Here is a couple of my whitewater boats getting ready to hit the park & play ledges in Princeton. A few of the other boats are in the background on my canoe trailer. The old lady is pretty proturbed as I currently have a different canoe for every day of the week...These are Yakima tower racks, gutter mount, 72" bars...
Here's a pic with a full tandem canoe, whatewater kayak, and two mtn bikes. I'm using 3 pairs of Yakima Raingutter towers, two 78" bars and a shorter 50-couple" bar up front. The third bar in front lets me get more spread for the fullsize canoe.
Yakima raingutter towers are a cinch to put on and take off once you get them set because their positions on the crossbars don't change. You can just release them from the gutters and take the bars off. About a 5-minute job to pop off and put on.
edit--nice Daggers! I just got enamored of an Esquif Zephyr in their Twin-Tex material.
Yeah, the gunnel brackets are a great investment too...
Lugboot - The Dagger Ovation and Impulse are in the pic. I also have a Dagger Prophet and Dagger Quake for whitewater (all whitewater boats are setup with bilge). I also have a Dagger Interlude, Mad River Explorer, and a cheap old indian brand glass canoe for flatwater day trips and canoe camping...
I use the same set-up as above, 72" bars, gunwale mounts, gutter mounts for rack and the faring. All Yakima.
I have a 15' Grumman aluminum canoe.
For single person loading, I have a piece of pipe, 4 feet long, inside of the front 72" bar. I can pop the cap off the bar, and slide the bar out a few feet. This allows me to place the nose of the canoe on the extended bar, slide back to the rear, and hoist the canoe up onto the back bar. Then slide the whole thing over to tie it down.
To keep the bar from exiting the cross bar, I drilled a hole through both load bar and Yakima cross-bar. I placed a bolt with wing-nut through to capture both bars. Use a stainless bolt and wing-nut.
Yakima offers their version for about $120 bucks. My set-up cost $5.00. Make sure you paint the insert bar, than grease it up with some marine grade stuff.
If your only going to haul 1 canoe, just go to wally mart or any outdoors supply store and buy a rooftop canoe kit. It'll be 4 foam blocks, and a couple of straps. The foam blocks fit over the gunwhale and the straps hold the canoe down. I recomend also tieing off the front and rear of the canoe to the front and rear bumpers.
I have an older Old Towne whitewater canoe that I've hauled all over the state of Missouri using this method and have never scratched or visibly harmed the finish of any of the 3 vehicles that I've used.
I see that you have an LX450 as do I. Having just recently acquired said vehicle, I haven't yet carried my canoe, but, I have thought about it. I have the factory roof rack, but it won't carry the canoe by itself, so I think I am going to buy some pipe insulation for the rear bar on the roof rack and then use 2 of the foam blocks up near the front of the roof. Someday, I'll have either no roof rack or a real roof rack, but for now, thats what I would do.
Hope this helps.
-faylo
Wow, nice truck! That is very similar to my canoe and also my plans for transporting it. Does the canoe bounce or move at all? I was concerned that the front of the roof might come in contact with the canoe if the road got a little rough.
I have yakima bars with 66 inch crossbars on my 80. I was thinking about cutting them down a bit, but I like the extra width. The gunwale brackets are great, can be found for reasonable prices online.
I've carried a mad river explorer canoe on the roof, but mainly haul around kayaks. I have had 6 kayaks on the roof at one time (VERY short ferry trip back to the trailer).
In the pic is my wilderness systems tarpon 140 sit on top fishin kayak, and a wilderness systems pamlico 120 rec kayak. The pamlico is sitting on the yak versions of the foam pads.
When I bought my tarpon (Zaloo's Canoes in Jefferson,NC after their rental season......AWESOME deal for those looking for a good price on a newer boat), I brought it back on the factory rack. That was the scariest 100 miles of my life. The yak moved all over the place, even with 4 lines on it (bow, stern, and one on each crossbar).....35mph crosswinds did not help....
Yeah, the gunnel brackets are a great investment too...
Lugboot - The Dagger Ovation and Impulse are in the pic. I also have a Dagger Prophet and Dagger Quake for whitewater (all whitewater boats are setup with bilge). I also have a Dagger Interlude, Mad River Explorer, and a cheap old indian brand glass canoe for flatwater day trips and canoe camping...
Yes, I'll third the gunwale brackets. Good stuff. Nice way to keep the canoe from wanting to move sideways. Combine them with some cam straps and the canoe is rock solid. I still tie the ends off to the front and rear of the truck.
I used to paddle a Mad River Kevlar Twister--that boat spoiled me.
Its a hybrid kayak that is stable enough to stand up and fish from. Tunnel hull, with retractable skeg for straight tracking. The seats are the bomb(and pull out of the boat to use as camp chairs). and the foot pads are extremely comfy on long paddles(beats the heck outta foot pegs)
Wow, nice truck! That is very similar to my canoe and also my plans for transporting it. Does the canoe bounce or move at all? I was concerned that the front of the roof might come in contact with the canoe if the road got a little rough.
Yes it does bounce slightly but it has never hit the roof. I have a sunroof deflector and it can hit that if I am not careful how I center the canoe (it is too far forward in the pic (bow and stern tie-downs already removed) the set up works fine to haul it around town and on the hwy but I plan on serious changes before I haul it up any trails or rough roads this summer.
FYI, you might try ebay, especially on the towers. I got a smokin deal on mine from there. I can't think of any newer vehicles that have this style of gutter mount. Since the newer LC's and Jeep Cherokees don't have them anymore, there seems to be a lot of these style mounts available in the used market.
