dregsfan :
I'll be honest with you, I have a Yukon Denali and the roof rack looks almost identical to yours (I looked a pics on line). I don't use any aftermarket racks at all. I tried several different types like the Malone V racks (sea wing), and their newer Saddleup pro racks. I ended up removing them all and just using stock roof racks that came with the car. Personally I don't think you want Hobie trailer cradles up on your roof.
It's not likely anyone would ever try to load a full TI with the AMA's, AKA's, etc still on the boat onto their roof, it's just too heavy to get up there ( over 200 lbs), where the empty hull alone is only about 100 lbs, and easily lifted up, then the 22 lb AMA's can easily be lifted and placed up there once the hull is secure. All the seats, AKA bars, etc just stow in the back of the car. At least that's what most of us car topper people do.
What I did was buy one of those Tbar hitch mounts on Amazon (about $90 bucks), this unit holds 500 lbs and is what structurally supports the boat, plus it eases loading the front of the boat up so you can push it forward.
I took a pool noodle and put a piece of pvc pipe down the middle (for strength), the pool noodle was slightly narrower than the roof rack on the car (about 4 ft). What I do is place the noodle near the back of the car. I hoist the bow up onto the T bar, then center the boat and walk back and lift the back of the boat up and push forward. It slides on top of the Tbar, then onto the pool noodle where the pool noodle rolls on the roof until it hits the rear rack cross bar. At least on my car by then the boat is in the correct position, I then just slip the sail bag alongside the hull then lift and place the AMA's next to each side of the boat, I then strap the boat and AMA's down to the roof racks and the Tbar. Extremely secure. If I'm going to have the boat on the roof for more than a few hrs I will slide pool noodles lengthwise under the hull and just tucked in before strapping down. If going on the highway I will add a Vstrap to the front to help support the front from the wind.
If you wrap the pool noodle in tape or slide it into a cloth sleeve ( I used an old Hobie kayak sail bag cut off short, and sewn a little smaller) it will last longer, worst case your out a buck if you loose it.
Here is a pick of my setup, best setup I have tried.
Here is a pic of our older setup
With this setup we had the Malone SS combo MPG113md racks (
http://www.maloneautoracks.com/saddle-v ... rriers.php), I had one pointing forward, and another one pointing backwards (behind the car for loading), this gave us 4 points of contact over a very large stance, and supported the hull quite well. I had another set on the other side of the car and we could easily haul two TI's up there if needed. When hauling multiple kayaks we would strap the TI ama's onto the top of the TI with separate strapping. Not inexpensive though., and now day's I think there are better solutions.
Everyone beats to a different drum though, and if the Hobie cradles work for you up there, great.
Hope this helps
Bob
PS I also have a trailer, and it is way easier and faster, here is a pic of my $140 harbor freight trailer
When just local I just use the trailer, and store the boat fully rigged in the garage (all of two minutes to get the boat all ready and on the car). When we don't have to car top we don't.
I'm just saying.
Bob
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