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best truck cap tie down method

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I'm on the verge of buying another truck. My current beast of burden is a '94 Toya pre-Taco 4x4, regular cab. I have a cap with a rise that has Thule artificial rain gutters for my canoes. I want a similar truck but with an access cab. The access cab will make the canoe sit further back on the vehicle. If the boats sit too far back I think the front rope/tie-downs will become useless. I hope to have a cap with a rise(more headroom) so I rather not use the roof of the cab to tie down, though this(no rise cap) might make the most sense and tie down the canoe on the cab and forget headroom. I also want to keep the rear bumper free for my bikes.
Thanks
 
I have a Honda Ridgeline with cap and fake raingutters. I use front tie downs. BUT they are poly loops bolted under the hood to the frame. Nothing goes over the front of the truck. This means you can open the hood and check fluids normally

Never worried much about rear tie downs we will go to FL with two bikes and three canoes and may tie down around the hitch
 
Here's my Tacoma with an extended cab with a cab height cap with a 15' canoe. I always tie the front down via poly loops bolted to the inner fender, they fold back under the hood when not in use.
I have a few scratches on the roof of the cab from loading the canoes but that's the price of heavy canoes and traditional upturned ends. I prefer to keep the canoes close to the cap roof.

 
I forgot to include that I do use gunwale brackets.. they are extra insurance from getting buffeted by trucks or winds on the Great Plains. Because the canoe is not straight sided they prevent fore and aft movement
 
On my ranger I use yakama towers on the cab and angle iron fastened to the rear of the cap. Love that long span. Works great.
Turtle
 
No offense, but I don't like Robin's set up. There is way too much canoe in front of the first roof rack. I think it is important to center the canoe over the rack, not over the vehicle. In places like Wyoming there is a lot of wind, and lots of semis on the road. Front and rear tie downs are very important. I set a canoe on top of my truck once in Wyo and the wind blew it off and it hit the ground before I had a chance to secure it.

Now I use a trailer which is easy to launch and tie everything. The boats are protected from the wind by the vehicle in front breaking the wind. It also improves gas mileage.
 
No offense, but I don't like Robin's set up. There is way too much canoe in front of the first roof rack. I think it is important to center the canoe over the rack, not over the vehicle. In places like Wyoming there is a lot of wind, and lots of semis on the road. Front and rear tie downs are very important. I set a canoe on top of my truck once in Wyo and the wind blew it off and it hit the ground before I had a chance to secure it.

Now I use a trailer which is easy to launch and tie everything. The boats are protected from the wind by the vehicle in front breaking the wind. It also improves gas mileage.



I agree for Western Hauls.. At any rate you do get less buffeting if less than half of the boat is in front of the midpoint between the two bars. We found out how important that was last year when we snapped a tower support. After getting that fixed in Colorado we moved the entire boat back to have about 3/8 of the boat in front of the midpoint of the bars and 5/8 behind. We put LOTS of orange tape on the stern We also modified on the fly tie downs in front that went around the hood hinges.. Not the ideal thing.. We forgot to add two more loops within a foot of the windshield to accommodate the more rearward canoe placement. What we did do was elevate the stern bar to give the boat a little nose down attitude.

Never seen the need to hug the countours of the truck but it sure makes tying and untying more easy. We have been using high towers for 15 years.

In the East we can get away with a bit of more convenience.
 
Lots of ideas. I am surprised that so many do not use front nor front/rear tie downs. For local travel might not be needed but have to agree with ppine that winds can reek havoc on boats. I do know that the main cross bars are the most important tie down points.

@yellow: Rear tie downs are least important, IMO. But they can help for sudden stops and lots of boat on top. I guess the gunwales brackets help in this. Makes sense. Might look into the gunwale brackets I assume they are adjustable.

@mamequay: Seriously, never!! You have never had them shift or slide forward with sudden stops?

@ Robin: That is most likely a setup that I will end up with and it is my current setup. But without the access cab the front of the canoe can be tied down to the front bumper. But I have to agree that it looks slightly unstable. If it works for you then go with it. I cross some bridges around here( Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Susquehanna Bridge) and get some serious winds, not to mention long distant western travels. I wonder if those blue foam blocks might work for the cab roof portion of your setup????

@Turtle: I have thought of this method but have resisted. I always thought that the cab moves differently than the bed of a truck especially when in 4x4 which often happens when I am out west. Is this not true? If I am wrong then Robins method with a Yak rack on the cab should do me. I got lots of old racks in the garage.

@ppine: I have used trailers but hate getting stuck on a narrow road w/ 2 cars and not enough room. I can't back those things to save my a$$. Plus when out west I travel some nasty roads that would be very difficult with a trailer.

FWIW: I use to own a VW Syncro vanagon. REAL rain gutters. We use to throw tons off boats on the 2x4 racks and never lost a one. It always brings a tear to my eye when I think of her. What a beast she was.
 
