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It's getting to be the time of year for watersports, and I am looking for an inexpensive set of crossbars/kayak rack for my 2020 Forester. It has the factory installed roof rails. Thule/Yakima would be more expensive than my kayak. It's not something I'm going to use all that often, so don't want to put tons of money into it.
Yakima or bust. Cry once. Yakima comes with round crossbars, which are stronger than square Thule bars and align without stress, unlike Thule. Yakima dealers will change over mounts for additional toys at no charge, or at least they did before I wound up in a wheelchair. I've used Yakima racks for bicycles, a canoe and Nordic & Alpine skis. I highly recommend Yakima.
Yakima or bust. Cry once. Yakima comes with round crossbars, which are stronger than square Thule bars and align without stress, unlike Thule. Yakima dealers will change over mounts for additional toys at no charge, or at least they did before I wound up in a wheelchair. I've used Yakima racks for bicycles, a canoe and Nordic & Alpine skis. I highly recommend Yakima.
I'm looking at close to $500 for the crossbars and all the associated mounting gear before I even get to the kayak rack. That's my concern - I probably wouldn't be using these more than five to ten times per year, and it would be short trips largely (<30 miles roundtrip to the nearest lake). It just seems like a lot of money to put into something that is essentially an accessory that won't be used often.
Could always do what I used to. Get a couple buddies. Stick one in the passenger from an the other in the driver rear and roll the windows down. Scratches up the roof a bit. For a less hold my beer solution, closed cell foam and some rope to tie it down works okay. I wouldn't say well but it's maybe 30 bucks so there's that.
For a single kayak, the cheapest thing is crossbars with a matching foam kayak carrier. For dual kayaks, you need matching J-carriers to tilt them up and save space. Take a look at the many options at etrailer.com, and you can always contact them for advice on your application (number of kayaks + kayak dimensions).
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