[Sean Nelson]

So I'm looking to get a roof rack to hold two kayaks. I haven't bought the kayaks yet, but I'm thinking they might be up to 14 feet in length. I've visited a roof rack store and the fellow there was a bit skeptical about using the attachment points in the built-in roof rails of my Premiere Bolt. He says that they're pretty close together in terms of fore-and-aft distance and is suggesting installing a new set of rails just inboard of the factory ones in order to give a longer baseline for the crossbars. I'm willing to do that, but only if it's really necessary.

Is anyone using a kayak rack with crossbar towers that screw into the attachment points on the built-in rails? Any issues with load stability?

 

[XJ12]

@ArcticBlue did three: https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/hauling-kayaks.31317/

 

[Sean Nelson]

@ArcticBlue did three: https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/hauling-kayaks.31317/

Thanks so much for the link. It looks like a nice setup, although I'm not too sure how long his kayaks are...

 

[opsdave]

Hi Sean, avid kayaker here. Although I don't have a roof rack on my Bolt EV, I can tell you that kayaks don't weigh so much that you'll need to worry about load stability. Just strap them at, or near, their center of gravity. If you need additional stability, you can always put bow and stern lines down to help stabilize them (if your kayaks are 14 feet long, perhaps you should, anyway). As long as you have a good front and rear strap system to tie them down, it shouldn't be a problem. Optionally, you can invest in one of those JayHook kayak stackers that help secure the kayaks to the roof rack.

Example Kayak Racks at REI

 

[Sean Nelson]

Hi Sean, avid kayaker here. Although I don't have a roof rack on my Bolt EV, I can tell you that kayaks don't weigh so much that you'll need to worry about load stability. Just strap them at, or near, their center of gravity.

Thanks for the advice. I did some more digging and a search for "kayak crossbar spacing" led me to this PDF file from Yakima that indicates that the crossbars only need to be separated by 24" with most of their kayak mounts. And this Yakima configurator page says that the crossbar spacing you get using the mount points in the Bolt's rails is 28.25".

So this looks like a case of a salesman trying to sell me something I don't need, which doesn't particularly surprise me.

 

[opsdave]

Yeah, also adding more complexity to the roof rack system tends to weaken its overall strength, not to mention increase weight.