Can a 2023 crosstrek with factory installed roof rails, carry a canoe without buying racks?
On other vehicles, I have never had roof racks or rails. And I use my 4 foams.
I am driving to a canoe trip this Friday. And I am picking up a canoe 3/4 of the way there (total 6 hour drive). Will my roof rails get in the way? If I just have my 4 foams, will I have difficulty putting the canoe on? The canoe is a 17’ ultralight tripping canoe.
Please let me know if I need to be prepared with something in addition to my 4 foams and rope.
You could measure the width of the boat, and measure the width between the rails.
I would add Thule cross bars and cradles for your boat. You will also want tiedowns to secure the bow and stern of the canoe to the front and rear of the car.
Usually the factory rails do not provide enough clearance for tie straps, especially the ratchet type.
Unfortunately, there currently isn’t anyone up at the cottage to measure it. And I will just be stopping in to load it and continue the drive. But I am fairly sure, it will be too wide to fit between. If only I thought of this last week.
Thank you, I am currently trying to find some Thule cross bars and feet. There aren’t very many places that I found so far with them in stock.
I’m not a fan of foam blocks, or the lack of tie-down stability that goes along with using them, but after reading the whole discussion so far, I suggest that you buy some pool noodles and slit the lengthwise in the same manner as your foam blocks. You can put these on your side rails, if it’s necessary for those rails to support the gunwales from below. That, combined with judicious placement of the foam blocks you already have, might be enough for you to get by in the short term.
Also, are there no cross bars on this rack? I understand that’s a possibility, but it seems like a rare situation. If you do have crossbars, maybe the combination of pool noodles and foam blocks can still do the trick.
Oh, don’t forget that you don’t “need” to center the canoe on the roof. If placing the canoe a couple feet rearward of center allows you to keep the widest part of the boat from being interfered with by the side rails on your car’s roof, that may be all you need to do. In actual fact, this rearward placement will reduce buffeting and side-to-side wavering of the boat by a lot.
Most people don’t do this, but consider it. Think about what happens when the canoe tries to slide forward, and also backward. Make sure there is a PAIR of ropes opposing potential movement in BOTH of those directions. Very few people install ropes that will actually tighten if their boat slides forward, but this kind of precaution is even more important when not using a roof rack than when using one. The steeper the angle of those ropes (deviating a lot from vertical), the better they will work. Such angled ropes can be combined with ropes that are nearly vertical (the ones doing more to just hold the boat down). You can’t have too many ropes when carrying a canoe in this manner.
By the way, if you slit pool noodles and install them over the side rails or cross bars (assuming there are cross bars), go one step further and secure the pool noodle to what it’s slid onto by wrapping it with rope or tape. Electrical tape is great for such situations. Wrap it at a number of locations (like every 16", but just use your judgement), with each location being a fairly narrow band that is a few layers thick. Such tape bonds to itself very well, but without the overall nastiness and “inability to correct mistakes” that you get with duct tape.
Here’s a thought! Measure the distance between the side rails on your roof right now! There’s a pretty standard range of widths that are possible for a canoe, especially one that’s actually built for a specific purpose (lightweight, tripping) instead of being a cheap barge that’s sold to the masses. Perhaps it will be immediately apparent that your canoe should fit between those rails just fine. It’s worth a try. Not many “good” canoes are wider than 36 inches, and your rails are likely farther apart than that.
If it has the factory crossbars, you can strap it to the crossbar. If not, there should be room to sit it between the rails and use your foam blocks. I have a Forester with a similar raised rail and use a Thule square bar.
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Consider fashioning cross bars from 2x4s. Attach the 2x4s to the roof rails with hose clamps or several stout wire zip ties. I trust the hose clamps over wire ties, but they might scratch your roof rails, if that is a concern.
Thank you everyone. I feel much more confident that I’ll be able to work with the roof rails when I get there.
- There are no cross bars. And I am in favour of buying cross bars. But would like to do it when I am not rushed. And I will probably do it when I buy my own canoe (simpler than borrowing off relatives).
- There are 40" between the roof rails at the front, and 38" at the back. So there is a good chance it will fit between.
- I’ll be overly prepared. I am picking up pool noodles. I have some nice packing foam sheets. And I have lots of wood scraps (old fence boards, extra 2x4’s, 2x2’s etc. So I am going to go and choose 2 nice boards that I can use as a cross bars if necessary.
- I already have the foams, straps for attaching to the hood & trunk, and lots of rope. I’ll bring electrical tape along and get my husband to have some ties ready in case we use the wood cross boards.
Thank you everyone. I can stop panicking now.
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