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Best way to carry 16' canoe on a Corolla.
I'm about to trade in my pickup truck for a Toyota Corolla. What would be the best/easist way to transport my 16' canoe? I want to be able to load it myself. I was thinking about some good quality racks, like Yakima, and then use some good straps thru the windows so I don't have to worry about the rack coming off. Also how hard is it to remove the racks? Should I just leave them on? |
Paul Tomblin wrote: Yakima and Thule both make good racks that work with the Corolla. I bought one for my 1992 Corolla, and had to buy new towers for my 2002 Corolla because the '92 had rain gutters and the '02 doesn't. You don't have to run the straps through the windows, just tie the canoe to the rack - it's on pretty sturdily. I noticed that Yakima sells these L shaped things called gunwale brackets that go on the rack to keep the canoe from sliding from side to side. Are they any good? It seems to me it would make it harder to get the canoe on top of the car since you would have to guide it thru those brackets. Thanks for the info! |
wrote in message oups.com... I'm about to trade in my pickup truck for a Toyota Corolla. What would be the best/easist way to transport my 16' canoe? I want to be able to load it myself. I was thinking about some good quality racks, like Yakima, and then use some good straps thru the windows so I don't have to worry about the rack coming off. Also how hard is it to remove the racks? Should I just leave them on? Ulp, your post shows a fatal flaw in your thinking!! If you secure the canoe correctly, the lines over the bottom are NOT the ones that will hold it on! The best way to secure a boat on a car is as follows: 1) Place the boat on the roof racks. Be sure, for aerodynamics, that the canoe is centered over the wheels, not over the hood. That means the front of the canoe sticks a few feet past the front bumper, the back sticks a few feet past the back bumper, and the roof is probably NOT in the center of the canoe. Most likely, the front roof rack is right at the center of the canoe, and the back roof rack is way off at the end of the canoe. 2) Slide the canoe back about a foot. In some cases, in cars with long hoods, the canoe will not sit on the roofracks at this point and needs to be slid back a little to balance. Be CERTAIN, however, that the ends of the canoe still protrude beyond the ends of the car, front and rear. 3) Tie a line from the front of the canoe down to the front bumper. For the best rig, tie a line from the bow of the canoe out to the ends of the bumper, making a triangle with the vertex on the canoe. Otherwise, a single line from the canoe to the license plate is okay, but not as good. **This line should be hauled tight enough to lift the stern of the canoe up off the back roof rack about 6 inches.** 4) Go around back and tie a line from the back of the canoe down to the center of the rear bumper. Haul down on this line. This should pull the canoe back down onto the rear roof rack, and provide enough downward force to 'lock it down' onto the roof racks, and 'lock down' the roof racks onto the roof of your car. 5) Be EXTRA certain that the two end lines are not pulling in the same direction; what I mean is that, if the canoe is longer than your car (which is probably is), that the ends of the canoe still extend beyond the car. Be sure that both tie down lines aren't trying to pull the canoe forwards. If so, it will slide forwards and the lines will be slack. The lines should be both pulling down and in. This is a common mistake, and people are baffled why their lines keep coming loose. 6) Now, you are practically done. Your midline straps are only to keep the canoe from slipping sideways on the roof racks. As such, they only have to loop over the boat and secure on the roofracks. The fact that you asked if you ought to run them through the windows shows that you weren't sure which lines secure your boat. Some folks don't even use midline straps; a buddy of mine just has little bumpers he uses to keep the boat from moving sideways. If you try to tie on a canoe without end lines, you run the risk of the boat 'twisting' on the roof and coming right off, regardless of how hard you haul down on the midlines. No matter what you hear from other people, trust me on this, USE END LINES! --riverman |
