Carrying Kayaks on Factory Crossbars

NYR774 · Jun 15, 2016

So over the weekend we loaded up the Durango with our Kayaks for the first time and my wife headed down to her parents’ house for a visit.

Driving down the PA turnpike she caught a gust exiting a tunnel and one of the kayaks shifted far enough that it almost fell off the side. Luckily her sister was with her and they were able to get everything back in place on their way with no damage to the Durango or the kayak.

Once they made it, they took the J racks off and found that both crossbars were bent almost to breaking. In the picture below you can see the front bar almost sheared off the and back bar sort of crushed in on itself.

We have used the same setup (J racks with sturdy bow and stern lines) for years on the Caliber we just sold and never had an issue, even on 500 mile plus road trips.

Has anyone else had trouble with the Durango crossbars bending or with carrying Kayaks in general?

legacygt · Jun 15, 2016

No but I've been unimpressed by the crossbar design. Such a good idea but the execution is far from perfect. I have a Yakima Skybox that I've found will slide side-to-side on the crossbars because they are relatively slick (compared to the rubberized surfaces that many aftermarket racks have). I was going to try to tighten up the clamps on the Skybox but after seeing your photo I'm worried about crushing the crossbar.

NYR774 · Jun 15, 2016

I was thinking the same thing about the crossbars.

The Mopar bars on the Caliber had a little strip of rubber which seemed to have better grip strength. I was considering lining the inside of the J-rack clamps with anti slip tape or something similar to give it a better bite on the bar.

I'm not sure if the bar got bent during the event or in their attempts to tighten the j-rack down after but either way I was also concerned to see it crush so far in.

I might just lose the J-racks and go with a saddle hull down rack to cut down on the crosswind issues but I'm not sure I'll be able to fit two boats up there.

n a m · Jun 16, 2016

NYR774 said:
Has anyone else had trouble with the Durango crossbars bending or with carrying Kayaks in general?

View attachment 29056

Yes. Only mine was with a Thule aftermarket bike rack and a $2500 road bike on top. The crossbars are aluminum and hollow. Recipe for disaster.

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NYR774 · Jun 16, 2016

Here's some more pictures of the bars. You can see that they no longer lay flat in the last picture.

NYR774 · Jun 16, 2016

n a m said:
Yes. Only mine was with a Thule aftermarket bike rack and a $2500 road bike on top. The crossbars are aluminum and hollow. Recipe for disaster.

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Ouch that doesn't sound good at all. Did you loose the bike? What did you end up replacing your bars with; new OEM bars or did you get something else?

legacygt · Jun 16, 2016

What's interesting is that the 150 lb. load limit on the Durango actually seems pretty high compared to some competitors. But maybe they did their calculations based on the downward force while the car was stopped. It seems the bars aren't really able to handle the torque (particularly of an upright load when travelling around a corner).

As far as the non-slip material, I agree that just about every aftermarket rack I've seen has either a rubber strip across the top or the bar is entirely covered in vinyl. For some reason, OEMs don't apply this to their racks.

RangoLimited · Jun 16, 2016

Sorry for the trouble, but thanks for sharing. I wad thinking I'd get racks for mine but think I'll go the thule route now. I prefer the flat crossbars anyhow

Szy_szka · Jun 16, 2016

Just curious, how did you secure the kayak to the crossbars? I have carried my one kayak (Old Town Twin Otter) on the OEM crossbars but had the Yakima LandShark Saddles installed on them (see my post from May of last year here: http://www.dodgedurango.net/forums/...discussions-2014/15366-yakima-might-mount-size-fits-stock-racks.html#post222821). No issues so far but the trip I took was relatively short and only a portion of it was on the highway.

NYR774 · Jun 16, 2016

Szy_szka said:
Just curious, how did you secure the kayak to the crossbars?

Thanks for the link, I'll check out the Yakima mounts

I used Malone downloader folding J-racks with bow and stern lines (picture below).

I don't have a picture from the Durango but here's some showing our typical setup from the Caliber.

We use to have a saddle for my wife's kayak that was too large for a j-rack but we got rid of it when she switched kayaks.

I've been pretty happy with the j-racks but I'm thinking it might just be too much cross section, too high up on top of the Durango. Might be time to go back to the saddles...

n a m · Jun 16, 2016

NYR774 said:
Ouch that doesn't sound good at all. Did you loose the bike? What did you end up replacing your bars with; new OEM bars or did you get something else?

