So I am finally going to own my own kayak (C.D. Caribou... any feedback on that score would be appreciated as well... pick it up next week in spite of the snow here).
The question is what kind of rack (not necessarily brand, but sure) should one use to protect the integrity of the boat. These "j" shapes or the nice supporting curved supports that have them traveling right side up. I would like to build it, but I am a metal tradesman so material isn't a limitation. Just general physical requirements and complicated physics from experts is all that I expect. Let me have it. This is my first day in this forum. Cheers!!!

Steve, I don't own a Caribou but I've paddled a friend's. You will like your Caribou A LOT! Roof racks--I don't think it matters that much as long as the support area of rack to boat is kept large and padded so as not to concentrate stresses. Also, I prefer to tie down the boat very securely (bow and stern, as well as across) but not too tight! The boat can wiggle and jiggle a little, but as long as boat and/or racks can't leave the car while in motion, all will be well. Too tight could lead to deformation.

Carl

Steve,

If material is not a problem build yourself an aluminium trailer.


Cheers

Bill

Steve, my first day on this forum too.

I don't know what kind of vehicle you have but here is what I did for my full size pick up truck with an aluminum cap:

I did not want to spend $450 for the Thule Universal adapters to put the cross bar on my $600 cap so I purchased a product called UniStrut from an electrical supply store. I bought two 10 foot long sections of unistrut for about $40 and cut them to fit the length of my 6.5 foot long cap. I drilled holes in the strut and through the aluminum cross braces in the roof of the cap. I bolted the unistrut to the roof using 1/4" stainless steel bolts and self locking nuts. I put rubber washers between the strut and the roof to prevent water from leaking through. Then I used 100 Amp SE straps (these are the metal straps used to hold the main electrical cable feeding your electic meter to the side of a house) to bolt Thule cross bars to the unistrut. You can buy special spring loaded nuts from Unistrut that fit into the channel and will slide easliy into place and hold very well when when drawn tight with a wrench. I use Thule glide and set racks for my boats. The glide part makes it easy to slide my 17' foot boats up on the roof at an angle fom the back of the truck and then let them drop into the front set. I use two thule straps on each boat and bow and stern lines also. The materials for this rack cost me about $55 and I have enough left over to make another one. It works vey well and has a much lower profile than any store bought rack I have seen. You can buy these materials at any Home Depot or electical supply store.

By the way, where do you kayak in the Guelp area? I drive through there on my way to Tobermory.

Hey, thank you for all of the feedback. Oddly enough I have been eyeing unistrut at work yesterday and thought if I routed out a slot in a couple of 2 by 4's on edge and set the unistrut into the slots (bolted through) U-bolted to the crossmembers of my dodge carrivan and I can attach anything with those spring back nuts. Good thinking all around.
Thanks to all!!!

I been using the Thule "Glide and Set" saddles which I like but I can only fit one of them on my roof. No room for another boat, so the second boat went on our Utility trailer. No problem but a pain in the ass sometimes to park and secure the trailer in a tight area. Recently purchased x 2 J Style, Yakima "Bow Downs" so that I have space for two boats on my Exterra. Question is, for this style of rack with the boat on it's side, does that not put more stress on the frame than right side up? Some of our trips require 6 - 7 hours of Hwy time at 110km / hour. Our two boats are a Delta 17' Thermoform and a Wilderness Systems 16' Tsunami (pollyethlene)

An aluminum plate could be better for that roofing. It is lighter and easier to construct to make such roof design.