I recently decided that I wanted to be able to carry two kayaks on my car, so that I could easily take a friend or my fiance paddling with me. I considered a lightweight trailer, but ruled them out due to cost and storage hassles. That left a roof rack.
If you drive a car with integrated rack rails, that's pretty easy - you can get fairly inexpensive crossbars that attach to your integrated rack. You can then add J-shaped cradles that let your boats rest on edge.
If, however, you drive a car with a "naked roof" - no rack rails, no rain gutters, just a smooth top - you have an issue. You must find a way to add crossbars where there is no existing structure. Yakima and Thule both make systems that fit a wide variety of cars, but they are expensive. I drive a 2002 Ford Taurus and I didn't wish to spend the $700+ that a crossbar/riser /J-cradle system would cost from one of the big names.
I poked around on Amazon, and quickly found that there are knockoffs available - "Universal fit" rack kits, priced as low as $30. Additionally, there are generic J-cradles that go for about $67 per set. This brought up a couple questions - would the rack fit my car, and would the J-cradles fit the rack? Would my handcrafted strip-built kayak come off my car, explode into 10,000 splinters, and kill innocent bystanders? These are things of nightmares.
The universal rack is rated to 150 lbs. It isn't the most impressively built piece of equipment I've ever owned, but it does the job - the crossbars are steel, on plastic risers.
I did some reading and found that the universal rack didn't fit the Taurus as designed. It comes with metal clips that are supposed to hook into the door frame. I eventually decided to run cargo straps through the passenger compartment, rather than relying on the hooks. It's very strong, and very cheap - but it comes with two drawbacks.
First, the straps compress the door gasket, which could eventually damage it. I decided I didn't care, because, frankly, it's a 2002 Taurus. My previous method of carrying my kayak involved using a foam block kit and ran the straps through the compartment as well, so that was a wash for me. Your mileage may vary.
Second, it takes a couple minutes to take on and off the car. I decided that both were worth it, since I might only use the system a few times a month.
With that modification, the universal rack was very firmly attached to the top of the car. I ordered a single J-cradle to make sure that it fit the universal rack - it did, quite well. I was very pleasantly surprised at the build quality on the J-cradles at that price point - the are well designed and feel like quality.
My boats both fit the J-cradles fine - a 17 ft Siskiwit Bay and a 15 ft plastic Epitour. I secure the boats to the cradle with the nylon straps supplied with the cradle, and a bow line tied off to the underside of the car. I've since purchased the second J-cradle and await a little free time to install it.
This rack is clearly an exercise in trade-offs. You trade the straps coming through the passenger compartment and possible gasket wear against a nearly $600 difference in price. For occasional use over modest distances, it works well. As an added bonus, the J-cradles will be reusable when I buy a new vehicle with integrated rails. For a total price of $160 I am quite pleased with the results and hope that someone else will find this useful.
