Canoe on truck w/cap, Thule Tracker II roof rack system: ?s (trailer, bed)

[Be Free]

My hubby ordered the Tracker II system (without fairing, no load stops, 65" bars) installed on our new truck cap. I previously used a canoe trailer and know nothing about the roof rack systems. So if anyone is familiar with the Tracker II, or carries a canoe on top of a fiberglass cap, I'm hoping you can answer some questions for me.

I have less than 1 week before I need to head west (no time to order things online). The cap should be installed on Tuesday or Wednesday and I need to beat feet right after. I'll be on my own for the trip and probably the loading too. I'm a short, but freakishly strong female. I can lift it, but don't know if I can reach it. Might have to back up to the deck and load it from there.


So, here's what I'll have:

2012 4WD F-250SD, 4 dr. extended cab, 8' bed
Leer 100R w/Thule Tracker II system installed
16 foot Royalex canoe. The truck and cap will look similar to the attached picture, but without the wild colors.


So here's my questions:

If I center the canoe on the racks, as the Leer dealer says I should, the canoe will reach roughly from the center of the driver's window and hang over the back of the cap 4 feet - aside from probably looking stupid, is this even safe?

Do you think the canoe will be secure enough without load stops, hanging off the back 4 feet, if I strap it to the rack with ratchet straps and tie the back to the hitch? Or would this put too much pressure on some parts and cause bowing or anything (I don't know if Royalex bows)?

Should I try to find foam blocks and tie it through the windows or something, so the canoe can be carried farther forward and centered over cab and cap (doubt I have time to have any supports installed on the cab)?

Or should I just pull the canoe on the trailer and tell hubby he ordered the wrong rack system (probably not a happy option)?


TIA for any advice you can give.

[WyoNewk]

If I were you I'd contact Thule directly Monday morning. If more parts are needed you could probably have them for a Wednesday installation.

To be legal you might need a red flag on the tail end of the canoe if it extends 4 feet behind the truck.

[Be Free]

Thanks for the reminder, WyoNewk. I know I'll need a flag for NY, at least, and probably other states along the way.

The more I look around online, the more I think the only option would be foam pads for the cab, if I want to move it forward. DH wouldn't want anything drilled into the cab of his new truck, even if I could get an installation on time. But it seems people actually do carry things that far back. Just found this picture online:

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by Be Free

DH wouldn't want anything drilled into the cab of his new truck...

Too bad.

Best rack I ever had was homemade of 1/2" black pipe using big honking base flanges
bolted through the roof. The eye bolts from the inside were real convenient for tie downs
and other good purposes. Inexpensive too.

[Threerun]

You should secure the canoe fore and aft. They have straps which use your bolts under the hood and tie down the watercraft there. Aft straps go to bumper. One or 2 straps mid will be gravy.

[NoJiveMan]

Originally Posted by Threerun

You should secure the canoe fore and aft. They have straps which use your bolts under the hood and tie down the watercraft there. Aft straps go to bumper. One or 2 straps mid will be gravy.

Plus, they make specially designed foam cushions to place onto the outer edges of the canoe to help prevent marking up or damaging the body of the vehicle.

[Be Free]

Well, here she is... looks dangerously close to the marker lights, but I found some good canoe tie-down instructions online and it didn't move forward or backward at all today. I could only find a set of 4 "universal" (fits nothing right) blocks locally, so I didn't put any under the front end. I'll look for some later. Looks kind of weird hanging off that much on the back.

[Fairwinds]

I position my canoe so that the bow is almost even with the front of the truck. I use a Thule rack and foam blocks for the cab roof. I tie down the canoe on the Thule Rack as well as two lines from the bow in a V to the trucks' front undercarriage and two lines (adjustable cargo lines) from the stern to the undercarriage of the truck aft. I wrapped the lines in towels and duck tape at touch points to prevent chaffing the paint on my truck. I check and retighten the lines every couple of hours when driving. I drove 1300 miles with no problem, including crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in high winds. The canoe is heavy and when I'm alone I cantilever it on and off the back of my camper shell. I use a five foot step ladder which stores in the truck bed. It's much easier to load and unload with two people but a woman can do it alone.
The ratcheting tie downs are easy to loosen to access the truck bed under the camper shell. My dogs ride back there so I have to stop every two hours to walk them, it forces me to check my load.

[marsharini]

We have a Thule rack system on the cap of our truck, plus we added an additional rack to the cab of the truck for stability when transporting our 17' canoe. We had tried just using the two on the cap and the foam blocks for the truck cab, but the wind blew them away and it was nothing but trouble after that. We use straps to hold the canoe in place on the very front and rear rack, then we use a rope to attach the thwart of the canoe to the middle rack. The canoe does not move at all when traveling (it's a Kevlar canoe, so it's pretty lightweight).

Here's a picture of our setup: