How to Carry Kayak at Front of 1992 Ford E-350 Van

Question:

I have a e350 van that I have a truck box mounted on receiver hitch extension. Now I would like to add a vertical telescoping or not 2 steel tubing in front of my truck box so I can carry my 90# kayak over my sportmobile pop top when it is down. Can I go vertical and horizontal with your Curt Vertical Receiver Adapter - 2 to 2, 4-1/4 Long, 2-7/16 at same time? Do you have suggestions for other parts I need? Thanks for any recommendations you can give me.

asked by: Karen H

Expert Reply:

Thanks for the photos, and although we do have a solution for you, the Curt Vertical Receiver Adapter # C45013 will only work with vertical OEM hitch receivers, which your 1992 Ford E-350 does not have. Additionally, any type of adapter is going to cut the capacity of your trailer hitch in half - including the tongue weight so adding any type of adapter with the type of cargo you are carrying is likely to push you past your capacity limits.

The best option to carry your kayak is going to be with a front-mounted hitch, load bar and one bar of a roof rack. The front-mounted hitch that will fit your 1992 Ford E-350 is the Draw-Tite Front Mount Trailer Hitch Receiver # 65001 and what you can do is install the Rhino-Rack T-Load # RTL002 into the hitch and mount your kayak to that, with it resting on a roof rack crossbar.

That rack will be made up of the Yakima 1A Raingutter Towers # Y00101 and Round 66" CrossBars for Yakima Roof Rack # Y00410, and even though this system comes with four towers and two crossbars, you will only need to use a pair of the towers and one crossbar. The reason for that is you will likely have to remove the roof rack in order to use the pop-up of your van, because it attaches to the rain gutters on the side of your van, as you can see in the accompanying photo.

Since you have that pop-up you will also very likely need the HiRise Spacers for Yakima 1A Raingutter Towers # Y01101 which will provide you an additional 3-1/2" of clearance.

While this solution is not as simple as just adding an adapter, it is the best one for your needs so you can carry your kayak with your '92 E-350. I have added links to the installation instructions as well as a couple video reviews for you to check out.