pickup as canoe hauler rack options?

[Steve in Idaho]

I avoided the pickup thing for as long as I could, but the time has come and now I must give up the SUV canoe hauler. I've been lookin at options for carrying canoes on a double cab PU, but I'm not sure yet what I should go with. How good are those "no drill" rack bases? What are you long time PU drivers using?

 

[yellowcanoe]

a cap.. But that makes my truck an SUV. Off to Home Depot for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOJ9LyBAfac

See the neat roller rack!

 

[latremorej]

Ladder racks. Nothing works better than good old ladder racks. I have spent ALOT of cash on yakima products for pickups and I still liked my buddy's contractor grade racks. Still haven't found anything that is removable for a truck that is worth the money you have to spend.

I think that if you don't mind the home look, YC has nailed it with going to HD. Maybe paint it black?


Eta:

We were stuck on the removable racks which were hitch based on the rear because of the ever important roll up cover that keeps everything out of the weather. But with two guys and a single cab S10 nothing else will fit in the truck. It had to go in the back.

 

[Guest]

Some choices. Absolutely agree with construction grade ladder racks, at least for a permanent install.

Ladder racks. Nothing works better than good old ladder racks.

Ladder/construction racks are both less expensive than Yakima/Thule/etc solutions, and often rated for far more weight. Like 1000 lbs or something stupid. Think a stack of pyramid shuttle canoes when the need arises.

I loved my WeatherGuard construction racks on a couple of Toyota trucks. The steel frames did rust a bit and require scraping and repainting, but by then the quarter panels on the Hi-Lux had seen better days.

Those construction ladder racks were cantilevered off the bed rails and fit around a cap, and were a permanent install. With a modern cap there are other, maybe better alternatives, especially for an everyday driver mpg and convenience.

Leer caps use Thule Tracker II feet, a wonderfully easy crossbar connection to remove. Sturdy too; I binged a guardrail on black ice with 100+ lbs of boats on the Thule rack. I hit it with both the front and, ricocheting off, rear quarters. That the racks withstood the sideways blows was memorable.

I’m told though not as memorable as turning to my companion as we slid sideways down the ice and calmly saying “Well, this is not good”

The Honda to Leer’s Toyota is ARE. ARE incorporates Yakima products into their caps.

http://www.leer.com/

http://www.4are.com/

I cannot say enough about a capped truck bed and racks as a canoe traveling vehicle.

 

[Canotrouge]

I had great results with my Yakima towers, some time with up to 4 tandem royalex ww canoes!! They are great and really sturdy and if you check them up periodically, they are totally reliable!

 

[memaquay]

I bought the adjustable thule racks, paid a lot of dough, and they are garbage. I should have went with the good old ladder racks, there's a company in Thunder Bay that makes nice ones, would have been half the price.

https://www.amazon.ca/Thule-Xsporte...=1467854382&sr=1-1&keywords=thule+truck+racks

Do not buy!

 

[Muskrat]

I bought the cheap ladder racks from amazon. $90. Couldn't be happier. They have a garbage finish, but I just keep a can of rustoleum with my extra quart of oil in the back of the truck. If you don't want to bolt them on the camper shell clamps work good, but you'll need 8 total to be really secure. I just keep an extra wrench of that size in the truck if I need to take off the back rack.

I previously had a bar on the cab and a shell with no rack, can't complain for $50 from craigslist, but it could only hold one canoe and my guideboat had a tendency to slide off the sides (and onto the asphalt) when loading it.

Even with a short bed truck I'd tend to prefer the racks over a bar on the cab and something else. The separate twisting of the cab and bed makes me really uncomfortable especially when driving down miles of rocky dirt roads.

 

[Jim Dodd]

I made these years ago. They stand the test of time ! This is the fourth set of treated 2x4s cross bars.
This rack has been fitted for a Dodge Ram 1500, a Chevy 1/2T extended cab, and this Izusu /s-10, just by changing the 2x4s.

