AI's on Honda Ridgeline Rack opinions sought

I have been chosen as a "test pilot" by a company that makes racks for trucks. They need pictures of my kayaks on their racks and in return, I get a greatly reduced price.

I used to transport my AIs using Hullavators on my Honda Odyssey and they worked great. I bought a Ridgeline to tow a bigger sailboat and I thought I'd just be able to use my Hullavators on the Ridgeline with the factory roof racks. WRONG.

Considering that the roof rack from Honda is rated for 110 pounds I would have been over the weight limit with one AI so this rack might be my only option. This is my first attempt at putting boat boats on the rack and am not sure about how far forward they should be. The way they are now, they are balanced on the cradles but I'm concerned about how far back they are. Any opinions?







By the way, does anyone want to buy 2 used Hullavators?

OK, a few thoughts:
- As I understand it, the weight limits for racks relate more to the stability (height) of the vehicle than the strength of the rack or rails. My roofracks are rated 130 pounds on my Subaru Forester, but the same racks are rated 175 pounds on my wife's little Toyota Corolla. Those limits include a fair margin for error, so if you don't go cornering at high speed with the boat loaded, you shouldn't have to worry much. Also, the amount of instability would be much the same whether you were using the Honda racks or the truck racks.
- That's quite a bit of rear overhang. Do your local regulations permit that much? In any case, it would be wise to hang a red rag from the rear of the boat for the benefit of anyone behind you. Also, you would need to be careful turning in narrow streets, or the rear of the boat may swing around and hit someone or something.

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You're in luck Rahn. I also carry my AI on my 08 Ridgeline. For starters, I only own one AI so I can't say for sure how the truck will handle two, but I'll try to share some info with your here. The factory rack on the Ridgelines are designed to allow you to slide the cross bars to different positions along the roof by adjusting bolts on the corners of each cross bar. They come from the factory set to about six or so inches in from either end of their full extension. If you want to try carrying your boat on the roof like I do, they should definitely be adjusted as far apart from each other as they will go. This will allow for better support of the hull. I carry mine with a set of Yakima mako saddles paired with the hully rollers. They work great for me, but I don’t know for sure if there is enough space to rig two side by side . As for the weight issue, I personally installed the factory roof racks on my Ridgeline a month or so after I bought it so I wouldn't have to pay for the dealer to do it for me. I can vouch that they are very, very strong and well connected to the truck and should have no problem supporting the weight of the two hulls. The hulls alone weigh around 60 lbs a piece so in total, that's only 10 lbs more than what the roof racks are rated for. Also like chrisj said, the load limit likely has more to do with the top heavy roll over risk, rather than the rack's ability to physically handle the load. Unfortunately, even with the cross bars pushed apart as far as they can go, it’s still not very far in comparison to most other vehicles. the good news is that when fully extended, the cross bars sit just behind the drive well and directly above the scupper holes which as far as I know are the two strongest places to support the weight of the hull and prevent it from deforming. Because the AI and is almost as long as the truck, it sits perfectly balanced on the racks with the bow and stern just about flush with the bumpers. With the boat centered properly and with the front cross bar all the way forward, the tie down strap should cut rite through the center of the diamond shaped Hobie logo on the side of the hull. Now, if you can fit both side by side lying flat, then I would seriously recommend buying the mako / hully roller setup. They work great with the Ridgeline’s funny body shape. Keep in mind, if you take measurements and find that you’re too short by 2 or 3 inches; don’t forget that the roof rack’s cross bars have an arc to them that will mildly splay the hulls apart from each other giving you a few extra inches. Yakima produces custom mounting brackets for factory rails called mightymounts. For the Ridgeline, you will want #23H. They fit like a glove and are much stronger and cheaper than the universal oval bar mounting brackets. If it turns out that you can’t fit the two kayaks flat on their hulls, then I’m sure you could use some sort of side cradle. As for the amas, I carry mine in the bed and just bungee them down with the bed cleats. They hang over the closed tailgate a couple feet, but not far enough that I would bother to put a flag on them. You shouldn’t have any problem at all carrying four of them. If you do decide to carry the kayaks around on your roof racks, make absolutely sure you use bow and stern tie downs because with the cross bars being so close together, the boats will bounce and rock all over the place without them. There’s a nice little hook loop about a foot back under your front bumper and same in the rear that you can connect them to. Let me know if you have any more questions this.

The ideal situation, if you could arrange it, would probably be to have them mounted on a roof rack at the front and a single truck rack or a Thule Goalpost at the rear. Expensive.

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Rahn,
I have an 07 ridgeline and I was wondering what is that back setup you have? who makes it and where can I get it? I want to buy 2 hobies and I have the factory honda roof rack, but I think the kayaks will need some back support and really like the set up you have on your truck. Thanks!

How much for the Hullivators?

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2010 Hibiscus Adventure Island

Both Hullavators are sold. The racks work great on the Ridgeline and are available from Vantech.

http://vantech.us/pick_up/Special_editi ... geline.htm

The only issue I had was I couldn't fit a hard tonneau cover with the racks installed but it looks like they solved that problem with the Gen 3 version. I was able to install a soft roll-up tonneau and am completely satisfied.

Here is a link to pictures I took of my AIs on the Ridgeline:

http://rahnlawton.com/ridgeline/