I have a 2004 4 door accord and have been trying to figure out what kind of options i have for a roof rack setup for my kayak. Anyone have any suggestions on what they've done or what they know of?
Thanks!

 

Yakima & Thule are the big names in racks. You get crossbars to fit your car, then you can add all kinds of stuff like bikes, skis, boards, canoes, etc...

Kayaks generally don't have well-defined gunwhales like canoes do, so I've never seen anything like the simple foam-block carrying system that you can use for a canoe.

 

Ive used the foam bloacks before but i want something a little better now. I just started looking at different types of racks, but wast sure if you had to drill into the roof or if the clips can go right into the roof/door frames and if those are sturdy enough. Ive seen people post the specifics on their setups, but do you have to get something customized for your car or are there universal ones as well?

thanks

 

They're not universal. Yakima has crossbars & towers that are all the same, but the clips that clamp it down to the car are different depending on the car. They clamp above the door-frame. Check out yakima dot com & click on "fit my car". I'm sure Thule has similar setup.

If you actually WANTED to drill your roof, they've got something called "landing pads" or something like that. But then you'll have these short stubby bases installed all the time even when you remove the towers & crossbars.

 

I don't know if it is too late to reply to this post but here are my suggestions:

First you need a base rack system.You can go with a base rack system from Thule -for a 2004 Accord you would want the Thule 480 Traverse and make sure to choose the 1304 Fit Kit, those are the special clips that fit a 2004 Accord roof top. Or the Yakima Q-Tower base rack system using Q6 and Q83 Q-Clips ( Yakima version of the clips that keep the rack on the car).

Then you have to decide if you want to carry your kayak laying flat using Kayak Saddles (www dot orsracksdirect dot com/kayak-saddles.html) or carry them upright using Cradle Kayak attachments (www dot orsracksdirect dot com/j-cradle-style-kayak-racks.html). It's quite a bit of decision making because there are so many good options out there these days.

 

Welcome newbie!
Please no direct links to selling sites that aren't sponsors. Appreciate the help & because it was on-topic & answered the original question I won't call it spam.