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!
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.
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.
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.
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
