Roof rack/canoe carrier for high top w/awning

[thinice]

Looking for a way to haul my 18ft. canoe. My awning presents a problem for conventional gutter mounted roof racks. Wonder if anyone has made a DIY rack bolted directly to the roof. Although the thought of penetrating the roof is a little scary I know that boaters install through the hull fittings and they seem to work if properly bedded. Anyone have an ideas?
I guess the other option would be a trailer but hooking up a light harness looks to be a expensive pain.
Tim

[Eric Experience]

Tim.
We carry items on our roof without a normal rack. what I did was cut strips of aluminium checker plate that fit between the ribs on the roof these are attached with and adhesive to the roof, for the tire downs I made up side rails from stainless tubing supported on short posts with a flange on the bottom bolted to the roof cross ribs. By bolting them on at the edge of the roof the overall height is not increased. Eric

[thinice]

Thanks Eric
Sounds like a good system. I guess you fabricated the rails and flanges yourself? Have any photo's? I like the idea of low profile but may need to raise things up a bit to accommodate the upturn on the bow and stern of the canoe. Checking the Internet I have read that US interstates and state highway underpasses (at least in Minnesota) are supposed to have 19ft of clearance or be marked "low clearance". Not sure I buy that totally, but I am not a trucker who has experience with such things.

[A.Hayes]

I went this route:
http://sprinter-source.com/forum/sho...ghlight=Yakima

Put 'em on last winter and very happy with the set up so far.

[thinice]

Originally Posted by A.Hayes

I went this route:
http://sprinter-source.com/forum/sho...ghlight=Yakima

Put 'em on last winter and very happy with the set up so far.

Thanks A. Hayes, missed that thread

[thinice]

Yakima looks sweet but $150.00 per 54inch track (and you would need four plus the cross members) a little to pricey for me. Anybody done anything with pipe & pipe floor flanges or other DYI options. I don't weld.

[Adventurer]

Hi, This is how i went about it. Bought control towers and cross bars off craigslist. Then called yakima and ask to be emailed a list that they would fit on. Then went to the auto salvage yard and got the tracks and mounting hardware off a few of the cars.

[Boater]

Initially I was thinking about moving the awning from roof mount to rack mounting, but in the end I decided that an 18' kayak would fit inside if I remove the passengers seats and tuck the bow under the glove box.

[d_bertko]

I bought my 02 158" long-tall used from Pyranha Kayak. They had an awesome walk-on rack made from welded 1"sq steel tubing. Expanded metal for the grating. Bolted through the sides at eight places just above the gutter onto large spreader plates. Removable rear ladder.

I added a boat roller at the rear and have no trouble loading my 17' Old Town Camper myself. The roller removes friction and my long boats cantilever easily down when stood on end.

Can't say enough good things about the rock-solid feel of a welded rack. Walking on top is so much easier than any other method.

I mounted a Thule awning on my rack myself. Not too difficult if I could do it.

No pix now since I'm on the road but previous posts of mine show the rack.

Reasonably easy to find a steel welder to do the job for you. There is a similar design to mine available commercially in aluminum. Search hard through the zillion rack posts to find it here.

Dan