For my truck racks, I got some 1" conduit and a bender, and made my own
custom racks. Hard to describe, but a bit of trial and error, and double up
the tubing to fit right into the stake pockets. I had to square off the
ends a bit, with vice-grips. It makes a pretty good friction fit, but
never hurts to tie things down to the frame!

This would work for your "cab" end, and I'll bet you could put something
similar together for the front fenders or bumper - just need to fasten on
some pipe "sockets" and bend your tubing to fit. A triangle set-up would be
plenty stable.

For my tailgate end, I made a lower single-pipe rack, about 6" above the
gate, which is easily removable. Throw it into the bed and forget about it,
it comes in handy as a "hook" for pulling stuff out.

You could even get off-the-shelf hardware to bolt, rather than tie, your
boat to the racks.

Sal's Dad



Looking around on the web, it seems that the standard solution would be to
use a Canoe support, like a tall "T" Shape, that plugs into a 2 inch
trailer hich receiver. That would require me to buy the following: 1.
Front hitch for my truck. 2. "T" canoe support for hitch. 3. Canoe rack
for cab of truck. It all seems very complicated and expensive.

Alternatively, I could weld up my own rack that attaches to the front
bumper or tow hooks, and then either use a conventional roof rack for the
cab, or weld up a special rack for the front of the truck bed.

Anybody have any ideas or other options?

Richard