Feedback on my homebrew roofrack

John Kuthe wrote:
> On Aug 1, 12:37 pm, Rex Kerr <rexk... RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote:
>>> The J racks do dent the bottom of the kayak, but it hasn't led
>>> to permanent damage thus far.
>> I thought that the whole point of those J racks was that it was
>> supposed to prevent that!
>
> I have little respect for Yakima ever since they went from their
> original kayak stackers (straight bars, $40 a pair) to those
> ridiculous overpriced ($70 a pair) U-shaped things for people that do
> not know how to tie a trucker's hitch and loop it over the top of a
> straight bar to hold stacked kayaks when tying them down.

Actually they stopped making the U's and went to straight bars (there's
a joke there somewhere) some time ago.

Steve - still using U shaped stackers and a trucker's hitch.
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On Aug 1, 3:04 pm, "cramer...@gmail.com" <cramer....TakeThisOut@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Aug 1, 2:27 pm, John Kuthe <johnku....TakeThisOut@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I have little respect for Yakima ever since they went from their
> > original kayak stackers (straight bars, $40 a pair) to those
> > ridiculous overpriced ($70 a pair) U-shaped things for people that do
> > not know how to tie a trucker's hitch and loop it over the top of a
> > straight bar to hold stacked kayaks when tying them down.
>
> John, it's safe to back into the REI. Yakima abandoned the U-shaped
> things about 6 years ago. The stackers are vertical bars now. Bad news
> is they now cost $100

I have a pair of the original $40 a par Yakima stackers, and I guard
them very jealously. They rock, do everything a pair of stackers
should do.

I'm gonna have to replace my crossbars pretty soon. Water got in, and
they are rusting at the ends. Gonna have to cut 'em and pull 'em
through the little cast aluminum thingies that hold them to the
towers! Hee hee! I'd say 13 years is a pretty good lifespan. Maybe
I'll move up to the 88 inchers! My 66" bars have almost always been
long enough, but...

John Kuthe...
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Per John Kuthe:
>I'm gonna have to replace my crossbars pretty soon. Water got in, and
>they are rusting at the ends.

Which begs a question: anybody know if SS bar tubes are
available?

On the fact of it, seems pretty simple: SS tubing cut to
length...

Maybe there's a diameter issue? (i.e. Yak's steel tubes plus the
coating they put on them might be some orphan size)
--
PeteCresswell
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Per Matt Clara:
> I suppose I could let off some, but I like my
>kayak to not move when I try to wiggle it.

OTOH, speaking from surf-ski experience, if it wiggles a little
from time-to-time, much fewer people tailgate you.... -)
--
PeteCresswell
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> One added thing I'll say about homebrew, your insurance won't likely cover
> it if something goes wrong.

Dang... that's a good point. In this litigation happy society, if
ANYTHING went wrong, no matter how little the homebrew design
mattered, they'd claim it was my fault. Hrm. So, buying a weaker off-
the-shelf attachment could shield one from liability. Ugh. That
almost makes me consider giving up on the idea, even though I think it
could be better.
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I've just been in email contact with Yakima, and asked what was
the longest track and longest bar they sold. I've got Yakima racks
on two vehicles already, so now want to do an installation on a camper
roof which is ~84" wide by 190" long. The answer from Yakima was
that the longest track they sell is 60" and the longest crossbar is
78", but they suggested I check on Fleetwood, which has a 98"
crossbar. Haven't done that yet, but SS tube, if it is thick
enough and available, would be a good solution to the crossbar
problem. Yakima bars, even with plastic coating, are incredibly
slippery. SS could not be worse. Tom McCloud


On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 13:44:10 -0400, "(PeteCresswell)" <x DeleteThis @y.Invalid>
wrote:
>: anybody know if SS bar tubes are available?
>On the fact of it, seems pretty simple: SS tubing cut to
>length...
>Maybe there's a diameter issue? (i.e. Yak's steel tubes plus the
>coating they put on them might be some orphan size)
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If you can find the yellow coated gas pipe, it works great in Yakima
towers, and you can cut it to any length your heart desires at a fraction of
the cost of Yakima bars..

Carol


"John Kuthe" <johnkuthe RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1186033175.687657.304450@i13g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> On Aug 1, 3:04 pm, "cramer...@gmail.com" <cramer... RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Aug 1, 2:27 pm, John Kuthe <johnku... RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > I have little respect for Yakima ever since they went from their
>> > original kayak stackers (straight bars, $40 a pair) to those
>> > ridiculous overpriced ($70 a pair) U-shaped things for people that do
>> > not know how to tie a trucker's hitch and loop it over the top of a
>> > straight bar to hold stacked kayaks when tying them down.
>>
>> John, it's safe to back into the REI. Yakima abandoned the U-shaped
>> things about 6 years ago. The stackers are vertical bars now. Bad news
>> is they now cost $100
>
> I have a pair of the original $40 a par Yakima stackers, and I guard
> them very jealously. They rock, do everything a pair of stackers
> should do.
>
> I'm gonna have to replace my crossbars pretty soon. Water got in, and
> they are rusting at the ends. Gonna have to cut 'em and pull 'em
> through the little cast aluminum thingies that hold them to the
> towers! Hee hee! I'd say 13 years is a pretty good lifespan. Maybe
> I'll move up to the 88 inchers! My 66" bars have almost always been
> long enough, but...
>
> John Kuthe...
>
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