What Things To Consider When Adding A Roof Rack On To Car?

[rchiuz]

Hi all,

 

Considering getting into kayak fishing but I have to consider 1st on how to transport to and from. I have been looking at different company kits to use on a Honda Civic. What things should I put on my must buy list? I see so many options for the bars, security and so forth, thats just for the bars not including the other part that would actual hold the kayak. So many options....

 

Any advice is appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance!

[moguy1973]

I have the Inno system on my Altima.  Everyone says that the Yakima and Thule racks are the best, and their price shows too.  The Inno rack was about half the cost of the others and it's worked perfectly for me for the last 3 years.  I also have the Inno dual kayak carrier as I have two kayaks and I have a buddy that has one too so being able to haul two on my car was a necessity.  I got mine from orsracksdirect.com and they are probably the cheapest I have found for all brands of racks. 

 

The Inno rack is a little noisy without the faring, so I did get one of those to go with it and it cut down on the wind noise considerably.  The one thing other than price that sold me on the Inno rack was that it came with locks to secure it to the car, where the Thule and Yakima racks locks cost extra.

[Koofy Smacker]

I've used Yakima and Thule. Yakima in my eyes is much better than Thule in terms of feet and crossbars but they seem to be on a level playing field with the actual racks (kayak rack, bike rack etc.)

I just sold my car and bought a truck so I have a Yakima system (q towers, crossbars, and fairing) if your interested. They also have the lock cores in each of the feet keyed the same.

[desmobob]

I use the Thule feet and crossbars on my Subaru Forester, and Yakima's kayak cradles.  I got slightly longer than recommended cross bars so I am able to carry two canoes at once.  The recommended cross bar length would have been too short.  The old-style rectangular cross-section crossbars are pretty much universal when it comes to adding accessories; I'm not sure about the "aero" style crossbars.

 

I am very happy with the security, ease of use and ease of attachment/removal of the Thule system.

 

Tight lines,

Bob

[yakingfisherman]

I kayak fish and carry my yak on my 06 civic coupe. I have a yakima roof rack with the stretch kit. I thought about getting yakima kayak attachments such as the rollers/saddles but they were not necesssry so I did not purchase. Get a faring or else the wind noise while driving will cause you to go insane. Also, get a yakima boat loader if it is just yourself. Makes loading a breeze.

[MidTNKayakAngler]

I've used the Yakima bars on my Honda Accord for 10 years now. I've put up to 3 kayaks on the bars at once and each kayak being 33-34" wide. I use 2 cross straps, and bow and stern straps.

 

I have a buddy that puts his PFD on top of the roof of his small car and puts his kayak on top of the PFD, and secures the kayak with rope. That's about as an affordable roof transportation system as I've ever seen.

 

Jeremy