I’m wanting to get a rack for my S10 to carry my madriver 14ft canoe. I’ve thought about just building a pvc rack to sit in the back of the truck close to the tail gate and let the back rest on the PVC rack and the front rest on the roof of the pickup. Anybody got a simple rack for their pickup to haul a canoe/kayak? Any ideas/pics greatly appreciated.
2x4s to the rescue
$10 doesn’t buy much PVC. And besides PVC is too flexible for carrying a boat, IMO.
For $10 you can get two studs and a couple carriage bolts. If your truck has stake pockets, make something that fits those. I used a wood rack for a year or two on my Tundra. Worked just fine.
simple rack
I built a great rack for my F150 for $70 in parts. I’ll try to take some pics tomorrow. Pretty simple.
I used aluminum “line posts” for chain link fencing available at Home Depot. They are somewhere between 1 to 1 3/4 in diameter.
Placed them in the stake pockets at the corners of the bed. The holes at the bottom of the rails were smaller than at the top so I just crimped the end of the posts with a sledge hammer and tapped them into the lower holes with a hammer. Nice tight fit. So four at the corners and than 4 more for top rails,
In other words 2 will run the length of the bed and 2 the width. I drilled holes and used Stainless bolts and nuts. More expensive than galvanized but worth it.
Before I drilled holes I used angle grinder to cut the vertical posts to proper height.
So now you have a nice rock solid frame.
For cushioning you can use foam blocks.
I used pool noodles for one side of the rails that support the boat and one the other side I ran a length of PVC pipe over the rail
I roll my kayak onto the PVC pipe, nice and easy to do. Hop into the bed and flip it over onto the noodles .
To unload just the opposite, flip it onto the PVC pipe which rotates on the line post and slowly slide it off the rack
It is not the most stylish but works quite well.
I advise getting a cobalt bit to drill the holes . Makes it lots easier.
S-10 rack
Look for a used Yakima Outdoorsman for the bed of the truck and use a pair of foam gunwhale blocks for over the cab. Tie down at both ends of course and use a strap over the bar on the Sportsman. I use a Yakima bar over the cab too, but it sounds like you want to save as much cash as possible.
s10 picku rack
Hey I have a ford ranger and had the same problem you had, i built one out of pvc that works great! will post pics soon