Canoe

I am too cheap to invest in a rack system and I hate the idea of screwing into the roof. And quite frankly unsure what I would be screwing into to do it. 2 screws into an aluminum roof doesn't make me feel comfortable about the rack getting ripped off with air turbulence. I assume there must be wood along the edges where the factory roof carriers attach but unsure. The foam blocks just seem like it would put too much pressure on a small area. My roof seems to be soft to the touch on the front and back edges...maybe it is soft from rot but it appears to be solid just normal movement of the roof material.
Was thinking of a t bar set up off of the front and back and hover over the roof.

I have pulled a pop-up and canoe from Ohio to the Pacific northwest twice, from Ohio to florida many times and all over the states adjacent to Ohio since 1990. I have used the same set of foam blocks I bought with the canoe in 1990. I have NEVER had a problem. I just tie the boat down firmly using a strap to the front and one to the back and get on the road. I use the same set of blocks on the car and the mini-van. YMMV

Take a look see at this google image search for "truck rack for canoe"...

TRUCK RACK FOR CANOE

CANOE IDEAS FOR POPUPS

Neat to see all of the different type available out there all in one place... Just click on the one that catches your eye for more info...

I don't have a whole lot of room on the top of mine with the big Air Conditioner sitting up there. I'm planning on a couple of solar panels pretty soon as well...

I thought this one made out of PVC stuff looked interesting. Sure wouldn't weight anything sitting in the truck bed...


Ratchet strap it all down when loaded up...

Roy Ken

The foam blocks (either homemade or store bought) "work" for a trip or two. But if you intend to carry the canoe much, I would strongly advise a good commercial rack. Yakama is one such manufacture. Yes, they are expensive, but it sure beats having a canoe blow off the roof.

Safe travels....and paddling,
Steve

We used an older version of these when we carried our canoe on the top of our suburban when we towed the pop-up. They're a foam rubber that catch the lip of the canoe and the straps are used to hold the canoe down. You might want to use your own ratchet straps, but the ones that came with our worked pretty good (until I discovered wratchet straps).