riverman wrote: 6) Now, you are practically done. Your midline straps are only to keep the canoe from slipping sideways on the roof racks. As such, they only have to loop over the boat and secure on the roofracks. The fact that you asked if you ought to run them through the windows shows that you weren't sure which lines secure your boat. Some folks don't even use midline straps; a buddy of mine just has little bumpers he uses to keep the boat from moving sideways. If you try to tie on a canoe without end lines, you run the risk of the boat 'twisting' on the roof and coming right off, regardless of how hard you haul down on the midlines. No matter what you hear from other people, trust me on this, USE END LINES! That's an interesting theory. I've always tried to put the bow behind the front of the car, that way the wind will actually tighten the line running from the bow to the front of the car. I see your point though. I'll have to think about this. |
In a previous article, said:
I noticed that Yakima sells these L shaped things called gunwale brackets that go on the rack to keep the canoe from sliding from side to side. Are they any good? It seems to me it would make it harder to get the canoe on top of the car since you would have to guide it thru those brackets. Yes, that's what I have. They're only an inch or so high, so it's easy to lift it over. You can losen them without tools, so you could open them up some before you put your canoe up and then push them in tight, if you need to, but I never have. I rarely tie down the front and rear unless I'm going to be driving it for hours - between the gunwale brackets and tying the canoe to the rack bars, it's rock solid. -- Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/ It seems that we were audited recently, and the auditors found a certain 'f' word in the comments of a configuration file, and deemed that this is a 'security risk'. -- Paul Fenwick |
wrote in message oups.com... riverman wrote: 6) Now, you are practically done. Your midline straps are only to keep the canoe from slipping sideways on the roof racks. As such, they only have to loop over the boat and secure on the roofracks. The fact that you asked if you ought to run them through the windows shows that you weren't sure which lines secure your boat. Some folks don't even use midline straps; a buddy of mine just has little bumpers he uses to keep the boat from moving sideways. If you try to tie on a canoe without end lines, you run the risk of the boat 'twisting' on the roof and coming right off, regardless of how hard you haul down on the midlines. No matter what you hear from other people, trust me on this, USE END LINES! That's an interesting theory. I've always tried to put the bow behind the front of the car, that way the wind will actually tighten the line running from the bow to the front of the car. I see your point though. I'll have to think about this. Its more than a theory. I've lashed a LOT of canoes onto roofs, and this method has proven to be bombproof. I've also noticed that the wind has a much smaller effect than braking; things lashed on roofs tend to work themselves forward instead of backwards. But try some ideas out for yourself and let us know what you discover. --riverman |
On 11-Jan-2005, "riverman" wrote:
Be sure, for aerodynamics, that the canoe is centered over the wheels, not over the hood. I'm trying to figure out why this should be so. **This line should be hauled tight enough to lift the stern of the canoe up off the back roof rack about 6 inches.** 4) Go around back and tie a line from the back of the canoe down to the center of the rear bumper. Haul down on this line. This should pull the canoe back down onto the rear roof rack, and provide enough downward force to 'lock it down' onto the roof racks, and 'lock down' the roof racks onto the roof of your car. The results of this arbitrary 6" lift will be highly dependent on the amount of stretch in the line, on the distance between the rack crossbars and on the type of canoe you're tying down. Stiff lines on a light canoe mounted on closely spaced crossbars could break the hull while soft lines on a WW canoe with widely spaced bars may have little effect. Mike |
"Michael Daly" wrote in message ... On 11-Jan-2005, "riverman" wrote: Be sure, for aerodynamics, that the canoe is centered over the wheels, not over the hood. I'm trying to figure out why this should be so. Hi Mike. When the car is going straight with a direct headwind, it *is* irrelevant. But having the boat far to the rear, as many people tend to do instinctively when they center it over the cockpit of the car, gives you a 'sway' if you have a sidewind, or if you get a blast from a passing tractor-trailer. If the canoe is centered, you only get a lean. It also distributes the weight evenly on the car: otherwise you ride like you have a loaded rear end. **This line should be hauled tight enough to lift the stern of the canoe up off the back roof rack about 6 inches.