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Old 08-06-2018, 10:19 AM   #1
TMfor4ofus
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Default transporting a Kayak or Canoe on roof of TM

Anyone figured out a good way to do this? I searched for awhile and didn't see anything?
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Old 08-06-2018, 11:54 AM   #2
Bill
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Anyone figured out a good way to do this? I searched for awhile and didn't see anything?
Quick answer - I still don't know. I did a long and laborious search for a rack that would fit in the stake pockets in the bed of our F-150. Never did find one that would work. There are lot of nice racks, but on every one of them, the vertical piece bends inward, toward the center of the bed, about a foot above the side of the bed. This meant that our tri-fold tonneau cover couldn't be opened with the rack in place. It looks like you have a single-part hard tonneau cover, so you would experience the same thing.

There seem to be two solutions. Either get rid of the hard tonneau cover, and buy a soft one. Or buy a rack that bolts through the top of the sides of the bed, rather than using the stake pockets. We weren't willing to drill holes in the sides, so that was out.

As you have read, carrying the boats on top of the TM is not an ideal solution because you have to remove the boats before you can raise the TM shells.

Out west somewhere, I saw a possible answer. As I recall, it consisted of a conventional cargo bar across the roof of the cab, and a load extender (Thule, Yak, and others make them) that can be made part of a hitch extender. You might end up needing to do a little welding.

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Old 09-04-2020, 03:03 PM   #3
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A bit pricey, but if you put a receiver on the back of the trailer, you might be able to do this depending on the length of the kayak. https://www.rvkayakracks.com/collections/kayak-racks

If you're using a truck to tow your trailer, why not put a rack on the truck?
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Old 09-07-2020, 09:13 AM   #4
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Default My canoe carrier

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Originally Posted by Bill View Post
Quick answer - I still don't know. I did a long and laborious search for a rack that would fit in the stake pockets in the bed of our F-150. Never did find one that would work. There are lot of nice racks, but on every one of them, the vertical piece bends inward, toward the center of the bed, about a foot above the side of the bed. This meant that our tri-fold tonneau cover couldn't be opened with the rack in place. It looks like you have a single-part hard tonneau cover, so you would experience the same thing.

Bill
What I did was use 3 pieces of 2x4 to make a square hoop that goes in the stake pockets and is roof high (to truck ). I use a car-top kit for the front of my canoe that has foam blocks and a strap that goes around and through the back doors of the truck. A bungee connects the back of the canoe to the hoop, and for highway travel I tie down the front to the tow hooks of my truck.

Cheap, custom, easy to store. Allows full rear access.
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Old 09-07-2020, 11:04 AM   #5
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Tony -

Long after my post above, I found that I needed to carry one canoe or two kayaks, so I did something very similar - this time for my old '98 Ford Ranger pickup (which I still have!) I made two of the hoops you describe, padded each one with a piece of carpet remnant, and put one in the forward stake pockets and one in the rear stake pockets. The carpet made it easy to slide the boats into place, and then, like you, straps front and rear held the boats down, and also held the hoops firmly in the pockets.

The only reason for using two hoops was to eliminate any contact with the roof of the truck, since I had used the foam cushion a few years earlier and experienced some paint scuffing. Other than that, great minds think alike.

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Old 09-07-2020, 10:34 PM   #6
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Tony and Bill- I’d love to see some pictures of these racks. I’m trying to figure out a way to add canoes to our rig.
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Old 09-08-2020, 08:14 AM   #7
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Glad to oblige.

The uprights are plain old 2x4s, the 4" dimension trimmed at the bottom to fit the stake pockets. The crossbars are 2x6s, attached to the uprights with 2 stove bolts at each attachment point. The carpet is a rugged industrial indoor/outdoor carpet, glued and screwed to the uprights and the crossbars. The dimension inside the uprights, where you put the boats, is 57" (the Ranger was a much smaller vehicle in 1998). As you can see, the top of the crossbar is a few inches higher than the roof of the cab, enough to accommodate the curve of the kayak hulls at bow and stern.

These racks are not attached to the truck bed in anyway. They are held in place by the weight of the boats, which are strapped fore and aft to the front bumper and the rear trailer hitch. The whole thing is pretty rigid. When the boats are off the truck, the racks are easy to lift out, and drop neatly into the cargo bed for worry-free transport.

Hope this helps. Obviously this truck does not pull the TM, but with larger truck you could duplicate this approach, gaining more width for the boats. As noted in posts above, the uprights are vertical, and their height, from the top edge of the bed to the bottom of the crossbars, is enough to enable you to fold up the rear panel of a tri-fold tonneau cover.

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Old 09-08-2020, 08:26 AM   #8
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Well now that is pretty slick. But what tonneau are you using that doesn’t go over the edges of the bed? All the ones I’ve looked at for my Ram sit on top of the bed edges and tailgate.

Can you share how long the Ranger bed is and how long the kayaks are? My Ram has the 5’7” bed and I’m hoping to use either 10ft or 12ft kayaks.
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Old 09-08-2020, 08:38 AM   #9
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But what tonneau are you using that doesn’t go over the edges of the bed? All the ones I’ve looked at for my Ram sit on top of the bed edges and tailgate.
Fair question, and my error. We don't have a tri-fold on this truck. In my earlier post, I was looking for a rack that would work with the tri-fold on our F-150.

But I seem to recall that I was able to find a tri-fold edge mount that was shaped to expose the front and rear stake pockets, so I could have inserted a rack into them, the tri-fold being shaped to work with this. Yes, rain might have drooled into the stake pockets, but they are open to the ground on the bottom, so it is not big deal.

I know I recall a rack that was a bolt-down on the edges of the bed, extending left and right wider than the bed rails, with its own stake pockets just outside the bed. But I was unwilling to use a bolt-down, and was looking only for a clamp-on. I'm just not sure at this point. At any rate, if the rack's uprights had extended straight up, all would have been well, and I could have folded at least the first two panels of the tri-fold. But on every rack I found, the uprights rose only about a foot before bending inward. The bend didn't leave room for the first tri-fold panel to rise. I even queried two of the rack mfrs, asking if they offered, or could special-build for me, a rack where the uprights went about 6 inches further upward before bending. Both agreed that it would be a great idea - and both said no. I even thought about cutting out a piece of the uprights, and inserting something better. But that would have involved welding aluminum - and the project was already getting out of hand.

Don't quote me on this - it has been a while. But being a packrat, I may have my notes around somewhere. If so, I will post more detail.

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Old 09-08-2020, 09:16 AM   #10
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Can you share how long the Ranger bed is and how long the kayaks are? My Ram has the 5’7” bed and I’m hoping to use either 10ft or 12ft kayaks.
Remember that the Ranger was a very small truck in 1998. With the tailgate closed, the bed is 71-1/2 inches long inside the bed liner. The kayaks were Old Town Loon 138s, at 13'8" the longest Old Town made at the time. These were in no way whitewater 'yaks, but gorgeous cruising kayaks. We paddled for miles on lakes and quiet rivers, both in Maine and AZ. We still have two of our original four. But this isn't a kayak discussion, is it?

We also had an even longer Old Town canoe that we occasionally carried on this home-built rack. I don't recall the length for sure, but I'm thinking 16 feet? We were young and strong and had two little kids at the time.

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