synergy
Rocklin, Ca.
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Joined: 06/05/2008
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I'd like to buy a van with a built-in bed, stove and sink however I also would like to have a rack on the roof to carry a sea kayak and a bicycle. The pictures of Class B RV's that I've seen do not look Storage friendly on their roofs (fiberglass, different elevations, AC units in the way, etc). Can anyone point me in the direction of a model that would be practical for this? Otherwise I guess I'll have to make due with a regular van.
Thank you,
Bob
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McK
Arkansas
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Joined: 07/05/2006
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Look at Sportsmobile.
They will make you a new RV specifically designed for Watersports or there may be used units that can be modified (Pre-owned).
And Sportsmobile West is only three hours away from you in Fresno.
Robert
2006 Sportsmobile Sprinter
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bananadanna
Cambridge, MA
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Joined: 11/30/2005
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I think there are solutions to using almost any van-based rv if the problem is limited to carrying just one or two sea kayaks. And a hitch receiver rack will handle up to four bikes on virtually any vehicle.
About 2% of my whitewater friends camp in anything with a roof higher than a regular Econoline van. I'm 6'4" and that was my previous vehicle and I liked that I could toss a 75lb canoe onto the crossbars by myself. Shorter paddlers who liked the capacity of a fullsize van usually recruited a helper and used stools to do the same. But most of the serious paddling campers used minivans or full-size pickups to sleep in since boat handling was what they did many more days than they camped. Lots of tents used. Everybody pitched in to load boats but several folks had to load and unload their craft back home without assured assistance.
There are some clever custom rack ideas I can suggest if you want a typical fiberglass roof rv van. They can be built around ac units, offer some self-loading assistance and transfer the support points down to the metal portions of the van. I have a canoe poling friend with a glasstop van and after much consideration he bought a knock-down trailer instead and says handling his 17' boat that way works very well. Great reports on the lightweight trailer.
Ok, let's say you are more like me and want to carry multiple boats lots of the time and that you also daytrip enough to want to lots of parking lot functionality. I bought my 02 158" wb Sprinter in 04 from Pyranaha Kayak. They had done a marvelous job building a walk-on roofrack with lots of tie-down tweaks, side rails, kayak bars, etc. This generation of Sprinter had roof gutters and the eight rack supports use them but also with bolted-through spreader plates. Pretty serious engineering. But a walk-on rack is great for boat handling. I added a boat trailer type roller at the back edge and have no trouble loading my heaviest canoe by myself. I redesigned the inside of the van to allow a 30" aisle from front to back. This model Sprinter can take a 17' canoe inside if needed. Most of my daytrips are in a 14' or smaller canoe so the river-ready boat generally just gets tossed down the aisle if the cargo space is not needed otherwise.
There is now an even longer model in the new generation Sprinter if you want to pursue the option of storing a 18' or less sea kayak inside sometimes. The newer model has a slick aluminum track system for attaching a roof rack. I saw a Sprinter kayaker who was installing a tray system that slid off the back edge and tilted down. You could easily load the kayaks to the tilted tray and it was counterbalanced enough to be reasonable. It could be made to slide around a roof ac if that was desired.
I think of class B's as metal tents and comfy beds and cooking facilities are not hard design issues. A roof fan and a diesel furnace are awful nice if you're either wet or cold after a day of sport.
I'm sure Sportsmobile can do this sort of thing for you if you didn't want to have the kind of fun I had building mine with no wood or metal working skills. Fancy materials not required for my idea of fun.
Perhaps a new-gen Sprinter rv could accept a sea kayak roof rack custom built around the roof penetrations.
Good luck!
Dan
02 Freightliner Sprinter 2500 long tall home brew conversion
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synergy
Rocklin, Ca.
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Thanks both of you for your suggestions.
Bob
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truepath
Minnesota
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My friend has a Harbor Freight trailer that he extended the tongue on and added kayak/canoe bunks. It can handle 4 kayaks or 2 kayaks and 2 bikes. I was a skeptic about using a trailer for kayaks until I experienced how convenient and how well the set up handled the boats not to mention how easy loading and unloading was. Much better than using roof racks in my opinion, although that's still what I'm doing. I think that he did the whole trailer for under $400, but he does his own welding. He built up a couple of other ones and sold them to friends.
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Gene in NE
Omaha
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Joined: 09/15/2003
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Another vote for a small lightweight trailer. I considered hauling a 150cc scooter on a carrier, but didn't like the task of loading and unloading. Then used a small open bed trailer, didn't care for the dirt, dust, and possible theft aspect. Finally, bought a rather expensive enclosed fiberglass trailer - the perfect solution. Have been offered more $ than what I paid for it.
A little pricey, but holds it's value when time to sell. Sports Rig
2002 Trail-Lite Model 211-S w/5.7 Chevy (click View Profile)
Gene
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1775
NY
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Joined: 09/30/2009
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You need to be very careful with a Class B roof as a number of models from various companies have a roof that cannot support any significant weight. And you are starting out with a van that is 9 feet or taller with various things already built onto the roof such as an air conditioning unit, fan vents, and TV antennas. Rather than look toward putting anything on the roof, many (as has been suggested) look to towing a small trailer behind.
Roadtrek 190 Popular 2011
Meryl and Me Hit the Road
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Cherylsc
Charleston, SC
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Joined: 11/17/2011
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Dan
02 Freightliner Sprinter 2500 long tall home brew conversion
Where did you get your tent? Does it connect and disconnect easily?
Thanks!
Cheryl
09RSAdventurous
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bananadanna
Cambridge, MA
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Cherylsc wrote:Dan
02 Freightliner Sprinter 2500 long tall home brew conversion
Where did you get your tent? Does it connect and disconnect easily?
Cheryl,
My sig pic shows our old home-sewn "side porch" awning.
We use a FirstUp 10x10 quickshelter and it has two sets of 5' doors. One set of screen doors attach to the van with magnets. My DW sewed a strip of velcro to the top edge of the doors. The awning is made of 10' and 5' emt pipe sections that slip into pockets and then join.
Pretty lightweight tent fabric but clipping it to the van rack and quickshelter makes it very wind resistant. The van also has a magnetic apron to seal the underside.
Some of camping is in buggy areas and this allows us to keep our sliding door open without being dinner. Not needed the rest of the time.
Here is a link to more pix.
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Shearwater
NE Ohio
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Joined: 12/23/2004
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Another vote for Sportsmobile. They will put together anything you want made to your specs.
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