Huh. My last post looks like I’m making an admonishment. I meant to say, “I never used anything but rope…”
I like to put a grommet on those hood loops. You can usually find grommet kits, along with the web strap, at your local outdoor supplier.
I use a hot nail for the hole.
Much as I like my Thule QuickDraws, when I first saw the hooks I thought “no way.” Hooks can get unhooked so I replaced them with these:
Yes, I have the grommet hood loops ordered to be attached by a bolt under the hood, and just ordered those quick loops with the black hose attached that squishes down under a trunk lid. I have a trailer for getting my kayaks back and forth, but looking for the best options for using car “b” to get my yams back to paling “a” after going down river, back to the trailer.
I replaced the carabiner supplied by Thule with the kit, as I didn’t like how sharp the opening was. It kept getting caught on the (also provided) webbing loop and/or the kayak’s perimeter lines. It’s hard to find small, light, non-sharp load rated carabiners. I ended up finding a package at Home Depot that checked all the boxes. I think they were rated for 100 or 150 lbs each. Who knows if this was actually tested…
I use friction straps for short trips but I always make sure I have bow and stern tied down with good rope and well-tied knots on longer trips. I led trips and/or worked trip logistics for many years in the past and transported canoes for hundreds if not thousands of miles and never had a rope or knot fail…I did however have a canoe fly once that was tied with two ratchet straps. I’ve never made that mistake again.
Just a dumb trick for a canoe - when I have the darned chance to tale out the Merlin and prove how lousy a canoeist I am, I set the boat up with at least one thwart directly over a cross bar. Then I run a strap around the the thwart and cross bar underneath. I usually use a long enough red strap that I can daisy chain it out back and have it be my flag and backup check.
I started doing this because I didn’t have the chucks to limit side movement. But after seeing a canoe going down the highway in Maine with its skin being torn off by the wind because the bow had been a bit lifted, I feel much better with the structure itself strapped to the rack.
The car was going north when I was going south, so I couldn’t do anything to warn them. The good news was that the blowing mass of material was obvious to drivers behind them, so when it let go it was not likely to cause an accident.
You can also purchase ready-made hood tie down loops - e.g., https://rei.com/product/818318/seattle-sports-hood-loops?CAWELAID=120217890000786252&CAGPSPN=pla&CAAGID=21009508720&CATCI=aud-54816614184:pla-450192220531&cm_mmc=PLA_Google%7C404_166394%7C8183180001%7Cnone%7Cb1a9c2ed-f49b-4f96-9550-394e60b82cfe%7Caud-54816614184:pla-450192220531&lsft=cm_mmc:PLA_Google_LIA%7C404_166394%7C8183180001%7Cnone%7Cb1a9c2ed-f49b-4f96-9550-394e60b82cfe&kclid=b1a9c2ed-f49b-4f96-9550-394e60b82cfe&gclid=Cj0KCQiAtP_iBRDGARIsAEWJA8gfoIaIipih6bhSzSgVHTw3bbUmHyo_MYBrH3Foj-V4WHDJe8KCvPsaAkyAEALw_wcB
As to hood loops, I just tied off some rope from some metal supporting the hood and front quarters that goes out the front under the hood.
A taut line hitch always worked for me. Here’s a youtube vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jkN3K5G8eE
@Celia said:
As to hood loops, I just tied off some rope from some metal supporting the hood and front quarters that goes out the front under the hood.
If you go from the front of the hood, the rope may still rub on the paint. Most folks find some bolt along the sides of the hood to attach webbing to. That way there is no direct contact with the paint by tie down ropes.
My paddling vehicle doesn’t worry about a rub.
@yknpdlr I and my husband, then I, have used hood loops made of rope since approximately 2002 thru 6 cars. 3 Ford/Mercury wagons, one Subaru and two Toyotas. Never had the issue you name. And the side positions, which I have used at times in 2 of those cars because of the hood configuration, also rub on the edge of the hood. Just a different edge.
Celia, When I first started carrying a canoe on a vehicle, I had an AMC Hornet as my first vehicle. Not knowing any better, I attached ropes under the front bumper which ran up over the hood and rubbed on the hood as they held the canoe down. I had to tie an old rag to the rope where it rubbed to preserve the paint. More recently, my vehicles have been Subarus. There is an accessible bolt about mid-way back from the front on each side of the engine compartment under the hood. I fasten loops of webbing to these bolts and pass them up through the small gap between the hood and the fender when the hood is closed. A single rope is connected to each web loop and secured to the canoe under slight tension with a truckers hitch. There is no way for the webbing or tie-down rope to rub on anything in that configuration. When not in use the webbing loops rest inside the engine compartment out of sight under the closed hood.
@yknpdlr said:
More recently, my vehicles have been Subarus. There is an accessible bolt about mid-way back from the front on each side of the engine compartment under the hood. I fasten loops of webbing to these bolts and pass them up through the small gap between the hood and the fender when the hood is closed.
I too have a Subaru and do the same as yknpdlr to fasten the bow tie-down to my kayaks. However I also put plastic tubing around the webbing, mostly to protect the webbing and (maybe) paint.
@yknpdlr I know the bolt you are talking about, on the Subaru. And I went somewhat from the side on my last Rav4 as well because of the hood shape and where I had a nice frame element, Unless the strap you are using is so thin as to never encounter an edge of the hood when you are traveling, when things are moving a bit, it does touch the edge of the hood under pressure. The straps or ropes I am comfortable relying on do. My big annual trip is about 6 hours of driving time mostly highways.
I/we only went from under the front bumper twice. Coming home the second time the line, long enough to get into the wheel well if it happened just right, came loose. Pulled over fast so no problem but we got the message. Have since always run from a frame element just under the hood, and the only part of the hood it touches is the edge.
I don’t doubt that the Hornet had a vulnerable paint surface, and others out there may. I remember the Hornets and other AMC cars, though I never had one myself. It is just not an issue I have had.
In 2017 I drove from northern NY state to Whitehorse and Dawson City, Yukon and returned. I had a 23’ C4 canoe on top of my Forester. The webbing straps attached to a rope to hold down the bow came through the gap between the hood and the fender and neither webbing nor rope ever touched any painted surface.
Sorry no front view photos.
I use these with some rope and a taut line knot as mentioned above. Works great and doesn’t matter what vehicle you drive.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CRBXQUK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1