One of my goals for the kayaking season was to get a good kayak rack system to upgrade the foam blocks and straps that I have been using. I started pricing out systems for my car from Thule and Yakima but due to the fact that the car has a bare roof, I was looking at spending a minimum of $600 to get the car set up. A bit our of my budget to say the least.
My other option was to pick up a rack for my Dodge Caravan. But I immediately encountered two issues:
1. The caravan is so tall that lifting a kayak on top is impossible.
2. None of the manufacturers seemed to offer a rack that fit on the wide Caravan factory cross bars.
After a bit of reasearch I found the Malone website and their Seawing Stinger combo kayak rack. This rack meets all my needs; it is under $200, it has a lift assist option and most importantly it fits on my Caravan. Just to be sure of the fit I emailed Malone, a tech got right back to me and assured me that the rack would fit on the Caravan cross bars.
I installed the rack a few weeks ago and have had the opportunity to use it a few times and I have to say I am pretty happy with this system. The rack installs onto the cross bars without tools which makes it very easy to install but also makes it so you can't get the rack at tighted down as you would if you were using tools. This seems to be mostly an issue with the rear rack that has the mounting plate for the lift assist. Although I know it is attached securely it does have a bit of back and forth wiggle. Loading the kayak is very easy, just lift the front of the kayak onto the list assist extention and slide the kayak onto the racks. This system is definitely going to make it easier for me to get to and from the water and also cut down on my anxiety when driving 65 mph on the highway with my kayak on the roof.
Below is a video demo of the Seawing Stinger rack from Malone
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