Thread: Kayak on 98 disco

Use ordinary tradesmans racks. ( think defender) They need to be about 250mm high at the rear to fit. My 95 'Aspen' originally had Rola racks mounted at the front and at the C pillar. It was fine for ski's ( ie Aspen Colorado..) or a surfboard, but the nose down position - which is how it cleared the rear section of roof - would get in the way at the front vision wise. A set of tradesmans racks mounted at the extreme rear and extreme front (A pillar) worked fine for me when carrying long stuff on top. It looked sorta weird but it worked.

Originally Posted by Proudysdisco

I'm looking for some tips on transporting a kayak on the roof of my disco tdi. Ihave no roof rails and am thinking I will be stuck with after market gutter mount roof racks/bars but I can't see how this would work with the disco hump or Alpine roof (I think that is what it is called).

Cheers ,

Ian

Yes as Langy said, you have to get the higher gutter mounting brackets to clear the high part of the roof, just means the front ones sit well above the lower roof section. The only alternative is to have lower gutter mounting brackets at the front but then your kayak is going to be sloping forward which looks a bit stupid in my books.

pretty sure I had roller racks that where even, just a higher one at the front to match the lower one at the vack

What kind of kayak will you be putting up there? I found with the higher legs (280mm) that my 5.8 metre kayak would have some movement side to side in strong winds, but on the defender with the 210mm legs there was barely none. On the Disco I was always praying that there were no strong winds - scared the crap out of me.

If it was me I would go for the shorter legs and mod them to fit. They seem to be a bit more rigid - not sure if others have found this.

I have 2 types of racks. Rola roof sports racks which have one lower and one higher which angle the boards or other above the step. These are great and can stay on the car all the time. I then have a set of Heavy duty Rhino Racks which sit level at a height above the stepped roof. When loaded for camping trips I will put both on for the extra gear. The Rola are great as they don't affect the height of the disco, which is great around town with underground car parks etc

I have THULE gutter mount racks in conjunction with the HULLAVATOR system. I have two Sea Kayaks 5.85 meters and have no issues at all. The Hullavators are simply fantastic. You are able to load your kayaks single handed no problems.
www.thule.com.au/thule-897xt-hullavator

Regards Old Arie