I bought the Jeep Sahara Unlimited Altitude Wrangler that we discussed last spring. I love it and I smile all the time that I drive it. Yes I am a Pavement Princess.
Great vehicle.
Now I have a conundrum.
I want to buy and transport a kayak. I have wanted one of my own for years, and heck, it is my birthday this week.
I smile when I kayak.
I went out and looked at them and I can get a 10 foot 38 lb injection molded cute kayak at a decent price to paddle around the lakes and streams in my area.
Problem. It is too long for my vehicle so I cannot stuff it inside. I cannot remove the spare to have it hang out the back, for that cannot happen. It is too heavy to remove, and it looks cute back there.
I am way too short to put the kayak on the detachable roof. It will never get up there. That is a fact.
I have a trailer but transporting the kayak in the big trailer that my son uses to transport big things like snowmobiles, lawn tractors etc. seems like overkill...and I cannot back up with a trailer. It is encoded in my female DNA to be unable to back up the trailer.
I have been looking at some of those little trailer-ettes that hang off the trailer hitch. They are little platforms that hang there and they stick out a bit. I am trying to see whether I can somehow strap a kayak to the back of the vehicle standing upright sitting on that hitch platform. Would this be a good idea. I would not be going on highways, just back roads here in the area. Never more that 50 mph.
I don't want to harm the Jeep, the kayak or anyone else.
Your technical advice would be appreciated.
Thank you!
chickensoup
Go to jeepforum and post this question there. Find the right subforum. This topic comes up often.
I have a 94 xj and I love Jeepforum. Enjoy!
I saw one on a Jeep the other day. It was shaped like a J with a J attached to the front cross beam of the top carrier and another J attached to the back cross beam of the top carrier. There was one set on each side of the Jeep for a total of two Kayaks. The bottom of the J carrier faces out which cradles the kayaks which are strapped to the carrier. I showed my wife because she borrows my pickup truck to tote hers around.
Having a folding step stool is very handy for loading and unloading ... one of those two step kitchen jobs.
Unzip the back window, lay down the front passenger seat and slide the Yak in. It will hang out the back a bit. Secure it in a couple of places.
Enjoy the river.
1. Weather Balloon
2. Helium
3. Rope
4. 911
Simple: You need a 1978 Ford Country Squire station wagon. Or a GM wagon of similar vintage. Or - better yet - buy a house on your favorite body of water.
I have an Old Town Next ‘canoe-yak’. Mine goes on the roof rack of a passat wagon lifting it over my head with clean and jerk, holding the thwarts.
My mother-in-law and gone through 2 windshields already, stuffing a kayak into her Honda Pilot.
No easy solutions.
You have a conundrum?
So you’re in a band?
Well, is it a marching band?
I enjoy watching a good marching band.
The good ones can make a figure that looks like spaghetti with meatballs.
I guess the tubas are the meatballs.
Flutes wouldn’t make good meatballs.
They look more like lasagna.
Now I’m hungry.
Kayaks kind of look like a loaf of garlic bread.
There’s your answer!
Buy some garlic bread!
Don’t trade your Jeep in for a Prius. My niece thought she could load her kayak through the hatch back into the front seat. Whoops she lost he windshield.
When I first got my kayaks, we used a full size van. It was a real challenge getting the boats on the roof with a Yakima rack. I have a small flatbed trailer from Harbor freight. It’s really tough to back up because it’s so short but in most places I’ve found, you really don’t need to. Several kayaks fit into it easily and it’s easy to load and unload.
I’d go there. The trailer was only a couple hundred bucks.
One or two of these - https://www.amazon.com/Darby-Industries-968-Black-Turbo/dp/B0015D19SS/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0
With this (as long as you have a hitch) - https://www.amazon.com/Tricam-SLE-1-Extender-350-Pound-Capacity/dp/B00HDL2DX6/ref=pd_sim_263_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00HDL2DX6&pd_rd_r=0KPE2XFYRYJWCJN5E7XZ&pd_rd_w=TUoso&pd_rd_wg=BXd9c&psc=1&refRID=0KPE2XFYRYJWCJN5E7XZ
Here is a cheap but good hitch if you don’t have one - https://www.amazon.com/TYGER-Towing-Combo-Receiver-2007-2016/dp/B00JZQXJ3K
Once you have the extender installed vertically in your hitch, you just prop the kayak against the horizontal top bar and slide it on top of your hardtop portable bar.. the angle makes it slide easier than you would think. Once everything is in place, secure the kayak with rope or bungee chords. I love my Jeep as well. Off roading is a blast. Good luck!
Roof rack. Folding ladder/stool (plenty compact enough to carry in the Jeep’s cargo space).
There are pulley systems you can use in your garage to lift - provided that your ceiling is high enough. Alternatively I have seen but not us d a similar pulley on a pole by the driveway . Similar to s basketball pole. Just a thought.
Course you could build a ramp down into your yard so the roof is at your height... but I imagine that’s a bit much.
Get one of those Sherpa roof racks with a detachable side ladder. The rack will probably cost more than the kayak, but your Jeep will look even more cool and you will have gained added utility, all sorts of attachments for the rack, even auxiliary lighting, baskets, all sorts of stuff above and beyond kayak carriers. Some have enough clearance to put the top down with the rack left in place.
Get a ladder. Then you can put it on the roof.
You have been a member for a long time. You should know better than to post this in News/ Activism. It’s fine to post on General/ Chat, Bloggers/ Personal, etc. but come on, this is not news.
Good luck with the kayak.
I watched some poor bastardo drown on the Snake River in one of those dammed kayaks. There was nothing anyone could do. Instead get one of those inflatable duckies. Then when it capsizes (not if) you can easily come out of it.
Buy an inflatable and a good pump that runs off of 12V DC
"I'm too short...Fact..."
"Cannot back up a trailer..."
Have you thought about a bicycle?