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Balto the further back you can move the front tie downs to make a rope run perpendicular to the truck tie down ...a downward force the more stable the tie down and boat will be. This means a tie down closer to the windshield. "Bumper" tie downs are much less useful.

I have been through foam blocks.. They shift. The Bay Bridge Tunnel is not a place you want to fidget with your britches.

I too have transported small solo boats without forward tie downs. I am quite confident in my system.. This year is not typical.. We only transported some 10,000 miles. The Tandem got the front tie downs. That was a 5000 mile trip.
Usually our transport mileage each yearis much higher. With us being homebound we are saving lots of money to pour into the gas tank in May..

Living on a potholed logging road I can attest that the cab and cap move independently.. Like Robin I would never put one rack on the cab and another on the cap and expect a wood canvas boat not to have an injury on Maine logging roads.
 
I always use 2 diagonal front tiedowns,. the cab to box flex has never been an issue for me on my 4X4 ranger,even on rough launch roads and 1,000 mi trips..
Turtle
 
I think we have some good ideas for the OP to sift through and find what is best for his circumstances
 
I do it like Turtle, 2 diagonals. But I do see the problems with forward long extension of the canoe and no support.
I always felt that the flex between the cab and bed would loosen the tie downs for the boat.

@ yellow: So on your truck is the front tie down under the hood near the front tires? What is a poly loop?

All, thanks for your help
 
Here's my Tacoma with an extended cab with a cab height cap with a 15' canoe. I always tie the front down via poly loops bolted to the inner fender, they fold back under the hood when not in use.
I have a few scratches on the roof of the cab from loading the canoes but that's the price of heavy canoes and traditional upturned ends. I prefer to keep the canoes close to the cap roof.

Robin I just re-read your post. You also use poly loops, new term for me. So you tie-down to loops that are under your hood and pull them out when needed. Interesting. I think I paid more attention to your picture than your words, sorry. I couldn't see it in the picture.

I think I just realized what poly loops are. They are flat webbing used in climbing, is this correct?
 
This is how I do it:

Swift Raven-3.jpg by Hansen.Dougie, on Flickr

Two Yakima crossbars on the cab itself with cam straps. I use paracord (550 cord) for bow and stern tie downs. I don't want that canoe getting away from the truck if heck breaks loose. I read of a canoe that escaped it's vehicle and killed someone. I don't want that on my conscience, ever.

I may be over thinking it but I wouldn't strap a canoe to a pickup truck where one tie down is on the cab and the other on the cap. Truck frames can and do flex depending on the load and road condition. I don't chance the frames flexing or twisting, I only tie down to the cab. If I didn't have a double or crew cab truck I would use both crossbars on the cap only. It's most likely overkill but it's my truck, my canoe and my time.
 
Robin I just re-read your post. You also use poly loops, new term for me. So you tie-down to loops that are under your hood and pull them out when needed. Interesting. I think I paid more attention to your picture than your words, sorry. I couldn't see it in the picture.

I think I just realized what poly loops are. They are flat webbing used in climbing, is this correct?


Hi, I'm not sure if the webbing is used in climbing, I was given a set by a friend. He folded over a 12" piece of webbing, drilled a hole, then added a crimped ring to act as a washer. I removed a bolt from my inner fender and used the same bolt and bolt hole to secure the web. I flip them out when I need them, I put a piece of elec tape on the paint where it rubs the hood, well, I did when the truck was new, not any more.

Here is an image I grabbed off the internet, not my truck but the same idea.

images



Here's my truck with the tie downs, works for me.

 
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I am a bow rope required anal type, always tied bow and stern. Although not a pick up, bars are only about 4 feet apart and always more over the front and never had an issue. If I ever get the Tacoma I want, I'll likely go like Robin does. I doubt my 90 xtra-cab will ever see use with boats though.

 
After trying out a set of Thule bars and gunwales brackets on m y station wagon this weekend all I can say is you just have to love Quick and Easy brackets with 2 x 4. Have artificial rain gutters on my GMC Sonoma cap. Artificial rain gutters at the very start and very end of the cap will give you almost six feet of span. Put carpet on the 2X4 and drill holes were you wish to have gunwales brackets. Put bolt through a peice of wood then through the 2x4. Tie down in the front under the bumper or through nylon web straps depending on the canoe. In the rear to the Hitch. Use two sets of straps at each crossbar. Easy to load by sliding over the rear bar. Carpet really is the best thing to use when sliding a canoe on from the rear by your self. NOT the best looking but performance wise it is hard to beat. There are ways to lock Quick and Easy Brackets.

Been thinking about how to have a red light from the rear on the canoe. Using a red flag now. Some states require a red light on the extended load at night. Getting up early to be on the water at dawn puts me driving in the night. Have to beat the heat here in the south during the summer.
 
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