** 4) Go around back and tie a line from the back of the canoe down to the center of the rear bumper. Haul down on this line. This should pull the canoe back down onto the rear roof rack, and provide enough downward force to 'lock it down' onto the roof racks, and 'lock down' the roof racks onto the roof of your car. The results of this arbitrary 6" lift will be highly dependent on the amount of stretch in the line, on the distance between the rack crossbars and on the type of canoe you're tying down. Stiff lines on a light canoe mounted on closely spaced crossbars could break the hull while soft lines on a WW canoe with widely spaced bars may have little effect. Yes, you are completely correct. 6" is an approximation of what I used with my boat, but your response shows that you perceive the situation clearly. I should have said 'enough tension to raise the stern of the canoe a small amount, so that when you tie down the stern, it tightens the bow line significantly." --riverman Mike |
If you drive around with the roof rack or anything else on the top of the car you'll use more fuel. I even keep the boat tied low to the roof to reduce drag. My roof rack consists of two pieces of rolled up carpet. In this case the strap actually holds the boat to the car, not to the rack. I would not pull the front of the canoe down 6" and tie it off as described. It might crack or distort some canoes. I'd just make sure it was tied on snug. I use only the straps to drive along residential streets over to the river, 1 mile away, speed limit 35 mph, but tie the ends down when going further and faster. When tying down the ends each is tied with a 12 foot length of 1//4 inch rope. One end is tied to one end of the bumper (actually to the ring under the bumper they used to tie the car down on the boat from Asia where it was made) with a bowline knot, passed up and through the ring on the bow of the boat, then down to the other bumper ring where it is snugged up with a trucker's hitch. Same on the back. When the boat comes off the roof of the car the two lines are tied to the ends as painters. There are photos on my website under "Boats" (Dogskiff, Loonie, Delta). -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned |
Thank you! That is the best explanation I have seen on how/why to tie a boat
down. I have seen some nightmares out on the road. --- Some of them were mine - I have worked it out to more or less what you describe, but it took many tries and stops along the road to fix loose ropes to work out what you have explained well in a few short posts.. Ken "riverman" wrote in message ... "Michael Daly" wrote in message ... On 11-Jan-2005, "riverman" wrote: Be sure, for aerodynamics, that the canoe is centered over the wheels, not over the hood. I'm trying to figure out why this should be so. Hi Mike. When the car is going straight with a direct headwind, it *is* irrelevant. But having the boat far to the rear, as many people tend to do instinctively when they center it over the cockpit of the car, gives you a 'sway' if you have a sidewind, or if you get a blast from a passing tractor-trailer. If the canoe is centered, you only get a lean. It also distributes the weight evenly on the car: otherwise you ride like you have a loaded rear end. **This line should be hauled tight enough to lift the stern of the canoe up off the back roof rack about 6 inches.** 4) Go around back and tie a line from the back of the canoe down to the center of the rear bumper. Haul down on this line. This should pull the canoe back down onto the rear roof rack, and provide enough downward force to 'lock it down' onto the roof racks, and 'lock down' the roof racks onto the roof of your car. The results of this arbitrary 6" lift will be highly dependent on the amount of stretch in the line, on the distance between the rack crossbars and on the type of canoe you're tying down. Stiff lines on a light canoe mounted on closely spaced crossbars could break the hull while soft lines on a WW canoe with widely spaced bars may have little effect. Yes, you are completely correct. 6" is an approximation of what I used with my boat, but your response shows that you perceive the situation clearly. I should have said 'enough tension to raise the stern of the canoe a small amount, so that when you tie down the stern, it tightens the bow line significantly." --riverman Mike |
riverman wrote:
That's an interesting theory. I've always tried to put the bow behind the front of the car, that way the wind will actually tighten the line running from the bow to the front of the car. I see your point though. I'll have to think about this. Its more than a theory. I've lashed a LOT of canoes onto roofs, and this method has proven to be bombproof. I've also noticed that the wind has a much smaller effect than braking; things lashed on roofs tend to work themselves forward instead of backwards. But try some ideas out for yourself and let us know what you discover. I didn't think about braking. That makes sense. I'm sold! I like the fact this method doesn't rely solely on the racks to hold up. That makes me nervous no matter how great the rack is. By the way, slight change of plans. I ended up with a new Nissan Sentra. I'm guessing they are the same as a Corolla, though. Thanks! Chuck. |
