Need help with a Honda Odyssey roof rack for kayak

[moonshiner]

Hi, I have a 14 foot wilderness tsunami duralite sea kayak and I'm wondering if anyone is carrying this type of kayak on a 1996 Honda Odyssey roof rack that already has the crossbars too? I attached a picture of my sea kayak model if that helps to determine which kayak rack is the best fit. i'm mainly interested in Thule Rack and Yakima Rack options, but if anyone has any other companies in mind I will check their kayak rack models out too.

[BIGsnapper]

Hi moonshiner. Both Yakima Racks and Thule Racks stipulate that your factory rack crossbars are not rated for attaching a kayak rack directly to the crossbars. Instead you will need to first install a multi-purpose base rack system to the factory rack side rails (the bars that run from front to back on your roof top on both the passenger and driver side). I suggest you look at the Yakima Lowrider Complete Roof Rack Base System. It's engineered to fit your vehicle perfectly and is very quick to install. The Yakima Lowider system includes four Lowrider Towers and two cross bars. The Lowrider Towers connect directly to your side rails and the crossbars attach to the four Lowrider towers, so you now have a very strong and sturdy base rack that is capable of safely transporting all kinds of gear. You can then connect the kayak carrier to the Lowrider front and rear cross bars. The 48" cross bars are the recommended length for your vehicle and will provide enough room to attach one kayak rack to them. Be aware though that if you ever plan to attach two kayak racks then you will need to go with the 58" crossbars instead.

For a sea kayak such as your 14 foot Wilderness Tsunami Duralite I'd go with the Yakima Mako Saddle / HullyRoller kayak rack combination. The HullyRollers attach to the rear crossbar o nthe Lowrider base rack system and include rollers that allow you to slide and roll the kayak right up onto the kayak rack by yourself.