Hauling Canoe on Fiberglass topper

[Jmnhunter]

i dont have a rack system for my topper, i would like one, but they are spendy, anyone have ideas for a rack? do the foam blocks hold up well?

[Shammy]

I have a 2007 chevrolet z71 that I care about and treat well. I carry a canoe on it with the foam blocks and it sucks down tight and I don't worry at all.

[Jmnhunter]

hey shammy, how do you tie it down? to you run a strap through the bow to your recovery hooks and a strap from your stern to the hitch? how about the middle section, where do you tie that down to?

[hookncook]

I would run a long cinch strap over the top of the canoe attaching to to the truck frame on each side.

[bobbymalone]

I do bow to the hooks, stern to the hitch and a strap over the top. Might be overkill, but it's locked on there good.

I don't want a canoe getting squirrelly while going down the highway.

[hookncook]

no such thing as overkill when transporting kayaks/canoes on rooftop. One of my biggest fears is losing my 'yak and watching it in the rearview mirror slamming into another car at 70 mph..

[TruthWalleyes]

no such thing as overkill when transporting kayaks/canoes on rooftop. One of my biggest fears is losing my 'yak and watching it in the rearview mirror slamming into another car at 70 mph..

+1

Once i've got the canoe tied down, i walk around and shake it and push it as if i'm hitting 70mph winds. If it doesn't move - off i go.

From the front of the canoe i run a ratchet strap to each front corner of the vehicle. The center has a ratchet strap around the middle, going through the cross bar on each side, then through the back door. The center of the canoe shouldn't move an ince side to side. From the rear of the canoe i run a ratched down to the hitch. I use the foam pads. Actually I built a wood bracket for trasporting which eliminated the old problem of having those darn foam blocks fall off while lifting on the vehicle. Also makes for great lifting handles. This rarely takes me more than 2 minutes to tear down and about 5 minutes to get road ready. Expect the first two times you do this to take you longer.