 

[latremorej]

No Title

I found an old picture of the cab bar and hitch extender set up. It works but wasn't what I call ideal

 

[Jatfomike]

I'm in the same boat as you Steve.....I traded (regrettably) my suburban in last month for a new F-150 Supercrew. I don't want a cap as I like to load up the bed of the truck at times. I do eventually want a tonneau cover and easily removable racks.....The tonneau eliminates a lot of the racks as the majority of them clamp on to the bed rail (Like Jim Dodds awesome home made racks!). Two options I've found are:

Tracrac (subsidiary of Thule). +/- $1000.00
Adarac. +/-$400.00

The Tracrac has recieved rave reviews.....Have not heard much about the Adarac....There is a similiar thread running on BWCA.com and the OP recently purchased an Adarac and promises a full review shortly after he installs it......The Tracrac is pretty pricey, but in searchin Craigslist, I found one locally (to me) for sale that fits an 8' bed for $350.00 (won't fit my shorter bed).....There was recently a second one posted for same price range, but the seller didn't list the size and hasn't responded to my query yet......Over the past couple of weeks, there have been quite a few Yakima/Thule clamp on style racks for sale on Craigslist in my area in that $3-400.00 range, many including a lot of extras......

Good Luck!

Mike

 

[Grandpa Paddler]

I use a TracOne (from Trac Rac) similar to the one Jim Dodd made. Since my tonneau cover is a 1 minute off-3 minute on process and racks install less than 10 minutes, I don't have much of a problem. It would be nice to be able to use the racks and the cover at the same time, but with an $800 price difference, it's a no brainer for me.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I won't do a tonneau cover. Been down that road before and grew to dislike it. I'm resisting the cap for various reasons - not the least of which is the inhibited access to the bed.

I wouldn't be in this mess, if not for accommodating the Mrs' desire for comfortable camping. The whole point of the purchase was the bigger engine and better transmission for pulling her portable palace. I was leaning toward a bigger SUV, but this rig was priced too good to pass up - and it came with a known history. Being a full-size four-door cab complicates things, and being too new for my blood discourages me from attempting anything home-brew - unless I can do it in fine ash or cherry. Just what I need - another shop project.....

All the home-made ladder racks I've seen so far won't work for me unless I change my requirement of allowing the planned use of side boxes for locked storage (except maybe for yours, Jim Dodd). I'm trying to make this thing be my "do-all" rig, since the cost of care and feeding makes a second vehicle impractical for me. I'll be fetching firewood with it (carefully) as well as hauling bicycles, canoes, and pulling a trailer. And it still has to be a daily driver - although my commuting to work days are hopefully coming to a close in less than a year.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Keep them coming if there are other ideas.

While alI this newfangled high power gear is nice and comfy, I am mourning the loss of my innocence and the days of the tent and the Isuzu Trooper....

 

[Chip]

I've used three rack set-ups in the Tacoma's I've had.

Rack #1 was a quickie, 2x4 build that I ended up using for more than ten years. It was based on a rectangle of upright 2x4s that laid in the bed. Uprights on the corners braced by mortised/tendon 2x4 at 45 degrees. I secured it in the bed with 2" webbing straps/ratcheting cams across the rectangle from side to side. I eventually retrofitted it with drop down wheels on the front, so that when I pulled it out of the bed the wheels dropped down and I could just walk away holding the back side of the rectangle, even with boats still tied on top. Pros: cheap, strong, easy in and out, ability to remove with boats mounted. Cons: the rectangle and wheels on the floor of the bed interfered with use of the bed for truck stuff--firewood, mulch, gravel, etc.; also, if you center the boats on the rack, or a little rear of center, there's a heck of a lot of boat hanging over the rear bumper.

Rack #2 was the Thule x-tra sport. Pricey, even when buying used. Pros: very strong, mount and dismount quickly, truck bed uncluttered, accepts Thule accessories. Cons: cost, can be noisie at highway speed unless you plug up the slot on the bars, which reduces flexibility in mounting accessories; if you happen to catch a fence or tree limb with the rack, it will damage the rails on the truck bed; same as #1 with boat hanging over the bumper; Thule accessories cost too much.

Rack #3 is a Leer cap-mounted Thule bar. Pros: sleep in the cap; gear storage more secure; but these are cap pros. The rack is there and works fine. Cons: I have to remove the cap when I need the truck bed for truck stuff, and no way to carry a boat (ah ha, I put the x-sporters back on); same as #1 for overhanging the bumper, span between racks much shorter than other solutions.

If I had a double cab, I would just use roof racks on the cab. That way, the bed is unrestricted and you can center boats over the vehicle, not the bed. I would keep the racks mounted either on the bed or on the cab. The twist between cab and bed makes it undesireable to put one bar on the cab and one on the bed, although people do.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

If I had a double cab, I would just use roof racks on the cab. That way, the bed is unrestricted and you can center boats over the vehicle, not the bed. I would keep the racks mounted either on the bed or on the cab. The twist between cab and bed makes it undesireable to put one bar on the cab and one on the bed, although people do.

