Skippman

I'm looking for a roof rack to haul 2 Old Town Loon 126 kayaks on my JKU. These each weigh 60lbs for a total weight of 120lbs. I've looked at the Yakima and Thule rain gutter style roof racks but they all claim to top out at 80lbs. Normally I wouldn't mind slightly overloading them but we're talking 1.5x their rated dynamic load weight and that makes me nervous.

I've been looking at the Teraflex Nebo, the Rhino Vortex RTL600, and the Garvin JK Crossbar kit. I don't really plan on ever getting a gear/safari basket for the top or using a roof top tent so a full cage style rack seems overkill.

Does anyone have any experience with any of these options? If you carry large kayaks like mine how do you carry them?

akpostal

Rhino rack Backbone.

resharp001

This is a whole different direction, but have you also considered a simple trailer built for kayaks? I've seen some that are very simple. I'd guess there are pros and cons to both setups.....biggest con having to be storing a trailer. Biggest pro being transporting, loading/unloading.

OscarMlke

You forgot one:

https://adventureracksystems.com/jk-...k-systems.html

Skippman

So, uh, this got political. I just want a rack for my kayaks man.

I was hoping to avoid a full cage style rack. I have been looking at the Rhino Backbone as well. @resharp001 I was looking into trailers as well. I've been considering a M416 style or even a tear drop camper. But I don't want to have to haul out a trailer just to go down to the local lake for the day. A roof rack would better serve my needs.

Dat

Just a thought that's gone through my little pea brain, how bout a hitch extender turned upwards, then a front bumper with a receiver mount and another hitch extender turned upwards, then the kayaks can go from front to rear bumpers over head, should work on a 2dr

angrychair

I don't know how heavy your kayaks are but mine is 90lb (Ascend 128T) and I vote TRAILER!!!!! lifting a 90 lb kayak is a chore and my back says no thank you.

HikingCoop

What did you decide?
I have a 2012 2dr hard top and I've been looking at the Rhino Vortex Backbone and the Garvin full rack.
I like that the Rhino system is low profile and clean looking. I dont like that I have to drill into my top (no rear gutters) and if I take off the hard top, the rack goes with it.
I like that the Garvin rack can be used with ou without a hard top. It can hinge back if I want to remove the top, but I agree that it's more bulky and kinda overkill for a couple kayaks.
I need to make a decision soon...