I would like to hear from anyone who has a crewcab pickup with a topper and uses a Thule or Yakima rack system to haul canoe(s). In the past, I drove an extended cab Tacoma (6 foot box) with a fiberglass topper and used a Thule rack. I prefer this set up to other options. I recently sold the Taco and bought a crew cab Silverado (5' 8" box) with fiberglass topper. I am hoping to use the same set up, but question if it will work with a bit shorter box and longer cab. If anyone has a topper and crew cab pickup and uses a Yakima or Thule system please reply or email me as to how it works include a picture if you have one. Thanks.

I have a 2003 Tacoma crew cab. I have one of the load bars on the cab of the truck. This really make the canoe a lot more stable on the rack. Thule will sell just two feet to make this possible. I don't have to use extra tie downs on the front and rear. I have used this set up on a Chevy extended cab pickup too. Works great. I"l look for a photo.

Yakima Gutter Rail mounts on the cap, Q Clip mounts on truck cab. I have heard comments about twisting between cap and cab but used this setup for many, 15+ years, without encountering a problem. Short haul around town used just the cap bars.

butthead

any one else?

aholmgren,

I have a 2005 Tacoma double cab. I have Thule bars on the bed cap, and I have a single bar over the driver's door to pick up the front of the boat. I think you would find that rock solid especially on a highway. I think if you just use the cap to support the canoe, you're going to have a lot of unsupported canoe. I also use the gunnel brackets to reduce sway on the highway.

I will upload a pic of my Tacoma loaded. Note too that I have two bars on the cap, the tripping canoes shear line doesn't allow the gunnels to touch the one that is at the forward end of the cab. But having two comes in handy for shorter boats like whitewater kayaks.

I carry composite canoes and wood canvas (23 hour drive to Ely) with no issues regarding twisting.

Cheers,
Barry

quote Copperdog: "I have Thule bars on the bed cap, and I have a single bar over the driver's door to pick up the front of the boat."

I use the same arrangement on my F-150--2 bars on topper, 1 bar over driver's door on the cab ... middle/topper bar really is unnecessary, but provides an additional "safety" lash point. I have "load stops" on my Thule bars rather than gunwale brackets. In addition to that, I use ratchet lines (2) fore and aft on each canoe transported ... they seem to help when inside the "wind cone" of a semi when traveling on the interstate. I also have a drive that is well over 20 hours to the Ely area.

I added "channel" mounts to the topper. That way I have infinite adjustment options when I'm carrying a load. (Towers slide inside the channels.)

dd

Pictures of my Tacoma loaded, I too use tracks on the cap so that the towers can be adjusted for different loads. Sometimes on non canoe trips to the ADK, we put a short fat turtle above the cap to store all our back packs, people in the truck and dogs in the bed.





Barry

quote butthead: " Yakima Gutter Rail mounts on the cap, Q Clip mounts on truck cab. I have heard comments about twisting between cap and cab but used this setup for many, 15+ years, without encountering a problem. Short haul around town used just the cap bars.

butthead"

I have the same setup with Yakima racks and super happy that I got that third clamp on rack for the truck up front. It is so much more secure than having the tiedowns just 6 feet apart. Had friend who had bars close together and also no front tiedown. The wind force caught the front end of the canoe and twisted the thule bar right off of the vechile a SUV. Worth the investment for carrier you will have forever,also it makes sure you have a canoe forever.

Note: last year we had a Discussion on this same topic. Someone should be able to retrieve that.

put yak racks on fg topper as far apart as you can and then put this on cab and cheat canoes a little towards the front. Tie down well to front hood straps.

Thanks everyone for the replies and pictures. I would prefer not to have a crossbar over the cab, but it seems it may be necessary with the crew cab. I have used a rack system with a crossbar over the cab in the past and found it less than ideal with the bar sticking out over the door(s). I do use and agree gunwale brackets or load stops work well for securing the load. It seems installing a track (on the cap and even cab) does provide more options than using artificial rain gutters mounted in a specific place. Anyone else? or any further comments? Thanks

Get something custom made? If I had a topper I would just build a rack out of aluminum and have it overhang the roof from the topper, if it were robust enough it wouldn't need to be supported but would help keep the boats safe by adding a more forward strapping location.


I too am trying to figure out what to do for my new truck, no Topper and I'd like to get a rolling tonneau cover so I cant use any of the bed rail mounted racks.. as of right now it looks like I'll have to use the receiver hitch to add a cross bar and maybe use a single Thule bar in front on the Cab.

"I have used a rack system with a crossbar over the cab in the past and found it less than ideal with the bar sticking out over the door(s)."

Use shorter a crossbar over the cab.

butthead

I do it with mine.....just cheat the canoes a little toward the front.
If I recall, your topper should be about 10 inches shorter. Not sure if that will make a big difference or not.....it might.

Dodge Ram 1500 Quad cab 6' box with Yakama Gutter Racks.
Carried 2 canoes from Mpls to Ohio and back. 3 canoes to the BWCA and back. No rack on the cab. Always use bow lines with Tandem Canoes.
Used to go as many as 4 canoes on the Yakama racks stacked two high on a Tacoma and an old Tercel.

quote DanCooke: "
Used to go as many as 4 canoes on the Yakama racks stacked two high on a Tacoma and an old Tercel."

Sounds crazy, got pics!?

Made this cab rack from this package from Spring Creek. Had to make extensions to raise it high enough for the tall topper.
I made a slide out loading bar for the back. All for less than $100.

I was also going to suggest looking at spring creek. I use their hitch rack along with one suction cup rack and it works great.

quote Ragged: "Get something custom made? If I had a topper I would just build a rack out of aluminum and have it overhang the roof from the topper, if it were robust enough it wouldn't need to be supported but would help keep the boats safe by adding a more forward strapping location.



I too am trying to figure out what to do for my new truck, no Topper and I'd like to get a rolling tonneau cover so I cant use any of the bed rail mounted racks.. as of right now it looks like I'll have to use the receiver hitch to add a cross bar and maybe use a single Thule bar in front on the Cab. "

This worked for me. Made it wide enough so I still can use the tailgate.

Thanks for all the replies and pictures. I ended up using the same rain gutter foot packs that I had and had them mounted on the top of the cap. It worked out well with just enough clearance not to hit the cab roof. At least with the SR.

I'm a bit late but,

2004 Chev excab, 8ft box. Thule Racks

I 1st tried just the racks on the topper, but the cab is too long and the bow would hit the cab.

I had to get a rain gutter type tower and put it on the cab to hold the ft of the canoe off the cab.

To make this work, I also had to move the rear rack on the topper forward about 1 ft.

I recently hauled a 15 ft canoe home and it just barely fit, just a fraction of an inch clearance front and back.

Dan