Anyone made their own roof-rack cradle?
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Saltwater Fishing
Forum Name: Yak Yak Yak
Forum Description: The forum for Kayak enthusiasts
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=135568
Printed Date: 28 May 2026 at 1:27pm
Topic: Anyone made their own roof-rack cradle?
Posted By: kingiFiddla
Subject: Anyone made their own roof-rack cradle?
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2021 at 5:32pm
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My cheap J-racks have rusted out. Am thinking maybe heating some thicker alu and bending to a good fitting shape, or maybe fibreglass, or? |
Replies:
Posted By: kitno
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2021 at 7:27pm
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I made some rack cradles for my kayak about 25 years ago. The cross bar was about 30mm diameter galv pipe. Either side of the bar I had 18mm ply scribed the same curve as the bottom of the hull. Then screwed 6mm ply to the curve to stiffen and spread the load. The 2 pieces of 18mm either side were bolted right through. Hope I've explained it clear enough. |
Posted By: kingiFiddla
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2021 at 8:40pm
| Thanks Kitno. That could work. I've epoxy resin and could find some marine ply... |
Posted By: kitno
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2021 at 9:18pm
| Tanalised timber, s/s screws, exterior wood bond glue and galv bolts should do it. |
Posted By: Fraser Hocks
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2021 at 8:56am
| Remember to fill the pipe with clean dry builders sand before attempting to bend, if that's the way your going to go. |
Posted By: kingiFiddla
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2021 at 9:59am
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Thanks Fraser. A great way to support the tubes. I probably won't use tubing though. Here's another thought: what about getting a sheet of 100mm thick polystyrene, shaping two blocks/forms to fit the hull and shape a seat on the bottom of each block so they sit on top of/mate with the existing roof rack cross members a little bit. Then use 75/100mm wide fibreglass tape wrapped around the polystyrene as many times as I can to reach about a 5-10mm thickness. Then, when the resin has set, just melt-off the EPS with petrol, leaving a jointless, contoured, fibreglass cradle to bolt to the racks.  |
Posted By: kingiFiddla
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2021 at 6:23pm
| Thanks F4T. Why buy something when I can spend twice as much plus countless hours making something that works half as well? ;-) |