4 hours ago, J.Bass said:

Don’t get me wrong the Ironton trailers look well built but to me I need a longer length and the tire speed is a big factor. I drive a lot of interstate here in Illinois. I think the Right on Ruff Sport trailer is perfect. It can go 70 mph, it’s 11 ft in length, and I can hold 2 kayaks or more.

I need to get a pickup truck lol. I have a Honda CRV. It’s nice it will be able to pull the kayaks with no problem. I did look at that bar and looked at putting foam pads on roof of car. 
 

Anyone notice the trailer license go up? Here in Illinois it went from $30 to $115 . Just crazy!

I hear ya, Im driving a Pontiac sedan around. Good luck with finding a trailer! I know that using racks on top of your vehicle will work well it just takes a little upper body strength ?

4 hours ago, J.Bass said:

Don’t get me wrong the Ironton trailers look well built but to me I need a longer length and the tire speed is a big factor. I drive a lot of interstate here in Illinois. I think the Right on Ruff Sport trailer is perfect. It can go 70 mph, it’s 11 ft in length, and I can hold 2 kayaks or more.

I need to get a pickup truck lol. I have a Honda CRV. It’s nice it will be able to pull the kayaks with no problem. I did look at that bar and looked at putting foam pads on roof of car. 
 

Anyone notice the trailer license go up? Here in Illinois it went from $30 to $115 . Just crazy!

Illinois is just crazy.  Not sure why people live in that state.

 

On the Ironton trailers, for kayaks most of the DIY projects involve buying a longer piece of iron stock square tubing that is the same size as the tongue piece that comes with the trailer.  I know you said you didn't have much time to mess around with building a custom trailer but that's what they do to make it work.  

On 2/26/2020 at 12:21 PM, moguy1973 said:

Although looking at Harbor Freight it seems they stopped selling their trailers due to their tires not meeting DOT standards.  That stinks.

That was a couple of years ago, they upgraded the wheel/tires and started selling them again. I bought one in Nov or Dec and made it into a kayak trailer to carry four yaks.

I got a old used small boat trailer for my canoe and modified it to fit 

On 2/27/2020 at 5:39 AM, J.Bass said:

Don’t get me wrong the Ironton trailers look well built but to me I need a longer length and the tire speed is a big factor. I drive a lot of interstate here in Illinois. I think the Right on Ruff Sport trailer is perfect. It can go 70 mph, it’s 11 ft in length, and I can hold 2 kayaks or more.

I need to get a pickup truck lol. I have a Honda CRV. It’s nice it will be able to pull the kayaks with no problem. I did look at that bar and looked at putting foam pads on roof of car. 
 

Anyone notice the trailer license go up? Here in Illinois it went from $30 to $115 . Just crazy!

Did you end up getting a trailer?  Illinois raised all trailer fees $100 so we got screwed on single axle boat trailers, It used to be only $18 per year.  There's a bill to repeal that law and change it to a one time fee for single axle trailers, but wont go into effect until at least next year.

On 4/18/2020 at 3:13 PM, Allen Der said:

Did you end up getting a trailer?  Illinois raised all trailer fees $100 so we got screwed on single axle boat trailers, It used to be only $18 per year.  There's a bill to repeal that law and change it to a one time fee for single axle trailers, but wont go into effect until at least next year.

Yes I got it. Sadly I had to pay the price. Hopefully the law gets passed. It’s not right. I had no choice but to get a trailer. I love my trailer. It’s perfect for two kayaks. I got the Right on Tuff Sport trailer. Well made and nice.

I was in your situation about 5+years ago and decided I wanted a purpose built trailer for hauling my kayak around instead of something that was modified etc...due to many of the reasons posted on here a utility trailer was out of the picture.  

I got a sports rig trailer and while it wasn't cheap I have zero concerns on the highway at any speed i want to travel.  It has independent suspension and is designed for lighter loads so yo aren't going to be bouncing around all over the place.  I can tow it behind my mini cooper countryman and you don't even know it is back there.  If i had to make the decision all over again, i'd get the same thing i did....here is a pic with my jeep i had and then the mini towing it.  I took the basket off as it isn't really needed and that would be the one thing i would change if i bought a new one...save that money but it did allow me to put my gear crate on the trailer itself which was kind of nice.

I was looking at buying a Harbor Freight trailer and modding it, which is a cheap basic way to transport kayaks. However due to the pandemic, every harbor freight store within a 3+ hour drive was sold out. Northern Tool was also sold out of Ironton trailers, and the Ultra Tows were going for around $1000 after shipping and taxes.

@flyfisher convinced me to look at a purpose built trailer. I went with the Yakima Rack and Roll trailer with the 78 inch crossbars and I got the upgraded suspension so it can hold 350lbs. I can fit two of my near 3ft wide kayaks on top, and once I get one more J-Rack (I have one already but not enough room) I can fit all three on it. It seems to do extremely well. If you watch the on the road tests in the following review, they appear accurate with my experience as well, it keeps the kayaks quite stable and minimizes the effects of bumps on the kayaks pretty well. It was expensive and my savings account isn't too happy right now, but I'm very glad that I went this route in the long term. It's really easy to load, provides better protection for my kayaks on the road and can handle high speeds.

 

The SportsRigs are also very nice and can hold more kayaks off the bat depending which one you buy and are even a little bit cheaper, but they had a 3+ week wait time and I could get a Yakima in less time. I also like how the Yakima isn't that high, so with help from the kids, we are able to load up our kayaks quite easily. I should also note they do make a two-level trailer as well.

 

If you are looking for a trailer on the cheap for a single kayak, the following isn't too expensive and is largely ready to go without any modifications.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200612542_200612542