kayak TIE DOWNS

[eko]

How & WHERE??? ---- to tie down the bow & stern of kayak on roof rack (Yakima) on my 02 Jeep LIBERTY SPORT??? All of front & rear fender are soft rubber/plastic ---- HELP!! thanx

 

[DryBones]

front tow hooks and trailer hitch receiver in the rear.

 

[eko]

thanx --- however, I see neither tow hooks or trailer hitch receiver on my 02 Liberty Sport ... are these standard orig. equipt.? ---or after market installed??

 

[JeepJeepster]

They were options on all libertys.

 

[eko]

after-market install of tow hooks & trailer hitch receiver?

Yipes!! --- when I purchased the 02 Liberty Sport I did NOT option the tow hooks/ or the trailer hitch (other car WAS a chevy silverado/long bed p/u) ---
NOW a 1 car household --- where/ who to install tie downs "after-market"???

 

[Dave]

I have seen Kayak mounted on top of vehicles and sitting on their sides where 2 or 3 of them were on the roof. Looks like they were in some sort of cradle and attached to the crossbars. They didn't look like they were tied to the front and rear of the vehicle. Any place that sells/rents kayaks and canoe's and related equipment should be able to help you. That way you can see exactly what they have and how it will fit.

Dave

 

[azmotoman]

My canoe tie-down kit came with "S" hooks that easily find a home under the front and rear of the KJ to secure each end. If you just need the hooks, buy them from a hardware store.

Look under there. Plenty of places to hook up. If you are an ingenious/industrious type, you can use "eyes" to attach more permanent type tie-downs to the front and rear sub frame assemblies.

 

[icarl]

I never bothered to tie the front and rear down when I took the kayak or canoe to the lake this summer. I just used the yakima tie downs on the yakima roof rack. I also have the yakima kayak stacker but I never used it much so I took it off. I used to windsurf quite a bit which is why I bought the stacker but not so much anymore. If you have a really long kayak then you might want to tie it down at the front and rear otherwise tie straps on the rack is good enough.

 

[JeepJeepster]

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Not my pics, got them from Dogparty over on lost.

 

[adamkrz]

I use the hinges for the hood ( both sides ) for the front and my trailer hitch for the rear,This is where the rack dealer recommended.

 

[DryBones]

what kind of rack are you using? Tow hooks can be found on eBay and other places for around $100. Probably could get a trailer hitch from uHaul or other places. all else fails you could buy from a Stealership. I have used the Thule Hull-A-Ports with Thule Loadbars on mine without front and rear straps but if I just go on the loadbars I like to tie everything down tight. BTW, you can probably install the hitch and towhooks yourself. Good Luck.

 

[eko]

Many thanx for all replies! --- eko

 

[dog_party]

Eko - Front and rear tie-downs should always be overkill backup tiedowns. The straps that hold the body of the kayak should be the ones that are tight.

The fore and aft tiedowns are really just emergency straps. Just take a line (I like thick nylon rope) from the forward point of your kayak(s) and run it up to the front of the truck, over the hood, up under the plastic bumper cover. If you get down on the ground and look up behind the bumper cover, you'll see plenty of slots in the metal subframe of the KJ. Just put the rope up into one of those slots, down through another slot, then tie it off.

The rear rope is also emergency strapping. I take a rope from the rearmost point on my canoe and run it down to my rear hitch. But you can just just run it through the spare tire. That would work just fine. This is simply a strap the would keep your boat from launching like a missle if you ran into something while driving.

As a caution: Do not overtighten these lines!! You can EASILY round your kayak by doing so.