car topping a canoe without roof rack ?

[mrl2112]

Need input on the best way to haul a canoe on the roof without the roof rack.
Have the hitch rack for the back... are the foam roof blocks ok, and if so, any recommendations on best way to strap em down... no rain gutters on the ridge.
-thanks.

[HH4]

The foam blocks should be fine. Especially if you use the hitch to support one end as you can use all 4 blocks on the roof to support just one end of the canoe. As for securing it I would use ratchet straps around the canoe using the in bed anchors. The rigid unibody construction of the RL allows you to rest something on the cab and secure it to the bed without the worry of twisting or movement between the cab and bed. Try that with a "Real Truck".

[steveberger]

I do it all the time with no signs of wear or scuffs on the roof's paint. I use some cold water pipe insulation on the gunwales of the canoe and sit it upside-down on the roof. In the rear I use heavy bungees to the various tiedowns in the bed and in the front I use these with a short length of non-streaching rope. Check out the thread.

Front tie downs for canoe

I'm hauling an 17' aluminum canoe. It's pretty big. These front tiedowns fold down under the hood when not in use. Read the whole thread and buy or make yourself a set if you are planning on doing this alot. They work great.

[mrl2112]

thanks for the input.. I saw the post with your front tie-downs.. very slick, definitely doing that. How do you tie down the belly lines around the middle? I'm thinking the easiest is to just go all the way through the truck..

[RiverFisher]

I have only strapped a canoe on top of my Ridge once (I have since replaced the canoe with a driftboat). I used the hitch rack to support the rear, middle strapped down with the in-bed tiedowns, and the foam blocks over the cab. I then tied the bow of the canoe down to the tow hooks on the front of the ridge. Where the straps touch your paint, cover them with foam pipe insulation secured with tie-wraps.

[Rodeez]

I've hauled two canoes on top, without incident, but also without a great degree of confidence. The first was a 16' fiberglas, about 65 lbs., using the foam blocks resting on the OEM roof rack cross bars, strapped tight to the rack and anchored fore and aft with ratchet straps.

There was too much movement up there (luckily the trip was short) so on the next haul (a 14', 75 lb. Madriver Adventure) I used a padded strap affair with one set of straps that cinched up through the cab and another set that wrapped around the canoe's hull. Again I ratchet-strapped fore and aft. Oh, and I also removed the roof rack cross bars—not an easy task; you have to disassemble the rails at the rear mounting point to slide the cross bars off—so that the padded straps rest on the roof itself. That's nice and cozy, if your canoe is narrow enough to fit between the rails.

Strapped down tight, the canoe rides OK, but scoops up a lot of air. Again the trip was short and slow, but the next one will be long miles and Interstate highway speeds. I'm considering a hitch-mounted t-rack, something that will anchor the stern down tight and move the canoe to the rear of the truck.

UPDATE: With hitch-mounted t-rack prices at $65 - $200 + I decided to build my own, using a 2" box aluminum upright and a wooden "T" across the top. The whole thing came in at a bit over $12 and worked just fine, except for a weak aluminum angle bracket that I made to bolt the upright to the hitch. I"ll replace that with a steel bracket if I ever haul the canoe again. The main consideration with the hitch rack is preventing fore/aft/side movement, but well-placed straps to prevent T-bar movement should do the trick.

Moving the canoe to the rear took care of the rotation and noise problems mentioned above. A 14' canoe with 2' of the stern hanging over the back rack puts the bow only about 6" in front of the top of the windshield. No straps needed over the hood. Two trips of over a hundred miles at Interstate speeds proved the reliability of this setup (except for the aforementioned angle bracket).

[spun07RTX]

foam blocks work fine, but be sure to tie both the bow and stern down, and if you have a thin enough strap you can hook one end to the starboard side gunnel and feed it through the cab(with the doors open)to the port side.

either way-its got to be snug whether its on a roof rack or just on the foam roof blocks.

[94 Accord EX F250 owner]

Originally Posted by Rodeez

I've hauled two canoes on top, without incident, but also without a great degree of confidence. The first was a 16' fiberglas, about 65 lbs., using the foam blocks resting on the OEM roof rack cross bars, strapped tight to the rack and anchored fore and aft with ratchet straps.

There was too much movement up there (luckily the trip was short) so on the next haul (a 14', 75 lb. Madriver Adventure) I used a padded strap affair with one set of straps that cinched up through the cab and another set that wrapped around the canoe's hull. Again I ratchet-strapped fore and aft. Oh, and I also removed the roof rack cross bars—not an easy task; you have to disassemble the rails at the rear mounting point to slide the cross bars off—so that the padded straps rest on the roof itself. That's nice and cozy, if your canoe is narrow enough to fit between the rails.

Strapped down tight, the canoe rides OK, but scoops up a lot of air. Again the trip was short and slow, but the next one will be long miles and Interstate highway speeds. I'm considering a hitch-mounted t-rack, something that will anchor the stern down tight and move the canoe to the rear of the truck.

UPDATE: With hitch-mounted t-rack prices at $65 - $200 + I decided to build my own, using a 2" box aluminum upright and a wooden "T" across the top. The whole thing came in at a bit over $12 and worked just fine, except for a weak aluminum angle bracket that I made to bolt the upright to the hitch. I"ll replace that with a steel bracket if I ever haul the canoe again. The main consideration with the hitch rack is preventing fore/aft/side movement, but well-placed straps to prevent T-bar movement should do the trick.

Moving the canoe to the rear took care of the rotation and noise problems mentioned above. A 14' canoe with 2' of the stern hanging over the back rack puts the bow only about 6" in front of the top of the windshield. No straps needed over the hood. Two trips of over a hundred miles at Interstate speeds proved the reliability of this setup (except for the aforementioned angle bracket).

If you are able to do pictures, I would love to see it. I am looking for an inexpensive solution myself--one that does not provide contact to the painted surface of the body through foam blocks or anything else. I do not have a roof rack and don't want one for various reasons.