Hello all, I needed advice on how to carry my Old Town 16' Carles River. I have a 2002 Tundra extended cab with a 6' bed. Im wanting to haul it with a camper shell on my truck. I was thinking about one of those extend a truck deals that come out of your hitch but dont know what to use to tie the front down with? Im not really so sure about using foam blocks on my cab. I would just like the best solution. Thanks
possible partial solution
I don’t know about the top of your cab, but I found an interesting solution to the front tie-down problem on my wife’s Toyota Sienna. An online forum suggested making a pair of webbing straps with grommets on each end. Opening the hood reveals a number of screws on each side near the edge of the hood. I chose a pair that screwed into holes I could reach the bottom side of, so that I knew I wouldn’t lose a nut in some impossible-to-reach space. I unscrewed the screws and screwed them back, going through the grommet in one end of my straps. When not in use, they hang down inside the engine bay, nowhere anything moving or electrical. To use them, I open the hood, flip the loose end out, and close the hood. I then have a strap with a grommet on each side of the car that is conveniently accessible. I’ve only used it twice, but I think it’s a success.
Tie it down
I have an extend a bed, it bounces allot on bumps with potential boat damage. Crawl inside the bed and tie the bow down if you can find tie points. The boat will be fine if 1/2 its length is resting on the bed/open tailgate…
Hitch extender
Dear Teutonicheathen,
I use a Haulmaster hitch extender to haul my canoes in the bed of my truck that is equipped with a fiberglass cap.
It’s easy to secure the canoe in the bed of my Chevy. I just hook a ratchet strap to the stake pocket on either side of the bed over the wheel well. The other end of the strap is secured to a thwart or the seat of the canoe depending on which canoe I’m hauling.
I also place a strap over the canoe attached to the hook eyes on the hitch extender. With the three straps and the hitch extender set to the proper height,the canoe is locked in tight and it won’t go anywhere.
There are many rack systems available that will work with a truck cap if you want to haul the canoe on top of the cap. I have a high top cap and I don’t feel like lifting the canoe 7 feet in the air so I don’t bother with a rack.
Oak Orchard canoe offers a system that uses mounting tabs that mount to the bed of the truck under the rail of the truck cap. You then mount uprights to the tabs and complete the set up with a roof crossbar for the cab of your truck. The Oak Orchard system is modular and be configured in different ways depending on your needs. It is also reasonably priced.
http://www.oakorchardcanoe.com/racks.php
Regards,
Tim Murphy AKA Goobs