If it rains,
the straps will get wet and drip water inside your wife’s nice car that she is sensitive about.
I learned this when shuttling in a heavy rain last month with someone who had that foam block with straps through the door system. I don’t know if there is a way to prevent this.
Also, straps through the door are not good if her car has side curtain air bags.
And if you are going 70, you can …
expect to stop about every five miles to readjust all your tiedowns and reposition the canoe.
good luck !
jack L
shelf liner
– Last Updated: Sep-23-11 8:45 AM EST –
go to home depot or check out at grocery stores, hardware stores, etc, and find a soft rubbery woven looking material shelf liner. its a bit "sticky" and will help a lot to keep the foam blocks from shifting - its a much softer material than the foam blocks and won't scratch at all. - just cut four pieces a bit bigger than the base of the block - I've used foam blocks for long distance canoe hauling - the shelf liner definitely makes a big difference.
edit: I'd also put a bit of the shelf liner between the car and the straps to keep the straps from chafing where they bend around the roof thru the windows.
And if it rains the straps if nylon base
will stretch. Ergo you get out and tighten them. Then it stops raining the straps dry and tighten and you get out and loosen them.(Or dent the roof and risk wife wrath)
But don’t do as I have seen once this long week on the road. Canoe with v bow and stern lines and NO belly straps.
I have a set of those foam blocks.
I’ve used them exactly thrice on an Accord and, I gotta say, they are not ideal for highway driving. That doesn’t mean you can’t do it, though. As K said, front and rear inverted “V” tie-downs are essential. Use four seperate lines for this. Don’t run one line up through the grab-loop and then back down. Try to get them to the farthest corners of the car as you can and try to locate the blocks as close to the A and C pillars as possible (windshield and rear window). It helps to have two people when tightening straps through the doors so you don’t tear the door gaskets. Do a dry-run on the closest caffeinated-trucker route in traffic to see how it goes.
Once you make it to Raystown, you’ll get plenty of good advice on how to better truss that baby up for a safe ride home!
Good luck and have fun!
P.S. I thought you might be coming up my way this autumn?
Thanks tktoo. We put the NE trip on
hold. My wife’s brother and his wife were coming ,but she is having serious health problems.
We’ll try to make it next year.
Looks like the truck is going to RT.
Good choice.
– Last Updated: Sep-23-11 10:52 AM EST –
Especially since it was hers! I don't blame her for not wanting your smelly camping stuff in her car.
Sorry to hear about your in-law's wife. Maybe next year.
For future reference
if you do decide to use foam blocks, it is imperative that the front and rear tie-downs sre installed in opposing directions. this is the only positive way to make sure that the boat does not launch itself during a panic stop. Not quite as critical when there are fixed gunwale brackets on bars to preclude the fore and aft movement. That security is simply not present with the foam blocks.
Snotter lines to prevent fore/aft shifts
I’ve carried canoes on rental cars with foam blocks from Florida and Georgia to NY at least three times. No problems.
To prevent forward slides of the canoe while braking, you can tie a snotter line from from the the front of the canoe to something near the back of the car. Through the rear doors or windows will work. You can also tie a reverse snotter line to prevent a rearward slide during accelerations.
tell your wife it’s just a camry
Honestly, though, just make sure the roof and blocks are clean and try to find the more rigid points in your roof. Near the top of front and rear windows is pretty rigid.
Straps thru the windows, and inverted front/rear tie downs, keep your speed down and you should be ok.
^^^^ Great idea ^^^^
Keep the front ones up near the glass
Just behind the windshield is a strong area. You’ll have to find another strong area for the rears. If it works out, just in front of the rear glass is strong also.
The idea about the rubbery shelving mat is a great idea to keep things from sliding.
Last time I hauled a boat that way I drove about 7 hours with no issues. Then I hit NYC in the wee hours of the morning and all those bumps jostled one of the pads out and I lost it. Didn’t even know it till my boat was bouncing all around while crossing the Throgs Neck Bridge. Scratched the roof all up but didn’t lose the boat.
Moral of the story: Mind the bumpy roads
Shelving mat is also great
to glue to the underside of your kneeling pad if it is a slippery surface.
All good
I put straps fromthe inside hand holds to the thwart on either side. This prevented side to side shifting.
then all the usual tie downs. Finally I left dogs leash hanging out of the car to snap and bounce and keep me awake. JackL pulled me over to point it out.
Thank heaven the dog was still home after I got back…
Another option - pull a small trailer
The Camry rear frame should have at least a couple of threaded bolt ready holes for a class 1 hitch.
It will pull a small trailer with ease.
That’s sage advice
no matter how you cartop a canoe, fancy rack system or not.
Foam the car top with Burma Shave.
Not just the scratches you have to worry
about. Its the smell, too. River mud stinks, river water stinks. Water and mud on you clothes, shoes, feet and paddle all stinks when it gets inside your car. Even just putting the paddle in the trunk will make your car stink. When you mount the boat on the roof some water always drips down and can easily get in the car no matter how careful you are. If this is a really special car, use a trailer.
I haven’t noticed that. I have children
and grandchildren.
I guess it depends on how often you go
and if you use the same car every time, if there’s carpet, how tight the car is, how careful you are about letting your stuff dry, how tight the car is, if you use one of those hangie things and like that…