You can't stack creek boats or sea kayaks?

Damn.
I never got the memo.

I've stacked a mix of hardshell and skin on frame kayaks on a 1993 Dodge Grand Caravan on 6' bars....and drove to Seattle, 450mi away.

We fit 10 sea kayaks.

 

I kinda understand not wanting to do an obnoxious stack every time on most normal SUVs, but agree it can be done. I think you could pull off the roof rack single stack on a Ford Excursion for sure, I bet a Suburban would be close and could be accomplished if you ran the rack past the cab over the hood. Prolly a custom setup though have seen them before.

Have a buddy who uses a platform hitch and just straps boats to it, albeit playboats. Might be able to work with something like this:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Erickso...9947&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI37mxl_Gr3gIVioh-Ch27-AbaEAQYBSABEgLZcvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Lots of platform options with some decent weight ratings, I almost want one now.

 

4 across then stack them on the roof. Or if you want to carry them on the bumper you could contact the folks from Sportsmobile and see if they'll build you a bumper with this kind of swing out(s) designed to hold boats. https://sportsmobile.com/sportsmobile-exterior-options/
You also should consider where you want carry up to 400 lbs of dead weight.
Good luck

 

Curious what you come up with. For a long trip if it were me, I'd bite the bullet and do a trailer. 8 on a roof rack is certainly possible though.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cia1D72VpQtN5avu9

 

Bunch O' Wimps.

The Art of Strappage

Wiping a tear from my eye...

 

I guess I should add: stacking 8 boats onto a rack, where you would be considered within the recommended weight limit for the rack - which is normally around the weight of 4 creek boats.

 

I had a late 90's Chevy Suburban and used several sets of Thule 78" cross bars attached to the factory rails, as well as a rack set attached to the bare roof over the cab, and a few kayak stackers. With that setup we could haul quite a number of kayaks and even a raft frame. I think our record was 9 or 10, a mix of play, river, kid and creek boats, including a Dynamic Duo, and sometimes even a raft frame and rocket box.

The amount of weight we hauled up there always exceeded the manufacturer's weight limit. I have wondered if that limit refers to their cross bars (blades) and not the rails attached to the roof?

While that setup worked fine, it was a time consuming PITA to strap on so many kayaks and a drag on already poor fuel economy. Nowadays, anytime I'm hauling more than a few kayaks around I'll opt for the utility trailer which is so much quicker and easier than roof strapping, and less worry down the highway.