i do, do you ?
i was going to build a rack out of wood but ultimately decided to spend the $$ and get a nice looking tracrac.
much to my surprise, i have found that it is a bit too short. even when i push the bow of the canoe beyond the front windshield 12" or so, the gunnels of the canoe bump on my trucks roof.
has anyone else had this problem ? what did you do to solve it ?
Maybe a
couple of foam canoe blocks would do it?
Me! Me!
But ah' reckon yer talkin' about de pickup voysion?
No probloom wit me Jeep...
http://tinyurl.com/6k3x642
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2154224040094647494OGklSF
Maybe yer kin' "U-Bolt" a 2X3 ta de top o' de crossbar fer extra height.
Fat Elmo
Damn kids
spray painted your canoe again …
Nah, jus’ had one o’ dem “flashbacks”
fro' de '60's agin'....
Far out, man!
FE
foam blocks
yeah i have been using foam blocks, snapped to the gunnels and resting on the roof of the truck. if i had known i would have to do that, i wouldn’t have spent the $$ on the pretty rack though. its a little disappointing. it does work well with my kayak however.
Nice …
I try to stay away from my canoes when I feel one coming on
extension
I use the front cantilever extension. It moves the gunwale support closer to the front of the cab and that makes a noticeable difference.
http://sports.webshots.com/photo/2827395410050807370POFLwt
ouch
another $200 ? yowza… i can see how that would fix the problem though…
great for me
I have a frontier, I’m assuming your truck is taller. I took a basic kayak hauling foam block and cut into four pieces. The slot that is cut into the block already fits over the gunnels and then I just put my canoe on the bars. I don’t know why you wouldnt have planned to use some padding anyway. It protects the gunnels and the rack. Plus the foam keeps it from sliding.
Ryan L.
i planned to use padding
what i didn't plan for is having that padding on the roof of my truck instead of the cross bars of the tracrac... the tracrac should be a little taller in my opinion. i have a chevy silverado.. you'd think it would accomodate..
here's a pic of my canoe loaded on the truck
http://goo.gl/photos/KUe51TyYUi
i solved the problem
but i still think its a shame to have to redneck this nice looking rack.. oh well... function over form
http://goo.gl/photos/u5brRIwMN6
yeah…
So I see the problem. The trac rac is designed to fit both sizes of trucks out of the box. Where as you would like an extra inch or two I would like less. I have only put my 15 foot solo canoe up on mine and it works fine. I hope it will work with my tandem. both of my boats have nearly zero rocker which helps as well. I love mine for my kayaks and it helps my truck is silver as well. At least its not one of those thule racks that about $1000.
Good Luck,
Ryan L.
the 2x4’s work but…
i’d like to come up with a more elegant solution… i can’t help but think there might be a way to put some sort of tube/pipe through the supplied tie down eyes… that would be cool because it might sort of roll the canoe along
you could
Just get a piece of square tubing, paint it gray, drill holes and bolt it to the rack. Get some square nuts and appropriatly sized bolts. This might look better than wood.
Ryan L.
taller rack
There are 3 different sizes of trac rac uprights, I believe. I don’t know if that’s also the case for your T-rac though. I’ve got a Trac-Rac on my Tundra, and it’s the same model that goes on the Silverado, F-150, etc. There is a smaller size for the Tacoma, etc. And there is an even taller one for the F-350, etc really tall trucks, if I recall correctly.
Maybe you can find someone who wants to trade for a slightly shorter rack.
(I know I’d like to trade my sliding uprights for at least one pair that is 2 inches shorter. )
hmm
how tall are your uprights ?
two heights
Actually there are only 2 heights for the trac rac. 27" and 29 1/4" from top of bedrail to top of crossbar.
The T-rac also comes in different height options, which I would guess are similar to the TracRac.
Their new price-point fixed rack, TracOne, just comes in a single configuration.
well
measuring perpendicular from the top of my bed to the top of the crossbar on my ‘TracOne’ is 26.25" it’s just not quite tall enough for a standard chevy silverado hauling a canoe…
i did come up with a solution, but it looks rigged.
one neat thing… you can grind the head of a standard carriage bolt and it fits nicely into the TracRac channel.
http://goo.gl/photos/7tj5zL9N5h
http://goo.gl/photos/WbZVv3IqWW
and along with some other parts i made the rack functional for my canoe
http://goo.gl/photos/cVn9IQYm1a
http://goo.gl/photos/8rVe3XhWYN
That T bolt can be bought
ready made, and will probably a higher grade, many carriage bolts are only grade 2. Use zinc coated to delay rust.
That being said, nice improvisation and fabrication!
see http://www.mcmaster.com
and search T bolt
See you on the water,
Kaps