I just wanted to get people opinions on making a roof rack for transporting canoes. It is a VW Passat wagon with the factory roof rails. My plan was to cut treated 2x4 long enough for 2 canoes side by side. and just use u-bolts to fasted them to the rails. I also wanted to put some type of groove or seat in the wood for the canoe to rest in , to help minimize side to side movement. It seems ratcheting tie down straps would work best for securing it have people just put an eye-bolt in on the end of the cross beams or just to the rails on the roof rack ?Look forward to your opinions.

Thanks

Kcid

You are on the right track. Eyebolts make the most sense to keep the canoes from moving side to side, but the best is if they are snug to the canoe gunwales and high enough to keep the canoe from possibly jumping over them, If you are using nylon straps to tie down the canoe I wouldn't be concerned about running the straps through the eyebolts, but just wrapping them around the 2 x 4s between the eyebolts & canoe and tightening them.

I have made them before with 2x4 and u-bolts. I coated the bottoms of the bolts with a rubberized coating. Cushion the gunwales with pipe wrap. You can just use regular tie-down straps over the canoe, under the 2x4, and back over.

To keep each canoe in place attach a 2x4 piece to the top side of the 2x4 cross bars. Make a front and back piece for each canoe. Make these pieces just long enough to fit INSIDE the gunnels of each canoe. Each canoe will end up staddling it own set of blocks. That way the blocks are one piece and are long enough to put screws in with out splitting.

quote MplsKcid: "...I also wanted to put some type of groove or seat in the wood for the canoe to rest in , to help minimize side to side movement. It seems ratcheting tie down straps would work best for securing it..."

I've seen grooves in 2x4 canoe racks done quite effectively. I recommend staying away from the ratcheting straps, as it would be too easy to overtighten and damage your canoe. I would stick with cam buckle straps. Most outdoor stores will have them.

Just an FYI some roof racks are just for looks check your owners manual to see what the weight limit on them is. I have seen them only rated 50 lbs. Also remember there is g force when you dive making the canoe even heavier around turns. Wouldn't want the whole thing breaking off.

If your rack is rated high enough you might also consider using 3/4 water pipe instead. You should still be able to attach it with bolts. If you cover them with pipe foam or a pool noodle it will be nice and safe on your canoe and it doesn't slide around. It will actually indent making groves that hold the gunwales in place. I took two canoes the 1000 miles to Ely this way no problems. Then in the future Yakima stuff works on 3/4 pipe so you could add gunwale brackets ect. This will make you whole system more flexible to different boats and even placement of the boat on the rack.

I built a entire rack for my Tacoma out of water pipe the stuff is nice and solid and looks nice.

Link to the rack I built for my Tacoma

One last thing don't you ratchet straps to easy to over tighten and bend or break something just use the cam straps.

I would skip the treated lumber. The new treatment process uses a copper based preservative and is extremely corrosive to metals. Untreated lumber will still last for years.

I Own A 2011 Jetta Sportwagen and last summer I made my rack using a 2 x 6 and u-bolts. I made the 650 mile trip to Ely without a problem. I glued pieces of rubber flooring to the 2 x 6 which prevented my canoe from sliding. The one other thing I did was to make sure the u-bolts were plenty long that way I could use a flat washer then a lock washer then double nuts. I also used my towing i-bolt that came with my car and used that to strap my canoe in the rear of my car and ran a strap under the hood for the front ,plus the 2 straps over the canoe and around the 2 x 6. It worked excellent.