Kayak/Canoe problem foreseen!

[Marchin_MTB]

Today I picked up a used Yakima Longarm with the extender, which will provide stern support for my 16' kayak while the bow rests on the cab Rivian rack. Here are pix of the longarm on the truck. Happy to report that in the lowest position, the tailgate can be lowered. Not much space, but some. This is not ideal and I keep my fingers crossed for a Thule Xsporter or cab height rack.

In your first pic: How much additional length do you get with this setup from the tip of the tailgate?

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[bgmaxey]

In your first pic: How much additional length do you get with this setup from the tip of the tailgate?

The Longarm adds 4' to the bed, but less with each height adjustment. So, at bed level it is 4'; at cab level or Rivian rack level probably 3.5'. The extender adds an additional 2'.

 

[bgmaxey]

OK - a month in and I am increasingly frustrated with this option. The Longarm has a lot of play in it which is very stressful - especially with a glass roof to see the kayak movement. I added straps from the ends to the forward tie down points, but that is a lot of work to put on and take off.

Does anyone have any updated information on a cab-height rack? Is Thule or Yakima doing anything? Rivian?

Has anyone tried attaching bed rails between the tie-down points to allow use of any of the cab height racks/ladder racks?

I LOVE my truck, but found myself considering a trade for a Lightning last night...please help me purge those thoughts.

 

[crashmtb]

OK - a month in and I am increasingly frustrated with this option. The Longarm has a lot of play in it which is very stressful - especially with a glass roof to see the kayak movement. I added straps from the ends to the forward tie down points, but that is a lot of work to put on and take off.

Does anyone have any updated information on a cab-height rack? Is Thule or Yakima doing anything? Rivian?

Has anyone tried attaching bed rails between the tie-down points to allow use of any of the cab height racks/ladder racks?

I LOVE my truck, but found myself considering a trade for a Lightning last night...please help me purge those thoughts.

per @wicked2112 yakima/rivian were going to offer cab height crossbars, but that setup couldn’t meet test criteria & failed.

there is a thread by someone adapting a chinesium set from Amazon to their R1T.

 

[Rivian_Hugh_III]

OK - a month in and I am increasingly frustrated with this option. The Longarm has a lot of play in it which is very stressful - especially with a glass roof to see the kayak movement. I added straps from the ends to the forward tie down points, but that is a lot of work to put on and take off.

Does anyone have any updated information on a cab-height rack? Is Thule or Yakima doing anything? Rivian?

Has anyone tried attaching bed rails between the tie-down points to allow use of any of the cab height racks/ladder racks?

I LOVE my truck, but found myself considering a trade for a Lightning last night...please help me purge those thoughts.

Someone on this forum posted a raised rack set of their own design. I’ll look and see if I can find it.

Here’s one, but not what I recall:
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/roof-height-bed-rack.7501/

 

[bgmaxey]

Someone on this forum posted a raised rack set of their own design. I’ll look and see if I can find it.

Thanks. I did see this one - https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/custom-cab-high-crossbars.6427/post-176007 - but it's been silent for while (guy says maybe September). I am just worried that if the mounting points won't support Yakima/Thule aftermarket, that will be a huge miss.

 

[Rivian_Hugh_III]

Thanks. I did see this one - https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/custom-cab-high-crossbars.6427/post-176007 - but it's been silent for while (guy says maybe September). I am just worried that if the mounting points won't support Yakima/Thule aftermarket, that will be a huge miss.

That’s the one! My 2 cents has to do with acceleration. If people use only the raised racks on the bed (I.e. don’t attach something to anchored roof racks + the raised rack), then you’re looking at a huge torque on the raised rack if you have a large mass up there and you accelerate at 0-60 in 3 seconds. It’s possible you could break something. So be careful! I almost think that such a design should necessarily attach to the roof racks for added support.

 

[bgmaxey]

That’s the one! My 2 cents has to do with acceleration. If people use only the raised racks on the bed (I.e. don’t attach something to anchored roof racks + the raised rack), then you’re looking at a huge torque on the raised rack if you have a large mass up there and you accelerate at 0-60 in 3 seconds. It’s possible you could break something. So be careful! I almost think that such a design should necessarily attach to the roof racks for added support.

I share that concern, but am not qualified to opine - that's why I was hoping there would be a big manufacturer solution.

Also, my kayaks have rocker (curve), so three points of contact (three crossbars) is actually worse than two. Really, I just need a single cab-height bar and a single roof mounted for an ideal solution. Would be great if the single crossbar could be supported by all four mounting points in a triangle.

 

[Chas60422]

I pass this company on my commute route. I bet they or a similar company can create a support system for your kayak. I can see a triangular structure that secures to the crossbars over the bed and is height adjustable to be a 3rd contact point for your kayak. It would be narrow so no one would think to put something heavy like a rtt on it. Can easily use t screws to anchor the support.

https://www.truckrackinc.com/products/

 

[Chas60422]

I really hope that they come up with a solution to this topic. I paddle 14' Carbon SUP's on a regular basis, and would like to go longer one day, and I also work in construction and have to carry 16' pieces of trim on a regular basis. I really want to follow through on my purchase of the R1T, but I can't have a truck that restricts me. I currently use the Thule Xsporter. I've asked rivian customer service a few times, and they always reply. "Sounds like a good idea". But nothing further. Frustrating, would have been so much easier to make standard bed rails that we can mount anything that we want. My only hope is that they figure this out before it is my turn to configure my truck.

I wonder if someone can make a bedrail adapter. Have 2 solid pieces one for each side that anchors to the 4 points. Then the top of the anchor is the standard attachment points for what ever hardware.

 

[Dark-Fx]

OK - a month in and I am increasingly frustrated with this option. The Longarm has a lot of play in it which is very stressful - especially with a glass roof to see the kayak movement. I added straps from the ends to the forward tie down points, but that is a lot of work to put on and take off.

Does anyone have any updated information on a cab-height rack? Is Thule or Yakima doing anything? Rivian?

Has anyone tried attaching bed rails between the tie-down points to allow use of any of the cab height racks/ladder racks?

I LOVE my truck, but found myself considering a trade for a Lightning last night...please help me purge those thoughts.

My rooftop tent worked fine helping support my inflatable.

 

[wicked2112]

per @wicked2112 yakima/rivian were going to offer cab height crossbars, but that setup couldn’t meet test criteria & failed.

there is a thread by someone adapting a chinesium set from Amazon to their R1T.

Yakima is not developing a system that goes over the bed. When it was tested, it failed.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Yakima is not developing a system that goes over the bed. When it was tested, it failed.

Would it be possible to elaborate on the nature of the failure?

 

[wicked2112]

Would it be possible to elaborate on the nature of the failure?

Unfortunately I cannot. But think about in these terms, none of the major rack manufacturers currently have a fit for a bed rack that levels up with the cab for the R1T. That should tell you something.....sorry.

 

[CD4Complex]

I too have been scheming how to carry my kayaks efficiently. I have an R1T with the RTT on order, and will also order an extra set of cross bars. My plan is to invert my "T-bar" bed extender in the hitch receiver to support the stern of the kayak, and use the roof mounted cross bars to support the bow of the kayak. This will enable me to simultaneously mount the RTT to the bed mounted cross bars, below the kayak. When parked for the overnight camp, kayak and bed extender can be demounted to enable deployment of the RTT and full bed use. Not perfect, but works for me!

There is another advantage to your idea: it’s easy to mount and dismount the t-bar and leave the rest of the racks in place. Nice.

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