Hello everyone. I have been a canoe paddler for many years and recently bought a 2015 maxda cx-5 and fit the roof rack with Thule aerobars and Thule Portage Canoe Carrier.
The canoe i have is a Pelican Potomac 14.6. The canoe is 38 inches wide and does not fit the maximum width of my vehicle with the canoe carrier which appears to be 34 inches. I figured i would have to get a new canoe, but most i have looked at seem to be about the same width. Does anyone have a suggestion for a narrower (34"or less) 2 person canoe? Thank you!
nevermind, i figured out the problem. in case anyone in the future tries the Thule Portage canoe carrier… https://www.thule.com/en-us/us/sport-rack/canoe-roof-racks/thule-portage-_-1683513 …
many vehicles have the problem that the canoe is slightly too wide for the pads that attach to your bars. if you flip the base pads around, you get an extra 2-3 inches of room. and with the ratchet around the middle, you are good.
@KFB said:
nevermind, i figured out the problem. in case anyone in the future tries the Thule Portage canoe carrier… https://www.thule.com/en-us/us/sport-rack/canoe-roof-racks/thule-portage-_-1683513 …
many vehicles have the problem that the canoe is slightly too wide for the pads that attach to your bars. if you flip the base pads around, you get an extra 2-3 inches of room. and with the ratchet around the middle, you are good.
Yes, those brackets are very versatile and will work with many different racks.
We had those on my wife’s little Chevy Sonic and found that with the “Stock” bars.
We were never going to put more than one boat on that little car, so it worked fine and that style gunwale brackets works on both wide bars AND something like standard Yakima round bars.
That said, it sure is nice to have 78" bars so you can put two boats on for shuttling purposes. And you might try some cam straps like these. https://www.nrs.com/search/?q=straps They are easier to use and less likely to come loose and/or fail suddenly.
