My Trailer Hitch Receiver, and.....kayak carrier Options

[Joe Owensby]

Here are some photos of my trailer hitch, along with some of my kayak carrier. My hobby is whitewater kayaking in the NC and Tn mountains. With this setup, I can enjoy the drive to the rivers as well as the time spent on the rivers.

I made a 1 1/4" tubular hitch receiverfor a trailer hitch. This can hold a trailer ball, a bike rack, or the rig I show to hold up the back of the kayaks. The reciever is supported on the rear by the two bars that I bent up to hug the rear of the car, and go beneath the bumper. These are shown in the photo. The inside of the tube is welded to a 2" by 1/2" inch bar that I heated and bent to follow the underside of the trunk up to the point below the center trunk reinforcement, where I have it bolted through the trunk floor. I cut a notch in the sheet metal heat shield for the muffler to allow this bar to hug the trunk floor. This bar then easily clears a stock muffler, tranny, etc. I notched out the back valence to clear the receiver tube.

For the front kayak support, I made two aluminum receiver blocks that bolt into the existing tapped holes under the roll bar. These blocks have a notch cut into them that accepts a 3/4 inch square tubular element which is held in place by a simple quick lock 1/4 inch pin. I leave the blocks on all the time. The pins are pulled to allow the crossbar to be simply removed. Works great, carrying up to two kayaks. I was curious to see if the wind from trucks, etc. would cause any problems when I was going down the road at 70 or so. But, no problems. JoeO