Canoe

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very sturdy on my test drive. 28 bucks.

well...the fabricator ended up wanting 250. Likely a good price but the quote for 4 hours kind of made me think. And I had to paint it. Was unsure how he was going to take 4 hours to make what I had sketched out but oh well.

So I made one out of lumber....kind of a prototype but actually it turned out very well...not much weight(will weigh it all soon) and it is extremely sturdy,easily removed and does the job of supporting the canoe over the roof perfectly. Will post some pics soon (if I figure out how to do that on here.lol)

My trailer has the older style aluminium roof. I installed roof racks back in 2001 when it was new. It came with sealant for the holes and the lag screws really tightened well. I installed it myself because i did not want someone else drilling through my roof. Mostly we carried 4 bikes, but when we drove across the country we mounted our roof carrier (ski carrier) for lawn chairs etc. It would easily hold my canoe - i would likely reposition one piece for a wider stance.

The roof rack came with thick plastic pads for installation on a one piece roof, but i recall i would have had to drill completely through and install a steel plate inside at the 4 points.

12 years later there is no sign of rotting or weakening so it can be done. I have attached a photo - excuse the dirty roof. I'll get right on that cleaning project. :)

I could not remember how to get a photo to display...

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bxx1Dp9KZY-IcW1UMlNFcVJOUUk/edit?usp=sharing

$160 for the work and materials is not a bad deal at all for what you're getting for it.

It should not cause any sway problems as you will be basically evenly distributing the weight to the front and the rear.

See if the fabricator can do some quick reinforcement of the rear bumper though. It takes precious little load to overcome it in a dynamic loading situation. You may be able to put 1,000 pounds statically on the rear bunk end (much of which is not exactly transferred to the bumper) but you get bouncing down the road and a few years of vibrations could break it loose.

Don't forget that the worst that can happen includes something coming off in traffic and causing the vehicle(s) behind you to have problems.

popupcamping wrote:
Just hoping I do not create sway putting the canoe on there as there is absolutely none right now.

I've carried a canoe on top of my pup with no sway problems. Keep the canoe straight front-to-back and it should be good. You'll experience more cross-wind on the trailer.

Thanks guys. The thing I hate about using foam blocks is that in order to make it so it wont move you would have to ratchet down pretty hard and then you are compressing the roof onto the body of the trailer as well. I thought about the side but the awning causes a problem for that. I am talking to a fabricator to make racks for the front A frame in behind the LP tank and one to sit on the rear bumper. They will extend above the roof line while traveling to cradle the canoe and collapse to pull out the beds. I drew it out and gave it to him hopefully it comes in at around 160.00. I will post some picks if I go ahead. I don't think the rear bumper should have any issues where the canoe only weighs 80 pounds total. Even if it does the worst that can happen is the canoe drops down the 3/4" and rests on the pups roof. The TV has 3 bikes on the roof.

Just hoping I do not create sway putting the canoe on there as there is absolutely none right now.

You might be better off carrying it on the tow vehicle rather than the pup. Once you set up camp you still need to carry the canoe to the water.

If that isn't possible I would make my own rack for the pup using Unistrut. Screw uprights to the side of the roof and then span between the uprights. That way you have no penetrations on top.

To give you an idea of how many PUP roofs are made, look at this How It's Made video. Roof construction is around the 3:25 time stamp.

The above video is for Fleetwood/Colemans but I suspect quite a few others follow similar practices.

As for the front and rear leading edges being "soft", my first PUP's roof was solid construction for the main horizontal area and plywood front, rear and side wall. But the nice curved transition between the horizontal roof and the front and rear side wall was backed by nothing more than a stiff plastic. It was the only support at that transition point for the aluminum skin. With the current PUP, I don't have a good view of what is up under there for that transition.

There's not a way that I can think of that would guarantee that you hit a solid cross member when drilling in. My electronic stud finder cannot differentiate through the plywood ceiling, and there's no nails for a magnetic stud finder to key off of. Just hitting the outside edge where the top mates up with the side walls would be my suggestion. I'm just adverse to putting any new holes in my roof.

Canoes have been carried for decades on the roof of PUPs with the foam blocks and tie down straps. Use more than four blocks if you have a particularly heavy canoe. Avoid any weight and pressure on the front front and rear curved transition places as you've noted why. If I had one, I wouldn't hesitate to do it this way, so long as it straddles my A/C just fine. I would use ratchet straps to the frame across the sides as well as one on the front and rear of the canoe to A-frame and rear bumper respectively.

anyone try adding roof rails to their pup? i have a thule set up for my SUV but it needs a rail that runs front to back. the feet attach and a cross bar secures the kayak