kayak rack

When I found the Avalanche I wanted one thing was missing, a roof rack. I do a bit of kayaking and want to be able to transport camping gear under the cargo cover and still be able to have my yak loaded above. Since I do not like aftermarket clip on roof racks I came up with this rack system.

Nice, I carry 3 kayaks and a canoe and I do have a factory rack as it was a must when looking.  Question, did you make the rack?  The canoe I have is so long it would be great to have one of the rack pieces attached to the bed cover for the back end of the canoe. 

I did make the racks, and they are independent of each other. They slip over the cover and rest on the mounting area for the cover then the cover locks down to hold it in place. I made the "J" racks as well that the kayak rests on. for short trips the straps on the "J" racks are good enough, for longer trips I have a strap that I connect to the tie down cleats and then strap the yak down with those. Total rack cost me about 100 bucks to build.

Hey, I'm driving to Chicago to borrow yours, be there in 4 hours, what s the address again?

Just kidding, I don't have a rack either and was thinking how I could haul my kayaks on mine this year

Nice job on the racks!  I've been trying to find something like this for a while. Would you take a couple more shots and maybe show some measurements so I can try to duplicate this?  I'm thinking of picking up a 2013 BlackDiamond LTZ and don't want to screw up the paint because I need to carry a couple extension ladders now and then to and from jobs.  Do you think these racks are strong enough and would work for the ladders (32 foot fiberglass)?  I could also use them for lumber and kayaks too if the kayak attachments are removable.  Can you still open the side compartment panels with them on?

Everything still opens and is functional, as far as the weight of a couple ladders or some material, my kayak is only 70 lbs, and my daughters is 35 lbs. the cover its self is rated at 250 lbs I am resting the weight onto the side rails and not the cover its self  so that helps. And yes to the "J's" coming off the rack. you can always add an extra brace to the bar if needed for some more stability, this is my first attempt at the rack system on this truck, I do learn from trial and error, lol. I can post some more close up pics of the rack, the sizes are as follows: bottom "C" channel that slips over the cover are 11" long, they have a 2" top and bottom piece and are 1.25" apart with a foam pad on top and in the inside back of the channel to avoid steel from rubbing on the cover. The uprights are 1x1" tube 20" tall with one support angle at 45 deg for front to back stability. the main tube is also a 1" box, round can be substituted, square just worked really well for me this time, I made them 66" long. I TIG welded all the joints full.

As promised here are a couple of close ups, one of the "C" I made for the base of the rack and one of the "J rack for the kayak, the "J" comes off with a twist of a few wing nuts.


I tried to keep it simple and easy to remove/ install

Very nice - thank you.   

thats sweet 

Looks great, nice job

which I had the skillz  looks awesome

Your Idea and design is exaclty what I am looking for. I have the rack drawn up and ready to build. Do you have any dimensions for the J rack that you could share. I havn't had a chance to get to Dunhams to measure any. Also, You just use bungees to hold these down, or a rachet strap?

Thanks Again

The back of the "J" which is where the hull rests is 14" @ 22.5 deg. The landing is 6" with a 1/2" foam pad glued to the 1/16" steel plate I tacked to the round. The front of the rack is 6" @ 22.5 deg. They are 6 inches wide. For straps I use a self locking nylon web to HS the yak to the rack, around town that's enough, when I hit the highway I add an extra tiedown to the front and back of the yak that I attach to a strap that I attach to the cargo lowers in the bed and run flat between the covers and the bed rail.

Here is a similar one I built using the design from the original Poster:

I am about to build something very similar for my 2006 Av. Any thing you would change or do differently after using it for a few years? I am thinking for the rear frame I'll use the corner handle thing's bolt holes as I saw another thread here that used those successfully.

I am thinking about doing the same with mine. I have a factory rack to install on my truck and I want to build a custom rack to go where the Grab hooks go now. That rack would allow me to use my Yakima rack mounted to it at the normal height where one would go now on top of the panels and another bar across the top to allow for kayaks.