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Finished up rack system, fits my recreational 10ft Kayak perfectly!
System is a Yakima Bedrock towers, Yakima round crossbars, Yakima Hullraiser kayak racks, TMS cargo basket, and UWS low profile toolbox.
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Really love your setup. I've been throwing around ideas in my head about how to fashion a similar "up over the bed" rack system for my kayaks, but I will eventually have a bed cover. I came across some photos of one where the fella just mounted the rack feet through the bed rails and retrax cover rails, of course I was concerned about drilling holes in my brand new truck, as well as how well the boats would sit on the racks depending on where they landed on my 5.5 ft bed.
On a complete side note... How do you like that Pelican boost as far as stability? I just bought 2 Lifetime 10 ft SOT. My wife and I attempted the Sun Dolphin Bali 10 and it was horrible. I saw those pelicans on sale at Dicks this past weekend and debated on them, but heard good things about the Lifetimes, and came across some on sale so I grabbed a couple. They are better than the SunDolphin but still just ok as far as stability, not too sure how much better it can get
Really love your setup. I've been throwing around ideas in my head about how to fashion a similar "up over the bed" rack system for my kayaks, but I will eventually have a bed cover. I came across some photos of one where the fella just mounted the rack feet through the bed rails and retrax cover rails, of course I was concerned about drilling holes in my brand new truck, as well as how well the boats would sit on the racks depending on where they landed on my 5.5 ft bed.
On a complete side note... How do you like that Pelican boost as far as stability? I just bought 2 Lifetime 10 ft SOT. My wife and I attempted the Sun Dolphin Bali 10 and it was horrible. I saw those pelicans on sale at Dicks this past weekend and debated on them, but heard good things about the Lifetimes, and came across some on sale so I grabbed a couple. They are better than the SunDolphin but still just ok as far as stability, not too sure how much better it can get
I've seen that rack system that attaches on top of the bedrail. Unfortunately you will have to cut a slot in the plastic rail cover and bolt them into the metal bed rail, but it will allow you to have a bed cover. My whole system attaches without any cutting or drilling. I can take it off in about 5 minutes, 7 minutes if you include the tool box.
I think you will love the 2nd level of space and how it stays out of the airstream, with no noise from a traditional roof system & better fuel economy. On a side note, with my tailgate up, its very hard to remove anything out of the bed because of the crossbars and cargo basket block access unless it smaller items. Depending on the size of items you are trying to protect with a cover, just having the rack system in place maybe enough security on its own?
You should be fine with a 10ft Kayak on a 5.5 ft bed, though cutting it close. Mine is 6.5 ft, but the first foot or so is covered with my UWS toolbox. I have about 34" from the back of the cab to the first crossbar and another 32" between the crossbars. That is exactly 5.5ft, however, you only need about 25" between the crossbars for Kayaks, which should leave you a few inches of extra space.
As for the Kayak, I originally bought this one to help retrieve RC boats when they break down or flip over at my local lake. With 100 mph rc boats, you can imagine we have to go out and get them often.
I've had much more expensive Kayaks in the past, but for a basic fun recreational Kayak, I am very happy with my Pelican. Its very stable, holds 300 lbs, and perfect for just having fun in the water. It tracks decent, though its width doesn't make it the fastest thing out there, but not bad at all. Only issue for me is that it didn't come with side grab handles, which for a sit on type Kayak is a bit of a handful to move around without handles. But $10 on Amazon will fix that issue for me. Dicks is having a sale right now on the Boost 100 for only $179.00
Last edited by Gerardo E. Paje Jr.; 05-25-2016 at 02:49 AM.
05-24-2016, 09:36 PM
