not really a major issue where I live so I haven't worried about it.  I'm sure you could replace the mounting bolts with tamper proof bolts or some type of other arrangement if you were worried about it.

It would help if we knew something - anything - about the truck.

I have a Nissan Frontier 4-Door Crew Cab short bed.  I prefer to not drill into the truck bed side rails and chose racks that are removable.  I've been using a TracRac One system for more than a year to haul a Revo 13 and a Trident 13.  The racks are 66 inches apart.  With the side carry handles centered between the racks, the stern(s) overhang the rear bumper by about 30 inches and the bow overhangs the cab.  I use two load straps around the boat and the racks, and two load straps passed through the side carry handles to the tie downs in the truck bed to prevent fore and aft movement.

Anyway, that's not your question.

I've had zero problems hauling 13 foot kayaks on a ladder rack up to 70 MPH and there'd probably be no problems at (slightly) faster speeds, but I've never driven faster than 70 with kayaks strapped to the rack.  I thought about a rack that extends over the truck cab, but I haven't had any reason to wish I'd gone with that style.

This thread was for a similar question and has lots of suggestions and pictures: http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=17103.0

And yes, Mojo is a whiz at fabrication and I'd have taken him up on his offer if I hadn't received the TracRac for free.

I’m using a Yakima outdoorsman (no drill) setup on my 2011 ram 2500. 



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And it would help to know what kayak that is.  It overhangs the real bumper of your full-size Dodge a lot more than my Revo 13 overhangs my compact Nissan Frontier.

And it would help to know what kayak that is.  It overhangs the real bumper of your full-size Dodge a lot more than my Revo 13 overhangs my compact Nissan Frontier.

Looking at the sail and outrigger with a mirage drive hole I’m a say ..... an oasis or AI? It’s also a quad cab truck.

And it would help to know what kayak that is.  It overhangs the real bumper of your full-size Dodge a lot more than my Revo 13 overhangs my compact Nissan Frontier.

Sorry, having issues with this APP.  That is a Hobie mirage / With AI sail. 


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Looking at the sail and outrigger with a mirage drive hole I’m a say ..... an oasis or AI? It’s also a quad cab truck.
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It's not an Oasis as the Oasis is a tandem kayak.

That said, my truck is a 2012 Dodge Ram Quad Cab.  With the Tracrac and my Oasis mounted on top of it, my overhang is similar to that of this photo.  I transport with the kayak mounted sitting on the far right of the rack to make room for bicycles on the other side.
 My travel trailer has a slanted front and there's plenty of room for turning, etc. even with the kayak being mounted off to the side of the rack.

Worth noting.  I now transport my kayak top side up.  In the photo, you will see that I strapped the carry handle on the bow of the kayak so it is out of the way.  When transporting the kayak bottom side up, the handle bangs on the roof of the truck.

If you are going to take Mojo up on his offer to build you a rack.  You may want to add a bit of height so your bow handle doesn't hit the roof of your truck.

I load/unload the kayak by myself most of the time.  The Oasis is 14'6" and I can lift the bow and pivot the kayak into position quite easily.  I'm not sure how easy this would be if the kayak was shorter or the rack higher?  I've found that I'm rarely on a flat roadway when loading and unloading.  I seem to rely on the Tracrac tie downs quite a bit to keep the kayak from sliding off the side.  A removable, "V" shaped channel that could be easily mounted and unmounted from the back rail and angled down from the rail to just past the tailgate would certainly make life easier.  You could simply place the bow into the channel, grab the stern and push the kayak up and onto the rack.

I have rack that reaches out over the cab.  These racks are a dime a dozen down here in California

We haul 2 Outbacks on their bottoms. Load from the back,push them forward when towing the trailer. Truck is a Toyota Tundra. Only cons are they are getting heavier the older we get and must unhook trailer to unload.

As a new truck owner, I'm also in the position of trying to figure out what arrangement is best for me.  Why do I not see many people putting a rack on the cab?  The last thing I need is a rack on the back, extending the kayak beyond my already lengthy truck.

-Allen

As a new truck owner, I'm also in the position of trying to figure out what arrangement is best for me.  Why do I not see many people putting a rack on the cab?  The last thing I need is a rack on the back, extending the kayak beyond my already lengthy truck.

-Allen

My personal reason was that I didn't want to have a ladder rack permanently mounted to my truck.  I use a removable TracRac ladder rack on my Nissan Frontier Crew Cab (5-foot box) and my Revo 13 and Trident 13 overhang the back of the truck by no more than 28".

If your new truck has factory load bars - or aftermarket load bars are available - you can use those with the crossbar of your choice to strap down your kayak(s) over the cab.  That wasn't an option for me because the cab of a Nissan Frontier is different if it's not built with factory bars.  YMMV.

As a new truck owner, I'm also in the position of trying to figure out what arrangement is best for me.  Why do I not see many people putting a rack on the cab?  The last thing I need is a rack on the back, extending the kayak beyond my already lengthy truck.

-Allen

My personal reason was that I didn't want to have a ladder rack permanently mounted to my truck.  I use a removable TracRac ladder rack on my Nissan Frontier Crew Cab (5-foot box) and my Revo 13 and Trident 13 overhang the back of the truck by no more than 28".

If your new truck has factory load bars - or aftermarket load bars are available - you can use those with the crossbar of your choice to strap down your kayak(s) over the cab.  That wasn't an option for me because the cab of a Nissan Frontier is different if it's not built with factory bars.  YMMV.

Yes, I believe there are aftermarket bars that fit my cab.  I'm still not sure what I want to do with the bed cover wise, so this gives me a little more flexibility for future decisions.  Although the roof is high, and my shoulders hurt, so I may have to rethink my "just press it up" method of loading.  I guess I can climb in the bed of the truck and load from there.  Yeah, that'll work!

-Allen