Advice on positioning boat on camper roof please!

Thanks,Rick. I'm hoping the weight will be okay. The canoe is about 50lbs. and we won't put anything else up there.

We may end up scrapping the factory rack altogether...

Y'all made me look it up. It's 4' past the tail lights requiring a flag in CA at least. It's good to keep things like this in mind.

I think that I will get a retro-style foam block canoe rack to hook onto the camper roof as a third tiedown point in addition to the factory bars which are poitioned toward the rear. Any obvious flaws with that line of thinking?

I do have the ratcheting bow and stern tiedowns. We needed those to be easy so that we can pop up fast. :)

A couple of things:

1. Position the cross bars so the canoe center of gravity (center thwart) is close to center between the bars.

2. Another member installed aluminum strips (2 in wide?) across the roof and bent down on both sides where the strip was attached to the side wall of the pop up roof. The cross bar towers were attached on top of each aluminum strip.

No holes through the roof top and weight distributed across the roof. I would probably add a center strip to stiffen the two cross strips and resist any torque from the cross bar towers.

3. Consider the Yakima system with a boat loader to assist with mounting the canoe from the side, or

4. Consider an additional cross bar at the back edge of the roof with a PVC pipe for a roller. You can rig a small winch (or two) to roll the canoe on and off from the back.

5. Check to see if you need heavier torsion bars for the roof lift system due to the added weight.

HTH

Golden_HVAC wrote:
You will need a red flag on the back of any load that is hanging more than 12" behind the bumper, so flag it anyway.

Fred.

Are you sure about that 12" ? My understanding is that a red flag of 12" square ( daylight ) or lights ( after dark ) are required for loads overhanging the vehicle by 48" or more . Under 48" nothing required .

MKish wrote:

I'll definitely tie it down front and rear, somehow!

Yakima sells canoe/kayak bow/stern tie-downs with built-in racheting for easy tightening.

Thanks all. I just took an additional (and somewhat important) measurement which confirms that I do need to hang both ends over the camper or they'll hit. :)

I'll definitely tie it down front and rear, somehow!

I would prefer better spacing on the factory "boat rack". I guess they had a different kind of boat in mind. I'm nervous about drilling into the roof to install another bar but I suppose I could get some guidance from the manufacturer. They're pretty responsive.

I've found that our canoe seems to fit best in a certain position on the van. If I slide it a bit forward, it doesn't seem to work as well....no real science behind it, but it may have to do with the way the gunnels are resting on the roof rack?
I agree that it won't matter if you're off to one side or the other, as long as you try to keep the keel of the canoe running the same way as the TC....you want the wind to be deflected evenly. Of course, if the canoe is close to center, you can use equal distant ropes to hold it in place, but it shouldn't really matter...especially if you have a special mounting system.

I'd just put the canoe up on top....slide it around until it seems to fit right, and then fasten it down. Not sure if a flag is going to matter, if the canoe is more than 8' in the air....who's going to walk or drive into it? Still, being unsure of the laws, it might be best to put one on.:)

Happy Camping:)

I've truck topped a canoe for a number of years and the location of your bars might be problematic. The key is to have the front and back tied off to front / rear bumpers or hitches. If you leave the front of the canoe short of the front of the truck, that front rope gives the canoe uplift support as well as anchors the canoe from sliding back. Rigging an anchor rope on the back of the canoe in a way that prevents it from wanting to slide forward under heavy braking is also a good thing if you can figure that angle out.

Sure you can have it off center, but I would try to keep it as paralelle as possible with the side of the RV. Having it sideways to the wind can cause a side pressure, so a inch or two that it is sideways will not matter, but to strap it down so that it is one foot closer to the drivers side on one end or the other would cause the side that is leading into the wind to have a lot more air pressure on it.

You are talking about 30" hang over on each end. That seems like a good idea. If you have more than 40" hanging forward, I would guess it will be getting close to the tow vehicle on a steep gas station driveway? Probably better to have it equal. You will need a red flag on the back of any load that is hanging more than 12" behind the bumper, so flag it anyway.

Fred.