advice on car topping

[mrizzit]

Hello all, new to kayaking and this site. Am thinking of purchasing a pair of easky 15 lv's for my girlfriend and I, but am a little worried about transporting them, I am hoping to buy an audi a3 or a4 tomorrow and was wondering if it is practical to transport 2 15ft kayaks on one of these average sized cars, thanks in advance for any help.

[sim432]

Should be fine, have a look at Kari tek website, They offer lots of solutions...although they are a little pricey.

Simon

[soundoftheseagull]

If you do a search on bars or carriers there’s loads on them, there has just been a very similar post.
Karitec J bars always come out on top or likewise the Karitec rack subject to your finances is an excellent piece of kit.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=47979&hilit=karitec
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=50088

[mrizzit]

thank's for the quick replys, I've had a look at the links now. cheers

[John N]

I prefer THULE (there's probably a link on one of the pages listed). Just don't buy 'cheap'. Check the cars roof loading spec. These two boats will likely way a little over 50kg + the weight of the rack. Should be O.K. but better safe than sorry.

[ga2.s]

Thats two Easky 15's and another 16ft kayak on a Halfords roof rack with no uprights and no 'J' bars. Just a litlle careful planning and straping, We done a 200 mile round trip like this so you will have no worries.

[Jim]

Important point when carrying long boats is to tie the ends to your towing eyes (or back to the roof rack). The important think about tying to your towing eyes is not to crank it right up, just take the slack out of the ropes.

Technically you should check the highway code guidance on marking overhangs, whether you do or not you need to remember they are there and try to avoid walking into your own boats, or parking in such a way that another motorist could clip them since they are out of the normal viewing area - there was once a story of a composite boat that lost it's end in a supermarket car park.....

[mrizzit]

thanks again for your responses everyone.

[Jurassic]

Sorry to hijack this thread but I was wondering if anyone has any idea which uprights would fit or could be modified to fit Rhino van roof bars? I've just got a new van and have Rhino Delta bars on it which are an aero profile but deeper than normal car type bars. I'm watching some Thule 520-1 uprights on fleabay but I'm not sure if I could make them fit with longer bolts etc.

[binclintonusa]

The important think about tying to your towing eyes is not to crank it right up, just take the slack out of the ropes.


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