Diy fishing kayak

[Stratocat_Joe]

Since I sold my truck, I have to car-top my kayak.  I had some extra 3/4" PVC pipe laying around and I cut two pieces roughly the width of my car roof, bought some foam pipe insulation from the hardware store, and ran cinch straps through the PVC pipes to create two removable cross bars.  I recommend using the cinch straps over ratchet straps because people tend to tighten ratchet straps too tightly which can damage the window/door insulation on the car and/or the kayak.  

[WaterOtter]

11 hours ago, Stratocat_Joe said:

I recommend using the cinch straps over ratchet straps because

Good thinking!

[Bankc]

On 8/5/2022 at 5:50 AM, Stratocat_Joe said:

Since I sold my truck, I have to car-top my kayak.  I had some extra 3/4" PVC pipe laying around and I cut two pieces roughly the width of my car roof, bought some foam pipe insulation from the hardware store, and ran cinch straps through the PVC pipes to create two removable cross bars.  I recommend using the cinch straps over ratchet straps because people tend to tighten ratchet straps too tightly which can damage the window/door insulation on the car and/or the kayak.  

I did that for a few years.  Only I used the ratchet straps.  They were never a problem for me.  You just have to be careful.  

But one problem I did have with this set up is I scratched and dented my roof really bad!  Do yourself a favor and keep an eye on that foam.  What happened to me is that foam started to get compressed and lost its ability to rebound after a years or so, which eventually led to the kayak sinking down low enough it could graze the roof and scratch my paint (the center of the roof was higher than the front or back).  That, and the center of the roof wasn't well supported, so it dented easily.  If you can keep the foam crossbars on the front and rear edges of the roof where the supports are, it held that weight just fine.  But if you let them roll out into the middle, it would dent out the center pretty bad.  Most of the time it would pop back out, but eventually it left some marks.  That car was old and had hail damaged, so I wasn't too concerned.  But when I go my new car, I made sure it had proper crossbars.

[schplurg]

People do tend to overtighten ratchet straps, but one can learn not to do it. I trust them more than cam ones. I hated them until I figured out how to use them without going crazy. I mean I cut one because I couldn't figure out how to loosen it haha.

[Gregorym38]

On 8/8/2022 at 2:31 PM, Bankc said:

I did that for a few years.  Only I used the ratchet straps.  They were never a problem for me.  You just have to be careful.  

But one problem I did have with this set up is I scratched and dented my roof really bad!  Do yourself a favor and keep an eye on that foam.  What happened to me is that foam started to get compressed and lost its ability to rebound after a years or so, which eventually led to the kayak sinking down low enough it could graze the roof and scratch my paint (the center of the roof was higher than the front or back).  That, and the center of the roof wasn't well supported, so it dented easily.  If you can keep the foam crossbars on the front and rear edges of the roof where the supports are, it held that weight just fine.  But if you let them roll out into the middle, it would dent out the center pretty bad.  Most of the time it would pop back out, but eventually it left some marks.  That car was old and had hail damaged, so I wasn't too concerned.  But when I go my new car, I made sure it had proper crossbars.

I get that!! My car is 20 yrs old, has hail damage as well, and i will most likely be its last owner, so i dont care too much abt it