I'm about to start on making a new set of J-type racks for my pickup, in steel. The old version has worked pretty well, but, I intend to A) make the posts 4 or 5 inches lower; B) incorporate better strapping points; C) incorporate a hinged/pinned design that will allow the cradles to easily swing down so I can pull into the garage with little fuss.

I have to figure the padding into the dimensions, and would like suggestion on materials that can be re-purposed for this task. In the past, I've used pipe insulation for towers, and dock edge bumper for the lower parts. I want to go with something more unified, and a little nicer looking (and more durable than the pipe insulation, and a bit softer than the dock bumper).

One possibility is thick wall rubber hose of about 1 1/2 inch diameter. It could follow the entire J. It could be attached with screws, through the wall in contact with the rack, via access holes cut in the other wall. The wall thickness would prevent the screw heads from ever protruding through the access holes where they could do damage. Hose used like this would seem to have some padding benefit due to the crush of the sides, and the 2 layers of rubber.

Here's what the current racks look like (a modified Werner ladder rack). The height of these was set so that ladders and lumber could be hauled. Since the new racks will be for a single kayak only, I can go lower, and still be able to open the door.

Due to limitations of equipment and skill, I will be working with square tubing and angular welds, rather than round tubing and graceful curves.

Ideas?