RV Do It Yourself Kayak Rack Under $200

[cramar]

My wife and I like to kayak, so we have racks on our tow vehicle which work great except we have to hook up a tow dolly and then the vehicle. That's alright if we are planning on kayaking and sight seeing with the tow vehicle but I wanted a rack for the RV (29' Freedom Elite) to be able to just leave and stay for a few days without plans on going anywhere else and leaving the towd home, but cost was out of sight from $400 to up in the thousands so after looking at the various offerings I went to Harbor Freight and purchased a Truck Bed Extender, A Heavy Duty Luggage Rack for a hitch mount and also a Double Decker Receiver. A few modifications later I came up with what is pictured. The added expenses were the clothes line hooks, extra bolts to secure a piece of 2" 006 tubing to extend the top of the tee a a ength of 1/2" pvc and a little paint.
By using the 20% off coupons offered by Harbor Freight and just going to three different outlets I saved about $32 of the total price and with the extras am well under $175.
On our first outing I had several people ask about the rack so I thought I would post it here if anyone is interested

[Bob Denman]

How much ground clearance do you have under them?
It looks like a pretty near design.

[jdurnwald]

This is great! I wasn’t so adventurous and bought a 2 person inflatable kayak that I can store in the basement.

[cramar]

There is exactly a 12" ground clearance which is about the same as the front bumper.

We too started with inflatables and in fact I have two for the grandkids but I hear from their mom that they want hard shells for Christmas so it might mean a design change, maybe mount them sideways.

[Bob Denman]

Thanks! I couldn't get a grasp of it from the pics...

[Yvonnemarc]

Nice setup. We have an inflatable but if it’s even slightly windy it’s like a sail on the lake. It’s not very low profile. I had hard shells in my past so I’m not really liking the inflatable so much.

[cramar]

I at one time had a total of 8 sevylor inflatables to be used by my wife and I along with my girls and their husbands but the girls lost interest so all but two were sold. The first time out we too experienced the problem with the wind but after some searching found that a skeg was available that fit on the rear when inflating the two sides, by that addition it made the kayak track straight and helped cut down the problem with the wind.
As a side note, it seems like no matter the direction we drive our motor home the wind is always against us and it seems to do the same when kayaking, go figure, LOL.

[Bob Denman]

The "wind in your face" factor also controls all of the campfire smoke ever produced!

[macdaddy1111]

Nice craft!!

[Tacouser]

That is a great set up

[JMF]

So when you go up a steep incline, especially those with a dip, couldn’t you rip off the nose of those kayaks. My RV has skid plates in the rear that I have scraped on more than one occasion. Since the kayaks are further from the rear tires, won’t this pose a problem?

[Mo_Mike]

Originally Posted by jdurnwald

This is great! I wasn’t so adventurous and bought a 2 person inflatable kayak that I can store in the basement.

Same here, we have been happy with it, so far...

[cramar]

Originally Posted by JMF

So when you go up a steep incline, especially those with a dip, couldn’t you rip off the nose of those kayaks. My RV has skid plates in the rear that I have scraped on more than one occasion. Since the kayaks are further from the rear tires, won’t this pose a problem?

I guess I will have to see how it plays out, I've not had a problem of scraping any of the receivers or towed vehicles and we have been to a number of places in the boonies, don't know how the rack or yaks will fare but I will be careful and keep it posted. I also have larger foam for the cutouts and that will give me a few more inches of clearance when or if the time comes.

[JMF]

I never hit my receiver, my skids are about 1 ft below that. You need to consider that the further from the rear wheels, the lower your kayaks get to the surface, It’s not the bumper clearance on dips and inclines. My skid plates protect my waste tank valve. That is why your RV has an angled skirt in the rear sides. You might consider adding something at the back of your platform to protect you from doing this. Otherwise, your concept is good. Do the kayaks make noise when you are on the road? I noticed the noses extend above you roof. I’ve wondered about that with the ones you can buy online.

[cramar]

I haven't noticed or heard any strange noises but that could be because of of being inside the RV and probably because of my hearing which was a result of my time in the Marine Corps and Vietnam, however, my wife doesn't hear any noise or odd sounds either. I think your idea is good but will have to look at how to figure it out, so far though I have not had a problem nor have I seen one from the backup camera which is fully functional and if you look at available racks that are similar they have the same type of setup and clearance and none of the reviews that I have read have mentioned damage to the yaks. The yaks are above the roof line but that is minimal and less than the height of the air or satellite setup. I had the wife follow me when I first set the rack up and there was wobble from both the racks but that was due to the clearances between the receivers and the hitches, the problem was taken care of by hitch tighteners, I don't show them on the pictures because they are a little pain on/off.

[DCCONAWAY]

That’s pretty cool DIY. I might try doing one for when I’m not flat towing.

[cramar]

Originally Posted by cramar

My wife and I like to kayak, so we have racks on our tow vehicle which work great except we have to hook up a tow dolly and then the vehicle. That's alright if we are planning on kayaking and sight seeing with the tow vehicle but I wanted a rack for the RV (29' Freedom Elite) to be able to just leave and stay for a few days without plans on going anywhere else and leaving the towd home, but cost was out of sight from $400 to up in the thousands so after looking at the various offerings I went to Harbor Freight and purchased a Truck Bed Extender, A Heavy Duty Luggage Rack for a hitch mount and also a Double Decker Receiver. A few modifications later I came up with what is pictured. The added expenses were the clothes line hooks, extra bolts to secure a piece of 2" 006 tubing to extend the top of the tee a a ength of 1/2" pvc and a little paint.
By using the 20% off coupons offered by Harbor Freight and just going to three different outlets I saved about $32 of the total price and with the extras am well under $175.
On our first outing I had several people ask about the rack so I thought I would post it here if anyone is interested

After reading the comments and interest I did take note of What JMF said about dips etc but while I have never had a problem so far, better safe than sorry, so I added pieces of 2" black pvc and also the pipe foam which now gives me a ground clearance of 17 1/2" from the old previous 12". I hope the pictures show it, the plywood and aluminum is a set up for a MotorGuide Wireless trolling motor for my wife to use when her back bothers her.

[Heartbeat]

How big of hole did you cut and how tall is the T?
Kevin

[cramar]

The openings I cut are 12x12 in order to fit my kayaks yours will depend upon your kayaks measurements as far as width and depth of your kayak. If doing it again I would probably keep the depth the same but would reduce the width to about 10" wide. As it is now I reduced the width by using 2 " width off wrapped with a pool noodle which reduces how far the kayak goes into the opening giving me more ground clearance.
The tee bars assembly is from harbor freight and is called a bed extender. I just reversed hoe it is used. The length is 53 " tall and the cross bar is 50" wide. I purchased 2" square tube stock and cut pieces to fit in the ends to increase the width or length to fit my kayaks and secured the extension pieces with bolts through the original tee and my extension pieces.
I modified my receiver hitch by adding another receiver from harbor freight and a couple of pieces of the above 2" tube. This allows me to tow one of my off-road VW bugs and carry the kayaks behind the motorhome when I tow my suv, it has kayak racks on top so I don't use the home built rack, either way I am covered.
If you make a similar rack be prepared to answer questions when and wherever you go as others want to know about it. A good way to meet new people.

[Rrruff]

With the tips above the roof line the kayaks catches the wind like a mini sail. I worry, even with the store bought ones, that the torque on the hitch, or the arms (both vertical and horizontal), could be an issue going down the highway.

Have you needed to support (use of straps maybe) or strengthen anything? I am getting ready to build this exact set up. Thanks, by the way, this is awesome.