Naked Roof Kayak / Rack Setup

Figured I'd post my setup for summertime since my roof will basically never be on the vehicle and I haven't seen anybody post something similar yet. I simply use the rollbar as my front crossbar along with a Yakima Easy Top pad, and in the rear I use a Yakima Long arm hitch rack.

The stabilizer straps on the hitch rack attach perfectly to the car seat anchor points on the backs of the rear seats and the d rings in the cargo bed are great for running the forward tie down strap for the kayak.

One thing to note, the black Sirius XM antenna on top of the rollbar does get in the way so I unbolted it and then ziptied it to the wiring harness that runs inside the rollbar (last pic below). This allows you to keep it plugged in but then gives you a nice flat surface up top once it's relocated. The process is pretty easy if anybody wants to try it - I attached the how to doc here for unbolting the antenna.

I'm a surfer and wanted a simple rack to carry my boards. Did you consider buying a light bar to place above the windshield? I saw one or two that looked like they would work. Valkyrie makes a cross bar for the roof with the last section on.

BroncoHI said:

I'm a surfer and wanted a simple rack to carry my boards. Did you consider buying a light bar to place above the windshield? I saw one or two that looked like they would work. Valkyrie makes a cross bar for the roof with the last section on.

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I haven't found a light bar type thing that supports any official load weights plus I don't want the wind noise up there. I actually tried those Valkyrie bars u are talking about but wasn't super happy with the setup, plus they don't help with the fact that I won't have the roof on at all most of the summer when I'm kayaking. I wanted a setup that allowed me to load up the kayaks without hassling with taking roof on or off. When the roof is on, I actually have been using a set of Seasucker Ridge Ready Monkey Bars. Honestly, I'll prob use this same setup though with the roof on going forward and just place the Easy Top pad over the middle roof panel section instead of over the roll bar. The hitch rack is insanely light weight and easy to whip on or off the truck.

Black_Stallion13 said:

I haven't found a light bar type thing that supports any official load weights plus I don't want the wind noise up there. I actually tried those Valkyrie bars u are talking about but wasn't super happy with the setup, plus they don't help with the fact that I won't have the roof on at all most of the summer when I'm kayaking. I wanted a setup that allowed me to load up the kayaks without hassling with taking roof on or off. When the roof is on, I actually have been using a set of Seasucker Ridge Ready Monkey Bars. Honestly, I'll prob use this same setup though with the roof on going forward and just place the Easy Top pad over the middle roof panel section instead of over the roll bar. The hitch rack is insanely light weight and easy to whip on or off the truck.

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Nice. I don't plan n taking off the roof panels. Are the Seasuckers really good? Kayaks are much bigger than my longboards.

The Seasuckers are nice from the standpoint they go on and off super easy if you are someone who wants to take roof on and off. If you're never taking the roof off I'd just go with a factory rack... there are a bunch of used takeoffs posted for sale around me for like $400 - they seem pretty easy to find at this point.

Might want to tie a red flag on the back of that….is that close to 4’ extended past the back?

Charlesbrown165 said:

Might want to tie a red flag on the back of that….is that close to 4’ extended past the back?

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Yeah it's right about 4' - I always keep a flag in the back for sure though. Honestly, the whole thing could actually be moved about 2 feet forward by putting the rear hitch rack in the fully vertical position (rather than angled back like I have it) and then just sliding kayak forward.

Nice, like what you’ve done there. Was visualizing how I would carry my 9.5’ kayak - however I’ll likely move it forward. Question, is mounting/removing a one person affair? Thx!

Interesting setup. I hauled my 10’ kayak on my 2 door last summer when I was topless. I just put some foam padding on the top of the windshield frame & rear roll bar so it wouldn’t scratch the paint. Tied down bow & stern and threw a strap across the middle using the hardtop mounting plates by the b-pillar to attach the strap to.

Simple rack i fabled up out of stainless tubing,I carry surfboards,paddleboards,and kayaks daily it also works at home depot for supplies as long as I don't go crazy.
It has always amazed me ford never offered this as front panels are unaffected.

This looks like a good solution. I was looking at the hitch mount rack which completely suspends Kayak above the Bronco and doesn’t touch it at all, but the kayak would sit further back and price is high. I think access to back would be a problem with either. You’d need a swing out extension or to take the rack off the hitch.

https://www.bayareametalfab.com/Bronco-SoftTopless-roof-rack_p_183.html

I went with this. Could not really see a situation where I am loading up the paddleboard or the kayak with a ton of rain in the forecast. Plus my Jackson paddleboard is a HOSS at a sweet 69 pounds.

HotLap said:

Nice, like what you’ve done there. Was visualizing how I would carry my 9.5’ kayak - however I’ll likely move it forward. Question, is mounting/removing a one person affair? Thx!

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Yes it is, I place the front end of the kayak on the rear rack then just slide the whole thing forward until it's over the rollbar. Slide it off the opposite way to remove.

Not to keen on the kayak sticking that far aft; looks solid. Better than when I loaded my 16' Delta on top of my 12' Spark.

DrewBronc21 said:

This looks like a good solution. I was looking at the hitch mount rack which completely suspends Kayak above the Bronco and doesn’t touch it at all, but the kayak would sit further back and price is high. I think access to back would be a problem with either. You’d need a swing out extension or to take the rack off the hitch.

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I was worried about rear access too but I found in reality if the top is on there's no reason I can't just grab whatever I need by putting a rear seat down and reaching in cargo area through rear passenger door. Really the whole point of this setup is running it with top off tho so obviously you don't even need to open the hatch if there's no top over the cargo space - just reach over the side.

I had one of those swing away hitches on my bike rack for awhile, I found that the massive extra weight and complexity they add was not worth the rarely-used convenience of needing to open the hatch for the few hours I was using it. I guess I could see wanting that feature if you left the rack on at all times but I take it off when not in use anyways.