No. Thankfully I didn't. I have a Yakima hitch rack that does the job now. I've been all over the web looking for a replacement. If you end up replacing yours (assuming you will go to the dealer for that) could you post the replacement part numbers?

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NYR774 · Jun 16, 2016

n a m said:
If you end up replacing yours (assuming you will go to the dealer for that) could you post the replacement part numbers?

A local dealer and a website confirmed the following part numbers for me:

Cross bar. Roof Luggage Carrier Cross Rail. . all ; rear 68079442AB
Cross bar. Roof Luggage Carrier Cross Rail. . Front; front 68080828AA

The dealership quoted $111 each plus tax, but I found them online for $84 each plus $20 shipping combined (and in theory no tax).

I'll let you know if they are the correct parts once they arrive.

n a m · Jun 17, 2016

That's great NY! Thanks. The mopar parts website has all of the rack parts but the images are grainy and I don't have a dealer to go to that is close or reliable.

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NYR774 · Jun 21, 2016

The 68079442AB and 68080828AA I ordered arrived last night and they are two OEM style roof rack cross bars so it looks like those part numbers are correct.

NYR774 · Jun 28, 2016

The new saddle racks arrived over the weekend and we took the Kayaks out to a lake about an hour away. There was a section of highway driving in there and the Durango (and more to the point the roof rack cross rails) had no problem even at 70 +.

Still not sure if we got an unlucky gust the 1st time or if J-racks on the top of the Durango just make too much sail area. While the Caliber would be pushed around a little in cross winds I think the Durango is too heavy to be pushed and the cross rail took all of the force.

The real test will be our 15 hour + trip this summer. I’ll update with how everything holds up after the trip.

n a m · Jun 28, 2016

Sweet! Thanks! I'll be ordering a replacement soon.

Ewing · Oct 31, 2016

NYR774 said:
The new saddle racks arrived over the weekend and we took the Kayaks out to a lake about an hour away. There was a section of highway driving in there and the Durango (and more to the point the roof rack cross rails) had no problem even at 70 +.

Still not sure if we got an unlucky gust the 1st time or if J-racks on the top of the Durango just make too much sail area. While the Caliber would be pushed around a little in cross winds I think the Durango is too heavy to be pushed and the cross rail took all of the force.

The real test will be our 15 hour + trip this summer. I’ll update with how everything holds up after the trip.

View attachment 30217 View attachment 30225 View attachment 30233

Interested in this setup. Is it still working out? I assume this setup is with the stock OEM crossbars you repurchased?

caskey_b · Oct 31, 2016

legacygt said:
No but I've been unimpressed by the crossbar design. Such a good idea but the execution is far from perfect. I have a Yakima Skybox that I've found will slide side-to-side on the crossbars because they are relatively slick (compared to the rubberized surfaces that many aftermarket racks have). I was going to try to tighten up the clamps on the Skybox but after seeing your photo I'm worried about crushing the crossbar.

Ive put over 3000 miles on with a SkyBox 16 on top with no issues what-so-ever... no sliding either.. and speeds up to 80mph

lovat · Sep 5, 2017

NYR774,
What kind of saddle racks are these, and how's it going with them?
I almost lost a kayak this weekend, and dented a crossbar. It still looks useable though.
but I'd like to get them saddles if you are having success with them.

Thank you,
Greg

Szy_szka · Sep 6, 2017

lovat said:
NYR774,
What kind of saddle racks are these, and how's it going with them?
I almost lost a kayak this weekend, and dented a crossbar. It still looks useable though.
but I'd like to get them saddles if you are having success with them.

Thank you,
Greg

What happened? How did you tie your kayak to the stock crossbars? I had nothing but good luck with Yakima LandShark Saddles (they may be discontinued) plus Yakima's Horizontal MightyMounts (23H, Product 8003523). We have been successfully carrying a 14' Old Town Twin Otter tandem kayak plus a 10' Pelican Trailblazer 100 single kayak (the smaller on top of the bigger). Stories like those always scare the crap out of me; that's why I ask.

Carrying Kayaks on Factory Crossbars

NYR774

legacygt

NYR774

n a m

NYR774

NYR774

legacygt

RangoLimited

Szy_szka

NYR774

n a m

NYR774

n a m

NYR774

NYR774

n a m

Ewing

caskey_b

lovat

Szy_szka

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