I've used mine to haul a kayak and a ladder.  I've never attempted to pop
the top with anything strapped to the rack.  Here are pics of the mount
locations.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b7/misterpolak/Hershey/001.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b7/misterpolak/Hershey/003.jpg

On Sun, Jul 6, 2008 at 3:58 AM, Troy <colorworks@gci.net> wrote:

> 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
>