comments:
New-ish owner of 14-ft Equinox (and my wife has Sitka ST.) We load kayaks onto J-racks atop a Honda CR-V, so fairly high roof. Have had very good success using a roller that suction-cups onto the back window of the car, as a way to leverage the kayak up to the roof/racks https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTQ6GJL6?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1. In other words, I lean the kayak at an angle on the rollers and then, from the rear, push it up and onto the rack. My J-racks have spongy rubber on the metal bars. This is great for holding the kayak once it's on, but hard to slide on. I solved this by buying some marine felt and attaching a flap of felt that I can put down over the rubber.... let's kayak slide beautifully. In fact, I slide it all the way forward leaning on the felt and then let it rest on the forward rack. I push the felt out of the way to tie down the kayak, so it benefits from the grip of the rubber coating. One more 'hack'... It's nice to be able to rest the stern of the kayak on the ground while it's leaning on the roller. But I don't want it to slide backwards and if it's a cement surface, I don't want to scratch it. Bought a mat that is meant to go under a carpet and keep it from sliding around, so it has one rubberized side. I lay it down, rubber-side-up and it works to let the kayak rest at an angle when I'm loading or unloading. I know all this sound elaborate, but it all just works! Hope that helps