Roof rack on KJ

babydiesel · **Joined:** Tue Jul 19, 2011 11:48 am **Posts:** 7

Need a bit of advice regarding a roof rack system for my 2006 CRD. I have two kayaks that I would like to strap on to my CRD but I'm worried about the lengths of them. One is 15' and the other is 13'. Does anyone see this being an issue for the KJ CRD?

iMTB · **Joined:** Mon Jan 24, 2011 4:27 pm **Posts:** 273

Mines only 10' but I've had a 14' on there no problem.

Ryn7 · **Posted:** Tue May 22, 2012 2:27 pm

We carry a 15.5' tandem kayak on top of our Rig with no problem.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Wed May 23, 2012 11:19 am

No reason that I can think of why it would be an issue. stoutdog carries his with no problem

Chamba · **Posted:** Thu May 24, 2012 9:34 pm

One of the after-market suppliers for the KJ make a very nice steel replacement roof rail for the KJ for around $200. That seems like a fantastic idea as the plastic is the weak point, not the roof itself. I don't have these yet, so this is not an endorsement. I do plan to get them though.

I had a Camry wagon for a lot of years and hauled my moutain bike all over the place with it. I never had a problem until one particularly windy day in Wyoming when the plastic rail broke and I had to re-load the car in order to get the bikes in to the interior. This would obviously not be an option with a 12' kayak.

Chamba

CRD Joe · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2012 1:13 am

This is a real nice rack.

http://www.adventuretrailers.com/roofrackFR.html#Jeep

Slimline KJ rack.

Chamba · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2012 8:08 pm

Those are nice, but a bit pricey just to hold a kayak (I also wonder why an American site is advertising for an American vehicle using the French system of measurement - why call it 1.8M instead of 6'.. who are they trying to impress?). I was thinking these:
http://www.rocky-road.com/kjrails.html with their spreader bars to attach the kayaks to should work here. They also have a really nice rack to go with it which is about half the price of the 6' (sorry, 1.8M..) one.

Cheers,

Chamba

hgrimberg · **Joined:** Mon Dec 19, 2011 11:03 pm **Posts:** 363

Where can I find just 2 simple bars with the aerodinamic hangers? I mean the ones that don't pop out and that are flush with the longitudinal bars that come in the roof.

Sent from my DROID2 Global using Tapatalk 2

kj-dec · **Posted:** Tue Sep 04, 2012 11:24 pm

hgrimberg wrote:

Where can I find just 2 simple bars with the aerodinamic hangers? I mean the ones that don't pop out and that are flush with the longitudinal bars that come in the roof.

Sent from my DROID2 Global using Tapatalk 2

You might consider the fabricated bars in this thread. The link goes to page 5 which appears to have the only remaining pictures (scroll down). The last post in the thread lists a source for an alternative to the end pieces that were discontinued by Harbor Freight.

hgrimberg · **Joined:** Mon Dec 19, 2011 11:03 pm **Posts:** 363

Yes, I ve seen that post with the guy showing the rail clamps he bought but those are just the clamps. Where can I find 2 bars that attach to those rail clamps? Don't they sell the whole rack all together?

Sent from my DROID2 Global using Tapatalk 2

Ryn7 · **Posted:** Wed Sep 05, 2012 7:43 pm

Go to thrift stores and second hand shops.
I have bought near new Thule cross bars with a load of Thule accessories for ridiculously cheap.
Oh, and the factory roof rails on our KJ regularly see loads in access of 200+ pounds over the last
5.5 years. And that's with heavy off roading!

hgrimberg · **Joined:** Mon Dec 19, 2011 11:03 pm **Posts:** 363

Bummer, I live outside the us.

Sent from my DROID2 Global using Tapatalk 2

kj-dec · **Posted:** Thu Sep 06, 2012 7:09 pm

hgrimberg wrote:

Yes, I ve seen that post with the guy showing the rail clamps he bought but those are just the clamps. Where can I find 2 bars that attach to those rail clamps? Don't they sell the whole rack all together?

Sent from my DROID2 Global using Tapatalk 2

Nope, its a home-grown fabricated rack. The crossbars on mine (I have the earlier cast metal ends, not the stamped steel ones at the end) are standard chain link fence top rail pipes bought from Home Depot or Menards. Cut them to length, and see if they clear your roof. If the do not, then you need to put in a small bend at each end (5 - 6 degrees) a few inches in from where they stick out of whatever clamps you use, being careful to keep them lined up to each-other. If you can't find someone with an appropriate bender you can probably do it yourself if you have a sturdy bench and vise, or other means of holding one end of the pipe very firmly.

My pics are gone but I used a variant of the wood clamping die that I think is still showing in the thread, and a shop press. Its not much of a bend

Chamba · **Posted:** Tue Jan 01, 2013 1:37 am

I bought and installed the Rocky Road steel rails and adventure rack. It is very well made, installs easily in about 30 minutes and is strong as hell. I'm very impressed with it and there is no additional wind noise that I can hear.

Chamba

arengant · **Posted:** Fri Jan 04, 2013 2:24 am

Chamba wrote:

I bought and installed the Rocky Road steel rails and adventure rack. It is very well made, installs easily in about 30 minutes and is strong as hell. I'm very impressed with it and there is no additional wind noise that I can hear.

Chamba

Mine is holding up well also! I inverted the rack to keep it low profile and it looks good. I would still like a full length safari rack but that would be a custom job.

Chamba · **Posted:** Fri Jan 04, 2013 11:55 am

arengant wrote:

Chamba wrote:

I bought and installed the Rocky Road steel rails and adventure rack. It is very well made, installs easily in about 30 minutes and is strong as hell. I'm very impressed with it and there is no additional wind noise that I can hear.

Chamba

Mine is holding up well also! I inverted the rack to keep it low profile and it looks good. I would still like a full length safari rack but that would be a custom job.

They were very nice to deal with as well. I also got my transfer case and transmission skid plate from them. Over-all a great experience.

Like you, I put the rack on upside-down. I still have about 1.5" of space between the sheet metal and the rack, so I reckon it's perfect. I have had over 500 lbs on the rack and it did not settle down at all. All I did which was not included witht eh rack is I reimmed off the rear corners from the factory plastic racks and glued them to the roof to cover the seams which are exposed by the new steel rails. Otherwise, the rack needed absolutely nothing to fir perfectly.

Chamba.

Roof rack on KJ

Who is online