Issue with rack for new truck

[Keeled Over]

Hello folks,

After 19 years the Dakota is now dead, so a 2015 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab is the new canoe truck.

I have the "goalpost" bar that sits on the trailer hitch for the rear of the canoe, so no issue there.

Aircraft style doors. Pricing the current offerings from Yakima, Thule, et al has me looking at hundreds of dollars for the set front and rear. I just need the fronts.

Had anyone had success with anchoring the front of the boat to a cross-bar set-up that doesn't require a loan? I see many universal products online, but the ratings and comments from users freak me out.

The set up from Malone gets good reviews but wrapping the strap though windows (in front of my face?) seems a bit odd. Plus, any rain will spice things up in a hurry.

Thank you!

 

[GeoBoy]

The straps don’t wrap through the windows, you open the doors run the straps over the door jams, connect the straps, tighten them and close the doors. Door gaskets should prevent leaks.

 

[MrPoling]

but wrapping the strap though windows (in front of my face?) seems a bit odd.

I've done this before, but I realized it is dangerous. If you have a crew cab the rear doors might be a better choice. But in my experience webbing will wick rain into the interior.

As for buying racks, it kinda sucks. Not only are Yakima and Thule expensive, but they are very vehicle specific.

Bed mount racks are not as vehicle specific and might be available on craigslist. You could use one behind the cab and the goalpost in the back.

 

[Gamma1214]

2015 is plenty old enough that there should be some in the junkyards nearby & roof racks aren't really a hot commodity in the salvage business so they would probably let them go pretty cheap. (of course, it's a pig in a poke without consumer reviews but, if the investment is meager...)

 

[yellowcanoe]

the Yakima or Thule rack systems are a big investment for sure, but rock solid.. You need not buy the entire rack each time you change vehicles.. Just the feet. This is a big deal however if you want to change vehicles often. Hasn't been a problem for me.. We change canoe haulers every 10-15 years. I have had Yakimas since 1990; And am on the third set of feet. I do see that they are "modernizing '" their systems= more cash.

We have bed mount racks and they can be specific especially if you want to pair a tonneau cover. However they allow for far too much rear overhang for longer canoes so that is why we got new feet for our 33 year old Yakima rack.. Just one rack over the cab. and one rack in the bed.

Running straps through the windows is never a great idea from a liability standpoint.. There is too much room for wobble..Whatever you do , you should be able to yank on your boat and it does not move. At all. Not even a little bit.

As to the dilemna of needing one cross bar maybe calling the folks at ETrailer might help.

 

[stripperguy]

Any strap run inside a vehicle will transfer water by osmosis, door seals are of no help.
I have an assortment of Thule stuff, specifically Tracker II roof mounts. These are meant to bolt onto factory rack mount locations.
I used a couple of these Tracker II mounts to hold a rear load bar on my 2005 Jeep LJ, drilling through the hardtop.
I’m sure you could find some similar used mounts to attach to your roof. Some silicone or 3M 5200 can seal any penetrations.
BTW, all of my Thule stuff is used, coming from Craigslist and Marketplace.

 

[Woodpuppy]

It takes a bit of searching to get the right part numbers, but you can order the pieces and sometimes one complete rack from Rhino Rack. That is what I did for my ‘09 Silverado. Then I used a T-bar hitch rack on the back. Worked great and allowed me to access my hard tonneau cover with 2 canoes racked. I’ve since downsized to a 4Runner and now am having trouble finding any can mount system since the 4Runner has factory rails; they just don’t extend far enough forward. I’m about to be the Guinea pig to see if a Tacoma foot pack will fit the 4Runner.

For the 2015 Frontier crew cab, you can choose between the vortex (aero) bar and the HD (square) bar.

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I really liked the HD bar on my pickup. It has a durable rubber strip along its top length and you can fit very long bars on it. The Vortex bars have a partial bottom slot, and the max length bar will be dictated by the portion that hasn’t been milled away. But for whatever reason they don’t list the HD bar as a bar-roof system, they want to sell it with a track. Here’s the vortex single bar system:

https://www.rhinorack.com/en-us/products/roof-racks/cross-bar-roof-racks/vortex/vortex-2500-black-1-bar-roof-rack-roof-rack-front-_ja4035

Scroll down and you’ll see all the part numbers you need. I am sure you can use a longer bar, but not sure what your max length will be. Now you know which foot pack / fit kit you need for the frontier’s roof:

https://www.rhinorack.com/en-us/products/roof-rack-extras/roof-rack-parts/kits/2500-fitting-kit_dk108f

Add the HD bar, not sure what length you need. A 71” allowed me ample space to load 2 boats when the bars were spread between the cab and receiver hitch T-bar rack:

https://www.rhinorack.com/en-us/products/roof-rack-extras/roof-rack-parts/bars/heavy-duty-bar-black-71-_rb1800b

And finally, the legs aka towers for a single bar:

https://www.rhinorack.com/en-us/products/roof-rack-extras/roof-rack-parts/legs/2500-leg-x2-_rlkhdh

Sometimes it’s a bit of a scavenger hunt to find the single bar pieces, but in my opinion it was worth it.

Good luck!

 

[snapper]

I used to have a Nissan "Frontier" with their version of an access cab. If you have a real crew cab, you can definitely run the straps through the vehicle without them ever getting in the way. As for water seepage into your vehicle; unless it was a real downpour, or endless days of rain, the amount that ever got into my truck was minimal. You might have gotten the same amount of moisture by leaving the door open while loading items behind the front seats. Also, while I've never bothered doing this, I've been told you can tie string around the strap outside the truck where it enters the door frame. Like with a hammock, you're creating a drip line so the water will continue down on the string and then drop harmlessly onto the road. Again, I've never tried this with my system but have done it with my hammock and it's worked there so I'm thinking it would with a vehicle as well.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time....be well.

snapper

PS - For what it's worth, I got tired of always having to get new towers whenever I changed my vehicle so for years now I've only used a system like what you're using. It's saved me a lot of $$$ over the years.