Do You Canoe? Post your rack pix & how you're haulin it.

[Killroy Was Here]

Posts with pictures & info about canoe specific racks for the Gladiator seem to be scattered all over different threads.
So thought it would be good to have one thread dedicated to showing the different set ups, and list the parts you all are using to get your canoe safely to your favorite paddling spot.

I'll start it off with some pix from last week's annual remote canoe camping trip to the wild & wooly parts of the UP of Michigan.

Going to figure out a better solution for the bow strap anchor points that will get the straps completely off the paint of the hood.
This set up did cause some abrasion, but luckily I already had 3M paint protection film on the leading edge of the hood & it did it's job well in keeping the paint from being damaged or rubbed through on this 1,000+ mile round trip.

Roof Rack: Single Yakima 66" Round Crossbar w/1A Raingutter Mount Towers
Hitch Rack: Spring Creek Mfg. Double Hitch Rack w/telescoping loading bars
Bow Strap Anchor Points: Spring Creek Mfg. Quick Hood/Trunk Loops
Straps: Yakima Rubber Covered Buckle Straps for the canoe hull, & NRS Loop End Straps for the bow & stabilizing straps of the hitch rack.

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[Zswickliffe]

Posts with pictures & info about canoe specific racks for the Gladiator seem to be scattered all over different threads.
So thought it would be good to have one thread dedicated to showing the different set ups, and list the parts you all are using to get your canoe safely to your favorite paddling spot.

I'll start it off with some pix from last week's annual remote canoe camping trip to the wild & wooly parts of the UP of Michigan.

Going to figure out a better solution for the bow strap anchor points that will get the straps completely off the paint of the hood.
This set up did cause some abrasion, but luckily I already had 3M paint protection film on the leading edge of the hood & it did it's job well in keeping the paint from being damaged or rubbed through on this 1,000+ mile round trip.

Roof Rack: Single Yakima 66" Round Crossbar w/1A Raingutter Mount Towers
Hitch Rack: Spring Creek Mfg. Double Hitch Rack w/telescoping loading bars
Bow Strap Anchor Points: Spring Creek Mfg. Quick Hood/Trunk Loops
Straps: Yakima Rubber Covered Buckle Straps for the canoe hull, & NRS Loop End Straps for the bow & stabilizing straps of the hitch rack.

Reviving from the dead - what's the length of your canoe? And what ended up being your bow line solution? I was hoping one of the taller front bumper hoops would bring the line high enough to avoid the paint.

 

[Killroy Was Here]

Reviving from the dead - what's the length of your canoe? And what ended up being your bow line solution? I was hoping one of the taller front bumper hoops would bring the line high enough to avoid the paint.

Was beginning to think that I was the only one on the forum that hauled a canoe with their Gladiator.

The canoe is my Brother-in-Law's 17 ft. Souris River Quetico.
https://www.sourisriver.com/quetico-17

Liked the idea of having anchor points located at the hood front corners, but didn't want to tie the straps to the latch handles. They are just plastic, and the side pressure of the straps could fatigue & break them. The other issue with this was with the high crown radius at the sides of the Mojave hood, the straps would still be rubbing on the paint.

Wanted anchor points that were removable when not in use, provide plenty of clearance for the strap to eliminate paint damage, and didn't require drilling any mounting holes in the truck.
Don't ask for much, do I ?

Decided to get crafty, and rounded up some 304 stainless steel rod, tubing, clevis pins, & 16ga. sheet stock, then broke out the MIG welder & the stainless wire.
When finished sprayed it all with mat black epoxy paint.
This is what I came up with.

The result locates the base of the new anchor point under the latch bail tab on the hood.

When the anchor loop is not in use & removed, unless you are looking for it, you can't see that any modification has been made to the truck.

When the anchor loop is installed into the receiver tubes on the base, it is held in place by stainless "E" clips at the bottom.

It's close, but when the hood is latched there is plenty of clearance between the end of the loop & the latch base on the fender.

The anchor loop was made tall enough so that the bow strap has plenty of clearance to the crown radius of the hood surface.

Overall it came out well, & it's all stainless steel, so don't have to worry about rust.

 

[BtrLtThnNvr]

Creative! Looks like a great design to sell to Yakima or market yourself. Bet there are other folks here that would love these but can’t weld stainless! Nice job.

 

[Killroy Was Here]

Creative! Looks like a great design to sell to Yakima or market yourself. Bet there are other folks here that would love these but can’t weld stainless! Nice job.

Thanks. It made a good fabrication project for an afternoon, & kept me off the streets. LOL

Total cost was around $50(shipping included) for the 304 stainless materials from McMaster-Carr.

