I would like to carry a 17kg kayak on the roof of my HSE SDI (panoramic roof) and have satisfied myself that the Thule syatem of roof rails will be fine for the job, having both taken contact with Thule before I became a member here and then reading a post on this wesite.
My problem is, how to get a 15' sea kayak up onto the rails and the Thule kayak carrying pads. The Thule side loading system is not available in Europe, only in the USA, and I cannot see any realy good solutions on the internet either.
My thinking, at the moment, is to utilise the four bolt holes on the rear part of the roof, or is it two bolt holes, that would fix the roof rails if I had them on my car. From the bolt hole fixing point I could mount a home made removeable frame that carried a vee shaped boat roller, and just roll the kayak up and onto the top.
Has anybody else tried this method? I am, of course, talking about a single handed operation here.

Not sure what the Thule ' Side ' loading sytem is but I have the Thule ' Slide Bars ' which you can load from either side. I stand on a box and put my mountain bike on and then fasten it down to the cycle carrier. Then the ' Slide bars ' slide back onto the roof no problem. Cant see why this would not work for a Kayak. FL2 HSE Auto Galway Green
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Thule hullivator

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thule-897XT-Hullav...B000QV1WSM

Might need a pay day loan though  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

My roof tent weighs 17kgs and I lift it on and off myself. However, I do wear my undies on the outside I have Thule racks but running on rails. I used to have the pedestal footings that clip to the doors but wouldn't go back, the rails are much better, and quieter.

I have a set of thule roof bars for sale ATM, only ever used to carry my kayak

Thanks for the replies thus far boys.

Landy, I have just bought a set of Thule bars and foot pads from ebay, wouldn't you know it ! Thanks for the offer though.

Mikehzz, a tent is different from a longish kayak in that the kayak quickly gets a bit unmanageable in the slightest of wind. Too much inertia management. Good for bad backs, if you see what I mean.

npinks, if you look at the amazon web site that you gave, you will note that the Hullvator is only available in the USA. See the Comments section. Serious money too. Phew ! That's just under what I paid for the boat.

Pedro, the slide bars might have been OK but, I still have to get the kayak up onto them... which is very difficult to do.

I still think that a rear loading roller system, that will also clear and protect the useless tea tray thing, is the way to go.
I just wondered if anybody else had tried this method?

Sandlover2 wrote:

if you look at the amazon web site that you gave, you will note that the Hullvator is only available in the USA.

Why not rig something along this

Just looks like a bar that he pulls out of the end of the roof rack, rests back end of the boat on lifts front end up in to kayak holder

&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DqHttmdifr_8&gl=GB

http://yakima.com/shop/water/load-assist/boatloader $79  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Hello Pab. I took contact with Thule UK some time ago who confirmed that the system was not available in the UK. I also thought of having one sent from America as I have a couple of chums there who were happy to oblige. But the cost of shipping together with the cost of purchase... Brrr, as you say, ot's a lot of money for a few bits of aluminium and plastic.

npinks, funny you should find that link because I made up a very similar system for a VW Golf that I owned before the LR. My system was a stainless steel tube, about 25mm dia, that had ubolts welded to one end and an upward bend at the outer end. The ubolts allowed me to fix and remove it easily from the Thule roof rail. This worked very well on the Golf except for the one day when the kayak slipped off and scratched a window on the way down. I never did quite work out what happened but it was, of course, my own fault. I still have the tube and, in theory, it should work as before. My only minor concern is that the Freelander is a lot taller than the Golf. Perhaps if I rigged an old blanket to the side of the car to protect it from the kayak, which is very gritty after a trip and contact with the river bank on the way out of the water.
It is also an idea to have a rope from the stern of the boat to the rear of the car, to stop the boat from sliding away as you lift the bow onto the tube. With the Golf I could keep a hand on the boat all the time but with the Freelander I will probably need a step that will require moving about... no hands on the boat you see.
I will try my tube system again and keep you all informed.

I always load my surfboards on from the back with a roller.

If you have a carport or a garage just hook up a winch system that will loft the whole lot up and secure it above the car?

http://yakima.com/shop/water/load-assist

Maybe one of these would help. 2013 LR2 HSE LUX: 2.0L I4; Barolo Black, Ebony Windsor Leather; Navigation, Satellite Radio, Cold Weather Pack, Piano Black Trim.

Last edited by kuaka on 19th Feb 2013 5:07 pm. Edited 1 time in total

LRswe, G'dag og takk for tipsen. Of course though, the pully system would not be out by the river bank, far from home. Good to hear that you load your boards from the rear, with a roller.

Kuaka. Thanks for that tip too. I did look at the website and the video... the video twice as the pretty girl was just too much of a distraction the first time. It is a good idea and a tidier version of the fixed rear roller system that I had envisaged. The advantage over my fixed frame roller is, of course, that the tailgate of the car can be opened without removing the roller frame on my design. I had, errr, overlooked that minor detail. So far, I have not found the Showboat available here in Britain but... the concept is something that I could simply build in to the roller frame that I had thought about for the roof fixing points for the LR roof rails. I have those fixing points available as I do not have the Land Rover roof rails on my car.

To begin with though I will see if my existing system (see my last post) will function well enough.

good stuff mate!, if you keep us updated I for one am always willing to look at new solutions to existing problems : )

LRswe: I'll do that. I suppose photographs can be attached somehow. It might be a little while as I wait for the weather to improve. Best regards.

Back again, after the purchase of the Thule roof bars and foot pads. I tried the roof bars on the car the other evening and have realised that they are veryvery close together, about 2' 8" or 800mm. With a 15' kayak on the roof that is an overhang of about just over 6' at each end of the boat, which will be far too much.
So, back to plan B. To utilise the front rail but make up a frame that would bolt onto the four trapped nuts at the rear of the roof and that are really intended for the roof rails option.
I have the simple idea for the frame and began by trying to remove the plastic plug that seals the trapped nut, of the first hole I tried.
However, I cannot get the dear little plug to vacate its position. With two screwdrivers, one to each side, I tried to prise the dear little plug out but all that happened was that the thin soft cap of the dear little plug deformed without the plug lifting out.
Do I have to drill through the cap and then remove the remains of the plug from the trapped nut? Should I just allow the soft cap to deform to a sort of cowboy hat shape and then use pliers to try to lift the plug out?
I know this is a simple question but there must be a proper answer that will avoid scratches to my car's lovely roof.
I asume that new plugs are available for when I want to put the car back to standard?
Any thoughts anybody ?