Hi folks:

About to mount some yakima 1A towers, and curious as to the best location. I certainly do not want to mount things too far forward, as I'm afraid it would be a real bear to lift the pop top, although I did buy some struts. I have a 14 foot, 68 pound kayak that I will be putting up on the roof.

Also curious if anyone has tried any of the aids for mounting kayaks. I did buy a set of Hully rollers and mako saddles. I was eying something called  a "showboat" that basically consist of a couple of 66 inch bars which slide the length of the van toward the rear. You put the kayak on the edge and then slide it forward until it hits the hully rollers, and push forward till it hits the saddles.  Not sure how well that works.  There is also something called the "boatloader" that basically just comes out of one of the crossbars. One end of the kayak is rested and then the rest of the kayak is lifted in place. The first (showboat) solution seems easier on the back--comments? I have a problem lifting due to lower back problems, so want to make this as easy as possible.

Troy