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roof rack

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by amyperl, Oct 15, 2005.

  1. amyperl

    amyperl New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2005
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    Has anyone had any experience putting a roof rack and a kayak on their Prius? I'm a kayaker who is interested in buying a Prius, and i see they don't have factory racks. In doing some research, i did find that there's a Thule rack that can fit on it. But i'd have to load the boat from the side due to the antenna location. Is anyone else out there a kayaker? How does the car perform with a boat on it? How does side loading work for you? Does the antenna get in the way? Any thoughts/advice?
     
    #1 amyperl, Oct 15, 2005
  2. engunneer

    engunneer Member

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2005
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    Location:
    Medford, MA
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius Prime
    Model:
    XLE
    You can always take off the antenna as part of your loading procedure. Do you actually listen to the radio?

    There are roof racks that fit, and a few people here have them. I think the common thing to do is to remove it whenever you can (off-season, mondays, etc.) for better fuel economy.
     
    #2 engunneer, Oct 15, 2005
  3. lekofraggle

    lekofraggle New Member

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    May 18, 2004
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    I'm a windsurfer, and I got a rack from the rackwarehouse.com. It fits well. I did not get the farring to save money on the purchase end, and don't seem to loose too much for MPG with just the rack. It is noisy above 40 mph however. WHen my board is on, I loose about 5mpg, and it is quieter. I bet the faring would solve at least one of these issues. When my board is on top, I try to keep the antenna between it and the mast which is usually the only other thing on the roof. I don't have any problem, but it does come off esily. You could put a rack on that holds your boat on its side. I am not sure how well that would work for avoiding the antenna, but you could try it, and if it doesn't work, sell it on ebay or take off the antenna, you could also get longer crossbars. You would then risk walking into them, as the roof of the prius is not as high as an SUV.
     
    #3 lekofraggle, Dec 3, 2005
  4. altaskier

    altaskier New Member

    Joined:
    May 15, 2004
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    Location:
    Long Island, New York
    See
    Adventures delivering kayak...
    Thule rack?
     
    #4 altaskier, Dec 3, 2005
  5. tuco

    tuco New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2005
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    You may want to look into getting a vacu-rack from ebay or vacurack.com. It sells for about fifty dollars and won't damage your paint.

    Tuco
     
    #5 tuco, Dec 25, 2005
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