So I am a big time paddler and used to have a toy hauler to stuff my yaks in. I am looking at adding a rack on my truck above the bed.
I am struggling to figure out whether it will work and have enough clearance between the boats and the front of the camper (Roo 21DK so normal tongue length).
It is not as simple as just measuring as I assume turning changes that distance quite a bit. Do any of you have real world experience on how long you could go with boat length? I prefer to not place a rack on the truck cab, just more of the standard 2 rail clamped to the bed approach. I don't want to buy the rack if it simply won't work.
We have a cap on the (short) bed of our Titan. I had Yakima rack installed and carry 2 kayaks (longest is 12.5'). No problem whatsoever. The yaks hang over the end of the cap by a couple of feet or so, and I bet there is about 6' of clearance to the camper. As long as your rack is tall enough to clear the propane tanks, I think you would be fine.
As Wharfrat said, there is a lot of space between the end of the kayak and the trailer. The middle one in the pictures is 14' long and its barely reaches as far back as the trailer tongue.
Perfect! Exactly what I needed. Thank you both for the feedback. One of mine is 16 feet but I am not opposed to selling it and dropping down a size if necessary. The other is 12 feet. I am going to order a rack and if the 16 is just too long I will consider getting another one.
For what it's worth, and I realize there are downsides, the sales guy that gave me our walk through demo pointed out that long objects like a kayak could be carried inside the camper by lowering a bunk, unzipping an end, and inserting inside through that open end.
That is a really good point and I did think about that. The problem in my 21DK is that there is not quite enough space between the slide and dinette. I might get one on top of the dinette but no way to do 2.
It is an interesting idea though if I ever have something really long to carry in there.
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