Yes, well, I had thought about attaching a set of steel thimbles to the bumpers fore and aft, and basically building a set of steel-tubing ladder racks that I could cotter-pin into the thimbles when I wanted to haul the canoe.
When I didn't want the racks on the car, I could pull the pins and stuff the racks in the garage.
...when I get a garage...
It's looking like a more permanent kind of rack system is in order; thanks for the input so far, folks.
FlyDrawer,
During my years of canoeing, I've used many carry methods on many vehicles. First was a Plymouth Duster using foam blocks with tie-down lines. Next I had a little Toyota 4DR hatchback that I outfitted with Quick & Easy racks that clamp onto the rain gutters(initially with galvanized pipe crossbars, then custom-cut carpet-topped 2X4 crossbars).
In 1991 I bought a Ford Explorer and went with a Yakima system. I've stayed with that rack system ever since. Now it's on a Toyota Tacoma, and the rear bar is mounted on the back of a fiberglass shell.
Yakima and Thule roof mounts have custom clips that fit inside the concealed rain gutters on the aircraft-style doors you see nowadays. (Anymore, nobody makes vehicles with raised rain gutters, and that's a shame in my opinion.)
When I got the Explorer, the very first thing I did buy the Yakima rack system and install it. That involved pulling down the headliner at the rear hatch and drilling holes through the roof so I could attach a "bolt top loader" -- a plate on which the two rear rack mounts sit.
By stretching the distance between the two rack bars to the maximum extent (from the front door bar aft to the rear bar it measured 7 feet) my canoes were held by their ends, thus stabilized to the greatest degree and they did not yaw when the vehicle was underway. But thif benefit only happens if you put on each crossbar those attachable "gunwale brackets" that you adjust to fit your canoe's gunwales bow and stern.
Once the canoes are on the racks snuggled in between those gunwale brackets, lateral motion is prevented. You secure the boats vertically using cam-lock nylon straps. I prefer NRS 12-ft. straps, but there are other straps equally good. I carry nylon rope tiedown lines as backup.
Since this car you own now is a station wagon, I suggest you hold onto it as long as possible and keep it in good mechanical condition if you can afford to. For a canoeist, no matter which racking system you employ a station wagon is a Godsend because the roof is low enough that a person of normal height can carry a canoe up beside it and set the boat down on top of it with very little difficulty. (Whereas almost all of today's SUVs and pickup trucks have ridiculously tall rooflines that make racking a boat extremely difficult even for tall people.)
Once you and the Missus get to where you want a new ride, bite the bullet and get her something nice. At that point she gets to drive the new car, and the oldie goldie station wagon becomes your Fishmobile. You can then outfit it any way you choose and she has no further complaint, right?
Joe
"Better small than not at all."
Joe...
I'm liking your thinking. In fact, I've already decided to maintain the battlewagon for as long as I can.
Excellent! Another wonderful feature station wagons offer to a fisherman is that you can drop those back seats and sleep inside the car fully stretched out. An old station wagon like yours, because it is a longer vehicle to start with, can be outfitted not only with racks up top but with various amenities and storage compartments in the rear compartment and become a Fishmobile Deluxe.
As a canoeist you are very lucky to own a station wagon in today's Mt. Everest-tall roofline world.
Another piece of advice if you don't mind: When you put a rack system on your wagon, do yourself and your friends a favor by using crossbars that are AT LEAST 66" long. The 72" crossbars might be best for you, though, especially if you and your friends own the wider tandem (2-seat) canoes.
My crossbars are 66's, but that's because my friends and I are primarily solo canoeists and solo boats are narrower than tandems. Still, it's no problem for me to carry my solo plus someone else's tandem side-by-side on my 66's.
Especially if you are a stream fisherman and enjoy doing downriver trips with a partner, both of you absolutely MUST have racks wide enough to carry two canoes. That way you can run your own shuttle without having to pay an outfitter lots of money just to drive your car back down to the takeout point.
There is nothing more irritating than to meet up with someone for a river trip only to discover that yes, they do have roof racks but their rack setup allows only ONE CANOE (theirs) to be carried. That forces you to do a time-consuming double turnaround shuttle, and today's gas prices make that a pain in the wallet.
Joe
"Better small than not at all."
Has anyone tried the Cabela's canoe aide. You're supposed to hook it up to the trailer hitch and one man can swivel it around the top of the vehicle and tie it sown??..Thinking about getting one!
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The best time to go fishing is when it's raining and when it's not
The Best time to fishing is when it's raining and when it's not
I have a Yakima roof rack on my car. I can remove the cross bars when I don't need them, but the biggest plus is that the front cross bar has a telescoping piece inside of it. When I want to load my canoe, I pull this telescoping piece out, put the front end of the canoe on that (the canoe is now sitting with one end in the air, the other end on the ground). Then I walk to the back of the canoe, lift it up on the back cross bar (canoe is now at roof rack level), then walk back to the front and slide the front end of the canoe over the car to where it should sit for transport, push the telescoping piece back into the cross bar, tie the canoe down and I'm off! I love the fact that I can load and unload the canoe easily by myself.
Spek,
That telescoping front bar sounds really cool. It would certainly make it lots easier for short-to-normal height people to rack their boat on a tall roofline vehicle like today's SUVs and pickups. Is this a new product by Yakima? I have two friends who would benefit from having such a crossbar.
Joe
"Better small than not at all."
Joe -
This is not a new product by Yakima, I bought mine two years ago. I purchased it at a Paddlesports Expo and they had them on hand - it wasn't a special order item. I tried to find it on their website (www.yakima.com) but couldn't find it anywhere. There was, however, a "contact us" option. You may want to e-mail them and ask about it. You can also request a catalog on line. The whole package wasn't cheap, but worth every penny to me since I can load and unload my canoe without any help and don't have to limit my boat use to when I can get a buddy to go along.
I have a old set of Sears Robuck roof racks that I got at a tag sale
One of the best 5 bucks I ever spent.
On or off in minutes.
Very solid
I don't think you can get something like that new anymore
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"The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year"
Mark Twain
The simpler the outfit, the more skill it takes to manage it, and the more pleasure one gets in his achievements.
--- Horace Kephart
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