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On 11-Jan-2005, "riverman" wrote:
gives you a 'sway' if you have a sidewind Gotcha. It also distributes the weight evenly on the car: otherwise you ride like you have a loaded rear end. Ditto - but in winter with many cars, that's a good thing. 'Course paddling when there's snow and ice is only for us crazy folk. Mike |
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"William R. Watt" wrote in message ... When tying down the ends each is tied with a 12 foot length of 1//4 inch rope. One end is tied to one end of the bumper (actually to the ring under the bumper they used to tie the car down on the boat from Asia where it was made) with a bowline knot, passed up and through the ring on the bow of the boat, then down to the other bumper ring where it is snugged up with a trucker's hitch. I found that, unless I actually tied off at the bow ring of the boat, the boat was free to slide back and forth along the rope. I tie off at the bow ring with a bowline, run the line down to one end of the bumper, through that tie down point, across to the other end, then back up to the bow. --riverman |
riverman wrote: I found that, unless I actually tied off at the bow ring of the boat, the boat was free to slide back and forth along the rope. I tie off at the bow ring with a bowline, run the line down to one end of the bumper, through that tie down point, across to the other end, then back up to the bow. And then when you tie the stern probably the best way is with a trucker's hitch. The coolest knot ever. Be careful though, you can break stuff with a trucker's hitch by tightening it too much. It's like using a pulley. |
wrote in message oups.com... riverman wrote: I found that, unless I actually tied off at the bow ring of the boat, the boat was free to slide back and forth along the rope. I tie off at the bow ring with a bowline, run the line down to one end of the bumper, through that tie down point, across to the other end, then back up to the bow. And then when you tie the stern probably the best way is with a trucker's hitch. The coolest knot ever. Be careful though, you can break stuff with a trucker's hitch by tightening it too much. It's like using a pulley. Correctamundo on all four points. :-) --riverman |
"No Spam" wrote in message news:M5_Ed.9595$eb.6206@trndny01... Thank you! That is the best explanation I have seen on how/why to tie a boat down. I have seen some nightmares out on the road. --- Some of them were mine - I have worked it out to more or less what you describe, but it took many tries and stops along the road to fix loose ropes to work out what you have explained well in a few short posts.. Just for reference, here are a few pics of how NOT to load a canoe on a car. These folks all centered their boats over the cockpit of the car, or centered them over the roofracks. You can see that it moves the boat way to the rear, makes for a very unaerodynamic load, and leaves both endlines running forward; perfect set-up for the canoe coming loose when the driver puts on the brakes. http://www.dawsonfamily.ca/John/notkids.shtml http://www.ericandjoan.com/worldtrip.../auschp10.html http://www.keithv.com/scans/canoe.jpg http://www.mohawkcanoes.com/transport.htm (and this one is even on a site by Mohawk Canoe, explaining how to tie on a canoe!!) http://www.softopper.com/products_rack.html Conversely, here is a pic of a canoe properly centered over the wheelbase of the vehicle. These will ride more stably, not cause a sway if there is a sidewind, and most importantly, the endlines are pulling equally in opposite directions so the boat will not shift around. http://www.sfu.ca/~dlpress/paddling/09_Canoe_Car.JPG --riverman |
I can speak from experience. It was only a three hour cruise... er make
that a three minute transport from shore to storage. I was tired and only tied on with lines over the hull. At first stop, I was horrified to see my kayak launch out over the hood of my van, like a bar of soap coming out of your wet hands. The Overflow luckily is used, plenty of scratches, and 40 ft of sliding on asphalt did not hurt it any. The thought of causing a serious accident did get my attention! However the worst was having to get out and pickup the pieces and put it all back together, with all those other folks pointing their finger, and gauking at me! They had a good laugh! Be sure and use the bow and stern lines, :-() Sheepish me, TnT |
Just and add-on to my previous post, cause it shows my warp!
