I’m looking for opinions and recommendations on a good removable canoe rack for my '99 F250. I’ve seen the Thule and Yakima racks. I like the ads I’ve seen for the Mirage Truck Rack, but I’m not all that clear if installing the base makes it a permanent part of the bed. I have a shortbed. Can you all chime in and point me the way? Thanks.
oh Lanny boy
I am in much the same situation. I went from an s10 zr2 with topper and yakima racks to a supercrew 4 door f150 5.5 foot bed. It has been a year now and I still have not decided on a rack solution.
I have been most on short haul trips and have just used a hitch hauler, which I already had, to load the yaks in the back of the truck. This works out well for short trips but soon I will have to bite the bulet and figure a true rack solution to allow me to carry more gear. The real nice thing is they are easy to load and remove. I use to straps, one for the bow and another near the end of the bed.
The Yakima looks nice and reasonably priced since I already the yak’ bars and accessories. If I went with another solution I could still mount these bars on the wifes minivan. The main reason I have not gone with this is that it is so tall on my 150 that I would have to take it off to put it in my garage.
I really like the functionality of the Thule. It collpases so that the whole rig could fit in the garage without the rack being removed. The downside is that it is more expensive and would require the purchase of new accessories. There is also no bike mounts available that I know of.
I had not seen the mirage, it looks interesting, but still would have to be removed, although it looks a little more portable and poackable.
Keep me posted on what you decide and how it works.
Another choice
US Racks (http://www.usrack.com/) can probobly do a good job for you. Give them a try. The little guys need a break!
Thanks fellers
Logjam, I still have the old swing open wooden garage door and my F250 has never cleared it. Plus, I think it’s too long to go in, has the extended cab, short bed. Rides on 295 BFG All Terrains and those outside mirrors, even retracted, make for a wide profile. So, it sits parked on a driveway concrete extension off to the side of the house. Another reason I’d like a rack I can store inside.
Oldmoonriver, thanks for that link. Those racks have definite potential.
I have the
USRACK mentioned above. It was $300 for the set, not too bad. Thing that ticked me off is it’s “designed in the U.S., but made in china” so I found the name misleading. Also have found the screw threads and nuts that hold the whole thing together are white metal and seem on the verge of stripping if you torque them tight enough to keep the assembly from slipping along your bed. The rubber spacers have also let loose and need to be wedged back in place from time to time. In time I am going to dis-assemble these racks, easy job, put rubber goop on the bottom to replace the rubber pads, and plumbers tape on the threads.
Built my own out of conduit with conduit
curved 90’s as bracing at the bed to the uprights, cross bars courtesy of Yakima from my early '80’s affair with a canoe…no longer can use the gutter towers, and attached to the uprights with u bolts. Total cost about $30. Painted it black. Had I not had the 78" Yakima bars, I guess I would have spent another $20 on 1" or 1 1/4" pipe, either black iron or galvanized. The conduit uprights sit inside the rail holes for the stakes on an F150. Wasn’t into looks or removability, just something that works and didn’t cost an arm and a leg.