Yeah I was wondering about rain too!  There's a show up here, Canada's Worst Drivers.  One of the tests is for smooth start & stop.  On the roof of the car is a tank of water that will drench you if you don't stop smoothly.


One buddy has these for putting under his hood when car-topping.  Works nice & easy for him.
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That loaded canoe pic is hilarious, but I'm sure the person who did it thought he/she had come up with an ingenious system wondered why no one else had thought of it

Even if it rode okay, can you imagine what would happen if you hit some heavy rain

Phoenix wrote on Jun 3^rd, 2012 at 4:52pm:

That should be a postcard btw. 

I like the under the hood loops idea but my hood fits to tightly. I did add an eyebolt to the frame using an existing hole to provide extra distance from the muffler.   Don't all vehicles have tow hooks front and back as an integral part of the frame?

I have plastic bumpers so I use climbing runners (webbed nylon loops) to spread the pressure on the bumpers. Spring snap chain links attach the runners to the tow hooks and then it's a trucker's hitch to the canoe. The bumpers will move as I cinch down the canoe but the airbag hasn't deployed, yet.

Can you do ropes on the front only? I have to balance tension front to back but with a two-door, my rack only has a ~30" spread at best.

I strongly agree that you should be able to rock the car without the canoe pivoting or shifting on the rack whatsoever. Do it half-assed and you could kill people which could easily cut your trip short.

Oldie Moldy,
You are right.  Drilling a hole in your bumper for an I-bolt works great.  I have done it on 4 of my vehicles.  I haven't drilled holes in my current vehicle, a Honda Odyssey, because I have a trailer hitch in back and a tow hook in front, plus there is a lot of plastic on the bumper which gets in the way.  But I thought several times that I should drill a hole in the front bumper because it gives such a great tie down point.
Westwood

Wire loop attached under hood ...

And then there's this method, spotted in the parking lot of the French Lake Visitor Centre about 20 years ago...

People, canoes, and cars are so various that it's hard to describe a system that will work for everyone. On the truck I use to carry my canoe I finally broke down and drilled holes in the ends of the bumper and mounted stainless steel eye bolts. That gives me some great tie down points to secure the canoe at the bow and stern. Along with a loop that goes around the belly of the canoe and is secured at each end to the forward shackle of the leaf springs. What ever system you come up with I would suggest that you try it out at home, put the canoe up there and drive around a bit. Let the wind and motion of the car play with your lashings and then pull over and check things over. It's always surprising to see what you thought was a bomb proof system starting to unravel, but it can then be improved with out much strain. When I'm on the road for real I do the same thing at every rest stop, just for insurance.
I have a good old truck that is pretty much dedicated to canoe camping, I wish I knew of a paint shop that specialized in making a truck look like a leprous piece of junk. Something that no one would covet. In fact so bad looking folks would park far away just on the off chance it was catching!
Best Wishes, Rob

I've made the grommet type, but eventually they can break,,,,UV exposure I guess. So replace them every once in a while.
I had one give out again recently. I should have replaced it, since the other side did it earlier,,,duh.
Anyway since I didn't have a grommet tool, I bought a set of the Thule temporary ones $$$ . I notice it can pull on the hood sheet metal. So IMO the grommet type is stronger. Just inspect the strap periodically.

great idea, and you're right, (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) are simple enough to make