This is starting to look like the better option for me. Just how good are those "no hole" rack bases? I have always had either roof gutters or factory rack tracks for mounting on my other vehicles.

 

[Guest]

Being a full-size four-door cab complicates things, and being too new for my blood discourages me from attempting anything home-brew

One the things a club cab, or even just an extra cab, complicates is the length of cab roofline. If your canoes have any significant rise along the sheerline or have recurved stems any rack you put on the bed will need to be high enough to allow the bow to rest above the cab roof. Sliding the canoe forward past the windshield would leave too much hull cantilevered forward of the rack (unless maybe you are toting a 20 footer).

I measured this when I selected the cap for my Taco, and even with the added height of the crossbar towers I found that a cab-height cap would be problematic. A mid-rise cap gave me just enough clearance, and I don’t have any boats with recurved stems.

This is starting to look like the better option for me. Just how good are those "no hole" rack bases? I have always had either roof gutters or factory rack tracks for mounting on my other vehicles.

I am not a fan, although we have a set of Yakimas for my son’s sedan and they work fine (one canoe, usually local trips). Lots of folks use them successfully. One issue with that style rack is that the crossbar towers need to be placed in a specified location/distance along the door edge. I have no idea what the crossbar spread would be for your club cab, but they could end up as little as 3 feet apart.

That could leave a lot of unsupported hull sticking out past the windshield. You might be able to check the installation instructions on-line for the Thule or Yakima door mount towers that fit your truck.

For highway travel, wind, passing semis etc I like having the crossbars as far apart as practical.

 

[Abenakiregion]

No Title

If you go home built, I've had good luck with this white oak rack. The uprights go to the bottom of the bed as well as fitting in the stake pockets. All lap joints with two stainless 3/8" bolts per joint prevent any wracking on 90 +/- mi. logging road journeys.
Dave

 

[Jim Dodd]

All the home-made ladder racks I've seen so far won't work for me unless I change my requirement of allowing the planned use of side boxes for locked storage (except maybe for yours, Jim Dodd). I'm trying to make this thing be my "do-all" rig, since the cost of care and feeding makes a second vehicle impractical for me. I'll be fetching firewood with it (carefully) as well as hauling bicycles, canoes, and pulling a trailer. And it still has to be a daily driver - although my commuting to work days are hopefully coming to a close in less than a year.

(

​ What I really like about this rack, is I can take one or both off in a matter of a minute or two. I've carried plywood, bed mattress's, canoes (3 at a time), and cedar planks, with no problems, but not all at the same time ! I'd be lost without it !!!

Jim

 

[Guest]

All the home-made ladder racks I've seen so far won't work for me unless I change my requirement of allowing the planned use of side boxes for locked storage (except maybe for yours, Jim Dodd). I'm trying to make this thing be my "do-all" rig, since the cost of care and feeding makes a second vehicle impractical for me. I'll be fetching firewood with it (carefully) as well as hauling bicycles, canoes, and pulling a trailer. And it still has to be a daily driver - although my commuting to work days are hopefully coming to a close in less than a year.

Something in the ladder rack style, like Weatherguards, would still work with side boxes. See illustration below.

http://www.weatherguard.com/ca/products/truck-tool-boxes-equipment/ladder-racks

There are lots of construction/ladder rack styles and vendors, many are both less expensive and hold more weight than something from Yakima or Thule.

 

[Iskweo]

The last two canoes I picked up on my travels were in the old Toyota p/u that has no rack. I stood a half pallet up against the tailgate, roped down of course, safety first. I put a rolled up old piece of carpet on the roof of the cab. Then I roped/ratchet strapped the whole contraption in place. Flyin down the highway.

Fortunately, no pictures were taken. I really need to study this thread and proceed with caution.

Christy

 

[yellowcanoe]

No Title

We actually have a three bar system. For eons ( since 1991 at least) we have had 58 inch bars. Along in 1997 I decided to get 78 inch bars to haul two tandems

Usually on the cap alone we use two bars (feet behind my husbands head). To haul the trailer and the boats that are nearly 18 feet long we needed to minimize rear overhang. So one of the old 58 inch bars along with $30 of new clips specific to the RIdgeline doors put us in business with a third bar. We have two bars here.. one in back and one in front for the long boats. You may notice wood spacers on the rear bars. For some reason we have a pile of stair balusters and those are just sections cut to fit the rise needed.
While we have a lockable cap so we can put stuff inside..like bikes you might be able to make some sort of adjustable saw holes with removable bolts to make a wood rack in the back adjustable for height