Judging from the endless pages of replies to this thread over the last couple months since first posting it (sarc), am thinking the market demand for this product would be pretty slim. ?

There really isn't any magic mojo involved in MIG welding stainless vs. mild steel. Just have to use stainless steel MIG wire.
The welding process is the same as for mild steel.

 

[Higher_Ground]

Seriously though these would sell in a catalogue like Quadratech. They look clean and offer a functionality that's missing with every other set up. You need to get on shark tank

 

[SonOfaFish]

Reviving this thread.
First, thanks to Dave (Killroy was here) for the awesome, detailed response that he shared when I reached out directly after reading this post. My scenario was a little different in that I was looking for a way to carry two 17' canoes. Further, I don't have a bed cover to contend with, opening up other possibilities.

I landed on a solution that used the cab roof solution that Dave used, coupled with different rear bed rack solution offered by a supplier that Dave recommended. https://www.oakorchardcanoe.com/ Take your time on this website, they truly have everything....

Everything shown below was purchased at Oak Orchard Canoe except the Yakima Load stops - pick those up on Amazon.

Rear Rack: Oak Orchard - Option 1 Deluxe rack system https://www.oakorchardcanoe.com/truckrack1.php

Cab Rack: Yakima 1A riser rack (yes Oak Orchard will sell you a single bar option - couldn't get anyone else to do so.

Bars are Yakima 78" to accommodate 2 canoes

Install:
The rack system I purchased, required drilling 4, half inch holes for nutserts. This was the hardest part of the process. Once this was accomplished install was a breeze. The rack is fortress! When removed, you are left with 4 threaded holes that could be used for other purposes. Very unobtrusive. You could easily run this canoe rack with a traditional bed rack as it anchors all the way back at what we used to call stake pockets.

Pics below are rack only. Picking up canoes from the family farm in the Ozarks over a long Mother's Day weekend that will include a float on the beautiful North Fork river. Will share canoe loaded pics after.

 

[Killroy Was Here]

Hi Wes,
Glad I could lend a hand, and look forward to your pics with the boats all loaded up.

Dave

 

[SonOfaFish]

Quick follow up...
Racks handled the weight just fine. No issues or damage at the drip rails. These were heavy 17' Grumman aluminum canoes circa 1960. Prob 75# each. 90 min drive to river - interstate, state hwy, county roads, barely roads..... no issues.

 

[Killer]

Souris River 18.5 on dual Yakima bars on the roof. Front straps tuck back under hood when not in use, rear ties go to the screw eyes in the t slot. solid as a rock!

 

[SonOfaFish]

Souris River 18.5 on dual Yakima bars on the roof. Front straps tuck back under hood when not in use, rear ties go to the screw eyes in the t slot. solid as a rock!

Awesome. Love the stickers...where would a guy go to steal your idea....??

 

[MPMB]

Modern problems require modern solutions.

Since we got a Hiker Trailer, we moved the RTT (on bed rack) onto the trailer. Now I have an empty bed rack, and I was able to put the JCR half-rack back on the roof. The heights are different, but I think I can get away with simple blocks or whatever for hauling long items up there.

My wife likes to paddleboard, so we have a couple SUPs that will be easier to keep inflated when going from campground to water. Throw them on the racks and tie them down. Done.

I need to order some eyebolts to put in the racks for easy tie-down points. Of course the manufacturers are different, so they take different bolts. JCR is extruded w/ double slot 2" aluminum (80/20 10 series), so 6mm bolts I think, and the OVS rack is 2" square extruded aluminum with 8mm bolts. All my "extras" for the OVS rack won't fit in the JCR rack. Such is life.

And someday my Kayak for Fatasses (TM) will go atop the racks, as soon as I get around to ordering it.

 

[Killer]

Awesome. Love the stickers...where would a guy go to steal your idea....??

Can't recall if it was Etsy or Amazon for these P40 Tigershark decals. Not entirely happy with this set, sort of looks "angry Guppy" rather than Shark. Be mindful of dimensions of the decals. i chose to put them on upside down to be seen, i.e. driving or portaging. When I'm in the water, Im usually back country, where I don't want to see a lot of people.

 

[RockTrixWheels]

There's so many options to put up your canoe definitely love these tips and pictures. Definitely helps out the community in choosing which one they should get

 

[snowbear]

I'm considering a kayak and was looking for ideas on how to carry on the Gladdie. I have the rollup tonneau so I'm not sure a rack would work for me, but a couple of these could work. Thanks for posting, everyone.

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