When I first read this topic, I read it as " How do you get 16 canoes on top of a Corolla." Like " How many shrinks does it take to change a light bulb....." Having had a Corolla in the past, I had a strange vision. Hopefully some of the canoes would nest inside of each other. Then use lots of rope, and look out for low bridges, branches, and DQ shelters, on the way to the putin. But then I wondered how you would get enough folks in a Carolla to paddle 16 canoes, which is a whole nother subject. :-) TnT |
I carried a 16.5 on a 280Z using only good nylon straps and foam bocks,
worked great. Make sure you have a tensioning devise fore and aft and you should have no problems. wrote in message oups.com... I'm about to trade in my pickup truck for a Toyota Corolla. What would be the best/easist way to transport my 16' canoe? I want to be able to load it myself. I was thinking about some good quality racks, like Yakima, and then use some good straps thru the windows so I don't have to worry about the rack coming off. Also how hard is it to remove the racks? Should I just leave them on? --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.834 / Virus Database: 568 - Release Date: 1/14/2005 |
On 17-Jan-2005, "Tinkerntom" wrote:
When I first read this topic, I read it as " How do you get 16 canoes on top of a Corolla." Bill Mason, who was less than enthusiastic about four-wheel drives, had a Corolla at one time. He has a photo of it in "Path of the PAddle' (or "song of..") with five WW canoes on it. That's about 400 lb of canoes! Mike |
bill mason invented a carrier for just such a car. see song of the paddle
wrote in message oups.com... I'm about to trade in my pickup truck for a Toyota Corolla. What would be the best/easist way to transport my 16' canoe? I want to be able to load it myself. I was thinking about some good quality racks, like Yakima, and then use some good straps thru the windows so I don't have to worry about the rack coming off. Also how hard is it to remove the racks? Should I just leave them on? |
I've been carrying kayaks (70# each loaded) and canoes on top of my Camry
for the 5 yrs I've owned it (well over 20,000 trip miles), boats upside down (less noise), with a little shaped micocell foam padding on the Thule crossbars to cushion and prevent abrasion. The thin metal roof has developed a small wavy stress pattern about 10" out from where each rack connects, probably from the high stress of multiple boats at highway speeds above 70 mph. It's hardly noticeable, but would impact the resale of the car to most people. Fore and aft lines are connected to the 2 front and rear under-bumper tow-rings on the car's frame. I've tried 5/16" and 3/8" lines, and the 3/8" are easier to find, lower cost and easier to handle. Each line is about 12.5' and has a snap D-ring on each end for easy on and off attachment to the undercarriage; no flashlight required in the dark. At first, I used nylon line, but in Texas heat, it stretches so much on a long trip, that frequent retying was necessary. Replaced the nylon with braided Dacron line last August, and now there is no retying required. The racks are easy to remove and replace, and I do this often. See you on the water, V- "Tinkerntom" wrote in message oups.com... I can speak from experience. It was only a three hour cruise... er make that a three minute transport from shore to storage. I was tired and only tied on with lines over the hull. At first stop, I was horrified to see my kayak launch out over the hood of my van, like a bar of soap coming out of your wet hands. The Overflow luckily is used, plenty of scratches, and 40 ft of sliding on asphalt did not hurt it any. The thought of causing a serious accident did get my attention! However the worst was having to get out and pickup the pieces and put it all back together, with all those other folks pointing their finger, and gauking at me! They had a good laugh! Be sure and use the bow and stern lines, :-() Sheepish me, TnT |
"VRE" ) writes: ... Each line is about 12.5' and has a snap D-ring on each end for easy on and off attachment to the undercarriage; no flashlight required in the dark. It's a good idea to be able to tie and untie knots with your eyes closed so it can be done in the dark and under water. If you can learn to do it with one hand, so much the better, one hand for the boat and one hand for yourself. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned |
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