Rooftop Boat Transport

[thebrandon]

Hello everyone, I hope the title didn't scare you too much.

I am looking for solutions to carrying a light jon boat on the top of my 4runner. I have the factory roof rack for reference.

The boat in consideration is a Coleman Crawdad. It weights around 130-135 lbs with the mods we have done to it. All accessories and fishing tackle/rods would be carried inside of the truck. The boat is also 12 feet long. I've carried a kayak on top with some gear, but it came out to 100 lbs, and I know people sometimes carry multiple kayaks up there.

For reference, here is a picture of a Coleman Crawdad. This is not the one that we have, but one I stole from the internet.

Would carrying something of this size be possible with the factory roof rack? Or would it be better to carry this with the seats down and sticking out the back?

Has anyone else done this successfully?

So here is what I am working with:
Factory roof rack
135 lb max weight jon boat
12 ft long

 

[KidVermicious]

I've run an 17 foot Grumman canoe on top of both my 4Runners without issue. Your boat is shorter, but wider and a little heavier. My suggestion would be to build a custom rack that bolts to the factory crossbars, with rollers to help slide the boat up and lots of tiedown points for ratchet straps. I would run a bow strap and two belly straps, at a minimum.

Wouldn't it be easier to just build a little trailer for it?

 

[thebrandon]

I've run an 17 foot Grumman canoe on top of both my 4Runners without issue. Your boat is shorter, but wider and a little heavier. My suggestion would be to build a custom rack that bolts to the factory crossbars, with rollers to help slide the boat up and lots of tiedown points for ratchet straps. I would run a bow strap and two belly straps, at a minimum.

Wouldn't it be easier to just build a little trailer for it?

Thanks for the info! Yes a trailer would be easier, but I'm not sure how a trailer would do with some of the places we like to fish. There are some trails we have to go on to get to our spots that I personally wouldn't trust a trailer on.

I would run bow straps to the front tube on my bumper and several belly straps. I even have something I can close in the doors to have it strapped pretty much directly to the truck itself rather than just the rack.

I guess my main concern is, can the rack handle the weight and the force of the wind trying to rip the boat off? I think the stock rails say a max of 165 lbs or something, which covers the weight, but the wind blowing against the boat would be the main concern for me.

 

[Jc12]

i transport my springbok all the time on the roof. You won't be strapping it to the rack so the wind is not a factor. Put some tie downs running from the bow and stern to your tow points on the trucks frame. I always wrapped two belly straps around the boat and tied them to the oh shit handles.

 

[MyHigh]

I am also looking at transporting a boat on the top of my rig, it will most likely be a hobie fisherman. One option I was looking at, othe then a WMW rack is to get some Yakima poles and fit them to the factory rail system, mainly because you can get longer poles to work with.

A cheap way to get some Yakima or Thule, is to go and find them at a salvage yard. Most of the time they are on the truck and no key so the owners say if you can get them off you can have them. What you do is, find out what the 3 digit number is on the keyhole (the round cylinder that is the lock) write down them numbers, go to a locksmith and give it to them and they more then likely will have the program that gives them the key cuts for that particular lock and only cost $20 or so. I've done this twice, when I worked for a locksmith. Then I'd turn around and sell them for $100, it paid for gas usually. I'm sure I don't need to mention it, but use that info wisely. Doing this to a vehicle that is still privately owned is theft, and therefore illegal. Fair game on abandoned salvage yard vehicles though.

I also was thinking of fabricating a hitch mount that basically went to the same level of the racks. Just to have another mounting point that was not the roof of the truck, but rather putting weight on the hitch.

 

[KidVermicious]

If you have the numbers on the Yakima or Thule towers, you can order the keys straight from the manufacturer for a lot less than $20.