I have read a few threads on canoe tiedowns and still do not have a highly secure method for ensuring the boat does not fly off the roof. I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee 2004 with factory installed roof rack and crossbars. I do not have a hitch behind. I want to tie down the canoe at the bow and stern - I do not want to take a change with just the roof rack. The bumpers are part of the body with no gap, so tying the rope around the bumper is not possible. In the front, I do not wish to tie to the radiator, or the hood latch because these are not sturdy enough. In the back, I do not see any suitable anchor.
Where can the rope be tied to the front and back of the Jeep? Any simple bolts or such which can be purchased to serve as anchor points? Any other ideas?
I bought a cheap kit that came with 4 foam blocks and ropes and hooks for a canoe.
The hooks are about 1" wide and look something like a piece of angle iron. These hooks grab the bumper's edge well. They also grab the gutter or the bottom edge of my hard top well.
On my last trip I used the metal S hook from a rubber bungie cord to hook into the rear frame rail drain holes to have two ropes coming up to the tail of the canoe. I rapped the rope under the bumper to the frame on each side.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
For the front, make up two sturdy nylon straps, about 6" long, each with a grommet eye on one end and a loop on the other. Open your hood and look for the foremost fender bolt on each side. Use these bolts to attach the grommet end of each strap. Loop-ends of the straps are run up between hood and quater panel when it's time to tie down.
For the rear, get two small stainless steel ubolts from the hardware store and bolt them through the bumper with a suitable backing plate.
Install Yakima crossbars, preferably using the ultra-stout gutter mounts, and buy two pairs of Yakima Gunwale Brackets:
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They cradle the gunwales tightly and prevent your canoe from shifting forwards or backwards. The are also teriffic for long loads like lumber. To load your canoe, loosen and shift one rear gunwale mount outboard to free up the canoe and then slide the canoe off the roof to the rear. To load you just slide the canoe forward until it is stopped by the front mounts, then reposition the rear one. If the canoe is very light or you are very strong you can elmiminate to mount shifting step, but it's a little trickier getting the boat positioned.
With the Yakima brackets and two stout ratchet straps across the bottom of the boat you can get away with only a bow rope to keep the canoe from launching upwards at highway speeds. The bow rope is _very_ important - I cringe when I see someone carrying a canoe propped up in the back of their pickup with a little 1/4 nylon rope holding it down to the side mirrors....
These are way cool - could you mount a pair in the front bumper or is it totally flimsy plastic? I suspect access to the nuts would be a big problem.
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OTH I like Steve's suggestion for 2 short nylon straps bolted inside the engine compartment. Whatever you come up with, it's important that the rope(s) don't chafe the paint.
What kind of canoe? I had a We-no-nah Jensen 18 for a few years. I never had it fly off the roof ;)
John
John Davies TLCA 14732
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'96 Lexus LX450 '00 Audi A4 1.8T quattro Spokane WA USA
Mike Romain: I would not trust hooks on a long haul because the canoe can move or settle causing the hook to come off.
Steve: Grommets reduce the rope strengths significantly.
John Davies: Replacing the factory installed roof racks with Yakima roof racks in expensive. Moreover, these racks cause leaks near the gunwale brackets, and, aesthetically, these racks do not look as streamlined as the factory racks. I had Yakima racks for my (now-disposed) Ford Taurus - I still used rope to tiedown the canoe fore and aft with the radiator and such. John, I use club canoes belonging to the Appalachian Mountain Club in New Jersey/New York, though I plan to buy my own canoe.
I am going to try mounting bolts at judicious locations in the front and back.
Just FYI, I carried a canoe for 1000 miles on top of my CJ7 with the foam blocks and hooks and it was thunderhead after thunderhead after thunderhead. We had to pull over several times because the wipers could not clear the windows fast enough, heck everyone had to stop, not just us and had to wait for many blown down trees to be moved during this trip. It was 2 days of insane driving.
The canoe never budged. Actually I was even surprised at that...
That said, permanent anchor bolts aren't a bad idea.
The factory racks on most new vehicles have very low load ratings - around 125 pounds or so, and are often installed with small sheet metal screws or pop rivets. The crossbars are very flexy due to their aluminum construction and aero profile. I don't know what your rack will carry, but consider the wind loads from your canoe. Tying down front and rear certainly helps enormously, but you still face severe torquing while driving in high crosswinds and when passing big trucks. I personally would never trust a factory rack for a boat or other expensive toy like a (good) bike.
A new Yakima system is costly, but you can buy them second hand at sport rack stores and used sporting goods stores like Play It Again Sports. My local PIAS store has about 6 various Yakima racks hanging on the wall at reasonable cost. Compare the initial rack cost to the potential cost and aggravation of repairing damage to your equipment or vehicle if your flimsy factory rack fails.
Where did you get this info about leaks? I have never heard of that before. Did you mean to say they cause leaks at the rain gutter towers? I don't see how they could cause leaks at the canoe gunwale brackets ;(
I have used Yakima gutter mount racks for about 25 years on a variety of vehicles and never had a problem. OTH, my '84 Suburban had teeny weeny rain gutters attached with #6 sheet metal screws - that would have been a leaky disaster. On that truck I used the 6 inch accessory bolt-on rails further back on the roof and used the same type of rack towers.
Looks should always be a secondary consideration to function when considering a load carrying system. The gutter mount racks can be unlocked and lifted off in about 2 minutes without affecting the fit. Hang them on a pair of hooks screwed into the garage wall when they are not in use. This works well even with the (necessary) fairing.
Anyway, each to his own. Good luck and enjoy the canoing.
John
John Davies TLCA 14732
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'96 Lexus LX450 '00 Audi A4 1.8T quattro Spokane WA USA
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