1 canoe, 2 kayaks
Under the Federal Size Regulations law, the DOT allows trucks to overhang a cargo by: 3 feet in front. 4 feet in the rear. 4 inches by the sides.Aug 22, 2019
My roof rack is DIY and the fixed crossbars are 48â PT 2x4.
Most of the time I will only be hauling a 36â wide canoe and it will sit in the center. Because the crossbars are wood I will have several different length bars to extend the width and they will attach with two bolts thru drilled holes. I want the main rack to not be a head-banger, but to run a couple boats a few miles out of town I will just slap them on and off.
I recently ordered some 80" bars for the top of my shell. Got a good deal on them and figured Iâd cut off the extra if I feel the need, but will probably leave 'em.
I made some rack extensions for my van rooftop rack system. Without the extensions, I can carry one 37" wide canoe but to carry two canoes side by side requires a wider rack. I made mine 82" wide to accomodate not only the gunwale width but the spacing between the canoes to prevent rubbing. I use a strap system to hold the canoes so I also wanted space on the ends of the extensions to put the straps. At 82 inches, the extensions are just wide enough for this purpose. If your racks are 80 inches wide, I donât see that as too wide. I guess it depends on your uses.
Hi, SeanE,
My experience having two big tandem canoes on a roof rackâŚ
Bars 84 in. long would be ideal but Iâve carried two tandem canoes, one at 36 in. wide and one at 37 in. wide using 78 in. Yakima round bars. I had to offset the two boats so that I had enough room for the outside gunnel brackets, and to reduce the room needed for the inside stops I used short pieces of round foam held in place by hose clamps. That way I didnât have to accommodate the extra width of the inside brackets but had good solid stops on the outside.
Having the canoes offset wasnât ideal but I didnât have any problems with wind or shifting. I did use bow and stern lines to make sure the boats were secure and stopped to check the boats now and again just to be sure.
I didnât haul those two canoes together very often so my DIY solution worked fine. You could always set your canoes together on a couple pieces of 2x4 to see how much theyâd have to be offset for 78 in. bars just to see. Youâll also need to figure out if the offset hulls will clear the cab and/or canopy. If you plan on hauling two big canoes fairly often I suggest finding 84 in. bars.
Tom
I made mine from 2x4s 86" long and they are perfect for two canoes with room for straps in the middle and my ladder loader on the outside. 
Petty sure the bars on my Subaru Forester are 50". Two canoes wonât fit side by side, but it If I need to put two boats on my car I can lean one on top of the other, or stand one on edge. Long straps are helpful, but long bars are not necessarily needed. My whitewater boat in edge on a freindâs Rav4
