That would make his problem worse than it already is. Already now, the bows of the boats are so far back that he has trouble with the front securing line. Moving the boats further back will enhance this problem.
So many ideas. Thanks folks. Although a third rack bar sounds best, since I am not planning any long trips, and to keep my wife happy, that expense will need to wait until next year. Provided I was on a day trip with no rain in the forecast, hauling the canoe hull down on my Yakima Evenkeel saddles would work, anchoring the bow with hood anchors through the back doors, but then I couldn’t take the kayak.
So, I had a couple of crazy ideas that no one has yet mentioned. With the hull up, provided that I only had a dog in the back seat, I would have a strap to the back bumper, straps on both racks, then maybe I could run a strap through the back seat that goes over the canoe, and use my two hood anchors near the top of the windshield of the front doors to strap the bow. Then, with the front doors closed I could probably hang out the window to tighten the bow strap, or maybe just anchor from the back door without hanging out the window. Thoughts?
Jeff
Due to criticism regarding the accuracy of my drawing, I have attached two photos. In addition, although I only remember that strapping through doors is annoying, I have also heard that such might allow rain to leak into the cab.
How are the front straps secured under the hood? At that flat angle, any vertical force from the boat will multiply quite a lot, so you get a lot of force in the straps.
(The force multiplies with the ratio between strap length and vertical distance)
For our voyage home, since I had no options other than angled back, although not too flat, because the anchors wanted to slide back toward the windshield, and that part of the hood is mostly rubber and plastic, I had to go forward of the hood lift supports
to find a hard hold.
It’s always an emotional topic. With a bar on the cab, another on the cap and a safety line on the stern he’d have to have two rack failures plus a strap failure for the canoe to leave the vehicle. I’m not against bow lines but canoe manufacturers and delivery services don’t always use them when the rest of their system is robust.
You might keep an eye on Craigslist or Facebook marketplace since bars and racks often turn up used at good prices.
There are often more anchor points underwood than it seems like. I use Kevlar “pulling tape” for bow anchors since it’s skinny and floppy so it fits easily in hood gaps but it’s also strong and you can tie it to just about any structure you find in the engine compartment.
The biggest problem I have is how far forward the center of gravity of the canoe is. I think that if you slid it backwards a few feet, it would not touch your roof and would ride better.
Air pressure will push it downwards and strain the gunwales, in this configuration. That will also put more pressure on the racks and the caps are not that well built. I have seen quite a few of them that cracked and broke because of the stresses of hauling a canoe.
Make sure you have plenty of support on the underside of the cap.
that was the most realistic rendition of fozzy glocks I have ever seen
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I have a Chevy Colorado, like yours, with an A.R.E cap, Yakima cross bars. I had the same dilemma.
So adding a Yakima Long Arm extender solved everything.
I carry an Explorer 16, or a Bell Bucktail or a 14’ CD kayak using a bed extender. It. Just. Works. Watch their video.
There are several YouTube videos that show how others use it.
I made two changes to their install. By adding a 7” receiver hitch extension I’m able to carry a 16 foot canoe on the three racks AND open the tailgate and cap door too. Very convenient. The other change is adding an anti-rattle clamp.
The whole kit and kaboodle cost a few buck - but solved a lot of problems.
When only going a couple miles from home, I just install the Yakima Longarm in the lowered position and stuff everything into the truck bed.
The Longarm has optional extensions so there are several ways to secure a load, on top or jutting out of the bed area - but everything is secure and safe.
The Yakima Longarm is very well engineered and is a quality built item. It weighs only 17 lbs!
Cheers
Used to have an F150 with a 7’ bed - do they even make those anymore? Installed an eye hook on the front wall of the bed and bolted a wood cradle (basically a 2x4 with a kerf for the keel) with eye hooks on the lowered tailgate. This put the cradle half way from the bow on our 17’ canoe.
Best of luck to you.
Why not ratchet straps? I went to them after failure at 65 mph of some cheaper ones.
It is an easy way to damage a fibre glass hull.
You don’t need more tension than you can make by pulling the strap. You will of course need a reliable locking mechanism, but there are plenty of those available.
Picture shows my “belt and suspenders” system. Maybe some of the items will add stability to your set-up.
I use Thule load stops, they are the strongest I’ve had and they never slip on the bars even in high crosswinds.
I place the load stops all the way to one side butting up to the towers. Then I use straps to pull the boat towards the towers. The boat is trapped.
For long drives I’ll often put a second set of straps on that pull the boat towards the other side, so straps are pulling it in both directions. The second strap is most important on the front.
I like the wider 1.5 inch NRS straps. In principle they allow you to clamp the boat down with more force while still putting less pressure on the hull than 1 inch straps.
I use small (6-8 inch) pieces of clear plumbing tubing on my gunwales to protect the gunwales and also add friction/stiction to keep the boat from moving. They also compress a little bit and that also helps the boat stick in place.
There’s one strap on the rear to pull the boat down a bit and as a safety measure. I don’t put a lot of tension on that strap.
The bow lines are not really needed in most situations but they can add a little peace of mind. If the boat you carry is flexible (like a lightweight Kevlar boat) and you are traveling in high wind then bow lines can help stabilize the bow.
With this set-up the boat rides very securely.
Even the ¾" NRS cam buckle nylon straps have a tensile strength of well over 1000 lbs. You only need to cinch these down until they are snug. The shape of the boat, deck hardware, and cockpit rim will keep the boat from shifting, although I will double up on lines it I am traveling hundreds of miles. In many thousands of miles I’ve never had a nylon cam buckle strap in good shape loosen or fail. I’ve even used four of these straps to carry over 500 lbs of twenty foot 2" steel pipe on my truck rack. In an accident a factory or add on rack will almost always fail before a strap will break.
With a ratchet strap it’s far too easy to over tighten them. You just don’t need that much force. The damage is not so much from the straps, it’s where the saddles flex the hull. This can cause oil canning in plastic hulls on a hot day and cause gel coat cracks in compose boats, even damaging fiberglass and carbon fiber in the hull.
Ratchet straps have their place for heavy or compressible loads, but not for a kayak.
Thanks for the info. I’ve been using a sock to cushion the ratchet head, but I came across some cambuckles with a pad today. Trouble is, they say 600-pound break strength, but only 200-pound capacity? “Keeper” brand? Going to give them a try. Also going to put some tabs under my hood for longer trips.
The 200 lb capacity is most likely the working load, or what the straps are designed to sustain on a continuous basis. The 600 lb break strength is likely the maximum shock load, above which they will not guarantee the straps will not fail. In actual use, and for legal reasons, both of these values are generally a conservative measure, although I wouldn’t want to test them in real life.
NRS brand nylon cam buckle straps are generally rated higher than what you have listed. The 1" straps are rated 1500 lbs and they also have 1.5" straps.
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My wife did test Thule straps to destruction. It is somewhat traditional for people not used to the configuration of our driveway to get the angle wrong when backing out & end up at an awkward angle with one rear wheel in the ditch and the other in the air. I was out of town & she didn’t know that there is a tow strap in the shed so she used a Thule 15’ strap to do the pull.
Try putting a ine across your hood from one hood anchor to the other & then attach a strap from the canoe to that line so now you just have one strap down the center of your windshield
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