Transporting Kayak Tbone vs yakima

Getting ready to start taking my kayak out fishing for the year. This is my first year with the truck and was wondering if anyone with kayaks had any experience transporting them in the bed with either of the following products;

https://boonedoxusa.com/collections/vehicle-accessories-1/products/t-bone-bed-extender

https://www.yakima.com/longarm


I was also wondering how you keep these types of products secure to prevent theft when out on the water. If anyone has any experience with both or either of these products and can point me in the right direction, that would be great. Thanks.

 

I'm not really interested in any of the cheap options from harbor freight or anything. The tbone seems to be more of a single use case if you have stuff in your bed, but also seems more secure from theft. Where the Yakima seems more versatile to put stuff on my diamondback cover or roof, ( I also have the Yakima roof rack from my previous car, would just need to get the correct clips to work with the tundra), but it also seems like it would be easier to steal since there's more connection points to take apart.

 

How long is your kayak?

Sit-in or on-top?

How long is your truck bed?

 

It's 12-1/2 feet long, 34" wide

It's a sit on top. (Jackson coosa hd)

5-1/2 foot bed

 

I’ve got 13’ kayaks and the short bed. I bought a cap to be able to put them on top and secure stuff inside the cap. If you are trying bed only you are going to have a lot of kayak hanging out the back. Probably not street legal in some states and you’ll have to watch the swing in turns. I think you’d better better off getting racks for your bed and put a locking case under it in the bed.

 

Bed extenders make the bed 4 feet longer so i'll only have 3 feet of overhang, in which case you just need a long load flag. You use a tie down straps at the extender and another inside bed. There's no way I can justify getting a cap for this purpose as I bought the truck to make taking the kayak out a lot easier. Putting it on top of my previous Honda Civic on Yakima racks was a massive pain in the ass that took too long and was partly why I didn't even take the kayak out much. Putting it on top of a truck would make it even worse as my kayak weighs about 125# fully loaded. And I had the Yakima showboat, and the rollers to make loading it and securing it easier. Still took too long as I only left the crossbars on all the time

These bed extenders, specifically the tbone are mad specifically for kayak hauling and have a 300# load capacity so there are no safety concerns.

I agree that anyone who is hauling kayaks without a bed extender is just asking for an accident to happen.

 

Just did a quick search and what I read says the US DOT rule for max overhang on the rear is 4 feet. I read that as 4 feet past the rear of the truck, not 3 feet past a 4 foot extension. Pretty sure cops will see that as a 7 foot overhang especially since the extender does not have brake lights or anything.

If that’s not the case, then someone could make a 7 foot extension and no need for a flag since it’s not past their 7 foot extension. Will the kayak fly away? Not if tied down. Is it really safe with some of the drivers on the road? Id say a 7 foot overhang is not safe.

 

Extensions Over Front and Rear. No vehicle may
carry a load extending more than three feet beyond
the front nor more than four feet beyond the rear,
unless a special permit is obtained. When any load
extends more than four feet beyond the rear, there
must be attached on the extreme rear of such extension,
a red flag at least twelve inches square during
daylight hours and at night a burning red light visible
for 500 feet.

The way I'm reading this is that it's perfectly fine with a rear hitch mounted extender. So as long as you're not overhanging 4 additional feet beyond the extender and have a long load flag or light , youll be alright.

 

I have the Yakima. I like that it screws in and really tightens in the hitch receiver (no play or slop), and you can purchase a lock for it as well. I like that it folds up so I can park in regular spaces. The T-Bone looks cool and probably offers more clearance than the Yakima. It doesn't appear to fold. As for security you can buy a number of locking hitch pins, or just throw it inside the cab.

 

I'm leaning towards the Yakima for those reasons as it's definitely more versatile if I wanna put something on my diamondback or roof. Tbone is just for stuff in the bed. I've read that the lock for Yakima is kinda shitty though and will break if you just unscrew the bolt. Are there actually threads inside the part that goes into the hitch receiver? That's why I was wondering if any hitch lock would work with it. I was looking at using this one.


https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Locks/Bolt/BL7023584.html

 

Those are USDOT regulations. Those are federal regulations applicable only to commercial vehicles. State laws will vary

 

It's got threads on one side but it looks like a regular 5/8" hitch pin would work. If not, Dremel.

 

E-Trailer sells anti rattle hitch locks, and it looks like they would work.

https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Locks/Swagman/S64027.html

 

Thanks man. Im assuming all 2" hitch pins have the same thread. It's worth a shot at least because that one looks a lot more rugged than yakimas option. Think I'm gonna go with the longarm. Gonna order now!!

 

I can't imagine it being different.

It states in the manual it uses a 5/8" threaded rod and I believe thread diameter is measured from the peaks, not the valleys. So in theory any hitch pin would work if you don't want to use the OEM, you just wouldn't get the tightening effect. If mine wasn't buried in the shed I'd drag it out and double check. I don't ever bother to lock mine.

 

No worries man I'll try it out and see with their lock and if it seems too cheap I'll try the one you sent. I just can't stomach leaving it unlocked because I don't trust people not to be assholes lol