Canoe Setup?

[Razorback_Curtis]

No reason to over-think this one. I'm just using Yakima Lowriders (yakima replaced them with the railgrab) with 48" round bars. The canoe is secured down by webbing straps, with old-fashioned ratchet straps holding the bow and stern to the recovery points.

And that's a Mad River Explorer in Royalex, not a light canoe by any means but haven't had any problems transporting with this method.

<a href="http://s300.photobucket.com/user/Peyto/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20151022_133654_zpsgpugzpiq.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn8/Peyto/Mobile%20Uploads/20151022_133654_zpsgpugzpiq.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20151022_133654_zpsgpugzpiq.jpg"/></a>

Nice set-up. For my Typical haul, I will likely keep it simple to just two straps in the middle then Bow and Stern tie downs, similarly. I like a little extra "backup" support for 3+ hour interstate trips, just gives me a little more comfort for the ride.

have you experienced any issues with the paint on your hood with the ratchet straps?

 

[Peyto]

Nice set-up. For my Typical haul, I will likely keep it simple to just two straps in the middle then Bow and Stern tie downs, similarly. I like a little extra "backup" support for 3+ hour interstate trips, just gives me a little more comfort for the ride.

have you experienced any issues with the paint on your hood with the ratchet straps?

I also usually do have the stern tied down - a little extra security for a couple of bucks and an extra minute of set up time is well worth it.

The straps rest up against the front bumper (don't touch the hood) and while I'm not naive enough to think there is no rub, I try to get them sitting as flat as possible and ratchet them down enough so that any movement is minimized. Haven't seen any paint issues yet, but I won't loose too much sleep over it. I do have 3M on there too so that might make a difference.

As an aside, I absolutely love this thread because I happen to think the 4Runner looks awesome with a canoe on top!

 

[TheRoadNotTaken]

Two questions:

1) Has anyone used the Yakima KeelOver on OEM crossbars?

2) For those of you tying down to the front of the vehicle, what steps, if any, are you taking to mitigate "strap rash"?

 

[the_dude33]

[MENTION=141440]TheRoadNotTaken[/MENTION] - Yakima Keel Over fits very nicely with the OEM crossbars (just went to the garage to check).

The thing that I am curious about is how does 4Runner door / roof geometry compare to a Tacoma. I would like to utilize Yakima towers & Q-Clips to mount a crossbar closer to the front of the roof. Yakima only allows for this set-up on the Tacoma - for the 4Runner they only reference factory roof rails. If anyone has any insight, it would be greatly appreciated.