Transporting kayak on roof of Class C

[chag67]

Has anyone installed an aftermarket roof rack system on their Class C?

I posted a makeshift rack for our utility trailer earlier but now I am pretty sure that it will not work as safe as I would like.

I would like to install a roof rack and a small winch to the roof and transport the kayak that way.

Has anyone installed an aftermarket roof rack system on their Class C?

[jimx200]

Toad or trailer as roof is too high and too fragile. We have two sea kayaks (16/16.5') and leave them home. Our travel kayaks are a inflatable Sea Eagle Razor Lite single and a Pakboat Quest 15' folder..Both awesome performers.

[loggenrock]

Had the same issue... With our Roadtrek 'B' I carried an inflatable canoe on a Hitch haul rack for many thousand miles. Not the performance of my hard shell boats, but got us out on the water. Moved to the 'B+', started looking at options, including those nice Yakima/Malone/Thule kayak trailers. Figured out it was CHEAPER and more versatile to set up the Suby as a toad, so now hard shells ride on roof rack on the Suby just like at home, plus I can get to launch areas much easier. My concern regarding the roof of the camper option, besides getting a tandem kayak up that high, was wind load while travelling on the camper frame - since it wasn't really designed for that. MPG loss while pulling the toad is maybe 1 to 1.5 mpg, with no change whether kayak is on it or not. Imagine I would have seen at least that with it on the roof, in addition to the structural concern. ST

[Dusty_R]

I did not put holes in the roof, I epoxied pieces of wood that I cut out of 2x4's with a hole saw.

Dusty

[suprz]

I wouldn't do this because of having to put holes in the roof, which is
another reason I don't want solar either. The number one cause of premature death of an RV is water intrusion. There are already enough holes up there now. No need for more. If you need to bring kayaks, maybe try this www.rvkayakracks.com. or something homemade. If you google rv kayak rack you will see a lot of good ideas. I'm currently building one myself

[Dusty_R]

I carried a 17'-47lb. kevlar canoe on top of our 24' 2003 Itasca, now 27' 2015 Itasca.

If needed I'll try to do a report how I did this.


Dusty

[tatest]

Winnebago roof is Filon sheet covering a block of foam. I'm not sure how a rack system might be secured to that material. Factory installed fixtures needing support get a mounting plate before roof is laminated together.

Looking at the roof of my Itasca, with four vent covers, three antennae, shower skylight, refrigerator vent, air conditioner and two waste-tank vents, I don't see a big enough free space for a kayak, unless it was less than eight feet and could be carried sideways to direction of travel. But it I were to carry it that way, the aluminum frame running along the sides of roof (exposed part looks like a gutter) becomes a candidate for mounting a rack across the full width. I've used gutter-mount racks successfully before, to carry a 14-foot boat, but never had one more than 80 inches across; RV would need one 100-102 inches. Most on the market today are 48-60 inches.

Most recent rack I bought was a suction cup mount with straps tying to the gutters. I last used that on a 1992 vintage pickup, but it could work on my van, which has gutters.

[chag67]

I would still need to mount a rack onto the roof. I hoping someone has already mounted a rack on their Class C roof and can let me know of any difficulties they may have had and the brand of rack they used.

[IAMICHABOD]

I wonder if something Like This would work. I saw one on a Truck Camper.

[luvlabs]

I would mount it on your Toad or utility trailer. I wouldn't want to have haul my kayak up on the roof of my Navion were it would interfere with the A/C unit, solar panel, vents, etc.