Full size African Outback rack for canoe and ski box

[Chaldaean]

Hello All,

My empty wallet is trying to decide whether to save up to purchase a full African Outback rack from Slee ($1200or so) or just use a two-bar Thule/Yakima setup. I would not be installing the full rail on the African Outback rack, however; just the rack.

Here is the AO rack: Slee - Roof Rack Details

I have a '97 LX450 and my two questions are:

(1) Do any of you have experience putting a canoe on a full rack? Any concerns? Does the bow get caught on things as it slides along the rack?
(2) I use a Thule ski box in the winter and am looking at the AO rack because it doesn't have a rail that runs around the perimeter of the rack. This way, the back end of the ski box can sit flat on the rack and the back end can hang off, if need be. Have any of you put a ski box on an AO rack?

Thanks.

 

[dukerules]

No experience with the AO rack (though it is super sweet). I do throw my canoe (16' Old Town) on my bajarack nearly weekly. From what I can tell, I think the AO rack without the rail would work very well. The main issue I think you may have depending on your particular canoe might be the screws on your gunwales. On my canoe, there are about 8 screw heads that stick up slightly on the gunwales, which catch on my bars regularly, and have scratched the paint mightily. If you have these I think they would catch on your rack, and do the same to your powder coating. I may buy some foam tape to cover the screw heads, but for now I've just wrapped some vinyl sheeting around my bars to protect them.

 

[Atoyot1031]

I throw one on my rack all the time as well. Also if you're budget minded and can do a little welding, this works out nice. Here's my build thread:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/163919-roof-rack-build.html