Decided to post a new thread on the rack I installed on my 2011 Dodge Ram 1500.
I felt as if I was intruding on Duluthians thread. My apologies on that.

I had built a rack out of scrap 2x4's the day before I picked up my last minute canoe purchase. It was hastily built and I wasn't sure it would be stable for long.
I have a truck cap as well and thought about putting a rack on top of that but didn't want to be tied down to having my cap on all summer.

I did some searching and found this ladder rack on Ebay and it even came in white to match my truck.

I installed it in about 30 minutes and then re-installed my tonneau cover only to find that the bed rails were now to narrow to accommodate the cover correctly.

My next step was to remove the ladder rack and cut off the flange that wraps over the edge of the bed rail. Once this was done I re-installed the rack and the rails for the tonneau cover. It worked great. Now I can haul my canoe and keep me gear under cover and out of sight.
The old 2x4 rack I put out behind the shed and now it holds my canoe when not in use.

Ebay Ladder Rack

I had looked at those before I built one. It had never occured to me to cut the flange to make them fit. That cost is less than I have in materials in mine. Is it held on with just lag screws into the rails?

Nice job making that work. And I like the insulation on the racks. That should really help keep the canoe from shifting.

I have a question about how you are tying down the canoe. This is just for me to learn. I can see the security of strapping the canoe to the truck because the connection between the rack and the truck is not critical. But the longer straps might be more prone to shifting around. Could you just strap right to the rack with shorter straps or is the connection of the rack to the truck not strong enough? What do most people with pickup truck racks do?

andym: " Could you just strap right to the rack with shorter straps or is the connection of the rack to the truck not strong enough? What do most people with pickup truck racks do?"

I strap directly to the rack and tie the ends to the truck. Hood loops in front and to the trailer safety chain loops in back

goaljohnbill: "I had looked at those before I built one. It had never occured to me to cut the flange to make them fit. That cost is less than I have in materials in mine. Is it held on with just lag screws into the rails?"

It comes with hardware to mount it to the rails. 8 bolts and nuts. I added lock washers. They are 3/8" dia. bolts and more than strong enough.

andym: "Nice job making that work. And I like the insulation on the racks. That should really help keep the canoe from shifting.


I have a question about how you are tying down the canoe. This is just for me to learn. I can see the security of strapping the canoe to the truck because the connection between the rack and the truck is not critical. But the longer straps might be more prone to shifting around. Could you just strap right to the rack with shorter straps or is the connection of the rack to the truck not strong enough? What do most people with pickup truck racks do?"

I can do either. When I haul with the cover closed I can strap to the rack. If the cover is open I can strap to the bed tie downs.
The rack is not coming of the truck from driving at highway speeds with a canoe on it. I try and position the canoe so it is as close as possible to the roof/windshield of the truck to keep as much air flow as possible going up and over the canoe.

Do you find when the canoe is up there it sucks the tonneau cover up?
I too have the ability to have the tonneau closed with my canoe on top, but I never drive that way, something weird with the suction tries to suck the tonneau up. I have the truxedo lo pro cover, so it's a really nice one that I don't want to risk ruining it.....

My setup

pamonster: "My setup
"

Is that a standard single notch block or a block intended for a canoe nose like that?

With my setup that may actually work better than the DIY bar from canoe creek. I over thought my design and gave my rack 1/2" of forward pitch (higher back than front) with the thought to reduce wind lift. I didnt consider the drop of the bed (and the rocker of my main canoe... a prospector) and over did it. At the best balance point my canoe wants to just barely rub on the top of my cab. A block like that would stop it.





My rack is aluminum and the center bar is removable so that I can put each piece on and off individually which allows me to do it by myself. Its actually much harder to remove and reinstall the cover than the rack

It's just 2 car top canoe blocks (one on each side) crammed as close to the front of the canoe as allowable and when I tie the canoe down to the hood loops it pulls is real snug.

These, more or less....

I wish I had a rack/setup like yours, I'm just not ambitious enough to tackle a DIY yet and thought I was getting sneaky with using just the hitch attached rooftop carrier to be able to have a closed tonneau. But with the unforeseen suction messing that up I may need to reconsider......
Of course what I'm doing works fine with no further investment of money or time so I'll probably just stick with it

I have a Toyota Tundra Crew Cab. I just us Yakima Bars on my roof. Plenty of distance between my bars to carry my Northstar Northwind 17 or NW Solo