I was looking at straps for my hood and truck (tailgate really) and was wondering if these really work. As in, are they safe, do they damage the vehicle at all, and do they ever slip?

I was looking at adding some hood straps that I made myself to the hood, if I can find a decent bolt to mount to, but the tailgate does not have a good spot to secure straps so I was looking at using some of these.

Link to Straps

Yes, those straps you linked are often recommended and considered effective. I don't use them because I prefer something permanently mounted to the frame. For the hood I found a steel plate about 1" x 5" and 1/4" thick that happened to have two strategically placed holes: one to bolt the plate to the frame under the hood, and the other a slot to pass a strap through. It has to be thin enough that it doesn't damage your hood.

The strap I use is a simple looped strap about two feet long that comes with the Thule ratchet ropes. I leave the strap permanently hanging out of the hood so I don't have to hunt for it or open the hood to install it each time.

The Thule hood loop strap works too if you don't mind paying $20 for a short strap with a grommet in it (I do).

Depends on how often you canoe, as to whether you want something temporary or permanent.

They certainly work, but I also don’t use them. I like a more permanent way to secure the strap. With the one you pictured you are totally relying on the hood latch not to open during transport.

I like the style where you find a bolt to the frame of the car. Open the hood and you should find a few bolts that are not used. Remove a bolt and install the strap, close the hood. They are permanent so are the trip just flip inside the hood to hide.

To your question as will there be any damage, if any strap is loose it could rub through the paint.

I have a set of those from Thule but will only use in a pinch on someone else's car or something if needed. I have loops bolted to my truck already under the hood and leave them in there until needed and pull out.

They do work though

They work fine for car-topping from the outfitter to the EP. VNO has provided these to us with their rental canoes.

Another option is to just tie some nylon webbing (e.g. common 9/16" tubular, tied with a water knot) to a strut underneath the hood. There was a thread on that some time ago. It's totally secure, and it just flops under the hood when not in use. And it costs about a dollar.

I have the ones with a grommet fastened to bolts in the engine compartment under the hood. If you cant find a bolt in the right spot you can always add one. In the back I have a strap secured to the rack and another strap secured to where your trailer safety chains would go.

Here's another option that is simple, reliable and requires no tools to install. I made some ~ 2 ft. loops out of some climbing webbing I had around. You could use standard webbing, but I find the other more pliable and probably easier on your paint. Make the loops using a fisherman's knot to join the ends - you could user other knots, but this is lower profile. Open your hood, loop around the arm of the hinge, and pass through the open end of the loop, then pull tight. (I'd stay away from tying off to a hood strut.) Extend the loop towards the windshield (I suppose you could go over the fender too) and close the hood. One for each side. Done. Easy on/easy off, no tools and no additional hardware, like grommets. Just tuck them under the hood when not using or remove it.

I find this better than the fender bolt thing because it provides better geometry for tying something down over your hood. The rope goes backward from the canoe end, providing a counter force to a canoe that is trying to slide forward as in when braking. Front of hood or fender mounted ties are in front of the canoe end and only keep the end from lifting and provide no/little forward movement control. With a truck, why wouldn't you use the bed mounted tie down points - unless you have a cap or bed cover. Use the most forward point you have to create a similar geometry as the front tie downs. If you have a bed cover/cap, you could make longer loops, attach to the rearmost bed mounted tie points and just extend them out the sides (or bottom) of the tailgate.

Northwoodsman: "I have the ones with a grommet fastened to bolts in the engine compartment under the hood. "

That's what I use on our SUV. I have the canoe(s) strapped down on my Yakima racks on the roof and a rope holding the bow(s) stable. I don't use a rope on the back. All good. I typically drive to Atikokan and back with nary a wiggle.

I do have a bit of strap that I was going to use under the hood. Just a length folded in half then a hole melted though for a fastener. I was just going to bolt that in place with a large washer.

What I was more concerned about was the tailgate. There is not a good spot in the back to fasten to so I was considering something like these straps, but I don't know if it would cause problems back there.

I have used bolt-on straps under the hood, using the same straps on several different vehicles. Also have a pr of the type you provided a photo of, used when needed. Both have performed well but are used with a Yakima roof rack with gunwale brackets. Some of my trips have been up to 800 miles each way with no problems.

If it's a truck it should have a receiver for hitch.....should have hooks/loops something for safety chains. I just attach a strap around those.

Use them all the time. No issues

How would you use the pictured ones on the back of a truck? Under a hood I get...but in the back of a truck not really. You've got other options back there as mentioned

Northwoodsman: "I have the ones with a grommet fastened to bolts in the engine compartment under the hood. If you cant find a bolt in the right spot you can always add one. In the back I have a strap secured to the rack and another strap secured to where your trailer safety chains would go."

I created a similar system under the hood with my own straps and grommets. The belly straps secure the canoe using my yakima rack bars. The rear is secured with a strap and a rear tow clip under the SUV. Works well.

I use the under hood straps shown by the OP. I don't use straps on the stern. My reasoning is that the hood straps will help to keep the canoe from flying off the car should the straps over the boat fail. On the other hand anything that causes the canoe to come forward is probably going to be caused by a bigger problem than simply braking so it's not worth the bother.

On my truck I just tie through the hitch. Why can’t you do that?

Is there anything under the vehicle in the rear to tie to? Any opening s in the frame? Or other structural parts? I’ve even looped under the vehicle through the spare tire- that should be an option on a truck as well. If this is a truck you could do this.

You mention tailgate but I’m not sure I can see how those things would work for a real tailgate on a truck. If by truck/tailgate you mean you have an suv with a hatch then I would think those things you have would work, but if you have an suv it seems it’s be really hard to position it and keep it in position/ tension on the vertical door. Even on the bottom of the door it seems to me it would slide or wiggle a bit.

Also- some suvs have tiesdowns / anchor points for car seats inside the vehicle in the rear. You could tie to that and close the door on top of that maybe.

But I digress... If it’s a truck Why not just use the hitch?

It's a Chevy Traverse, so I suppose lift gate is would be more accurate. I do not have a hitch and have been considering adding one, just never got around to it. I've tied to the undercarriage in the past, it is just a pain though and deforms the plastic rear bumper which says to me that it is not doing a great job of holding it firmly. I don't need to crank down on it, just keep it from shifting around.

What I am most concerned about here is that the strap might damage the lift gate seal, pull the lift gate enough to break the door seal and be annoying the whole 6 hour ride, or shift to the side and lose tension holding the canoe in place.

Sorry if there was confusion there.

jhb8426: "I use the under hood straps shown by the OP. I don't use straps on the stern. My reasoning is that the hood straps will help to keep the canoe from flying off the car should the straps over the boat fail. On the other hand anything that causes the canoe to come forward is probably going to be caused by a bigger problem than simply braking so it's not worth the bother."

If you know how to attach a bow strap, it only takes a few seconds to attach a stern strap, so why not take that extra security precaution, for the safety of others on the road? Other people's lives are worth the bother.

A1t2o: " I've tied to the undercarriage in the past, it is just a pain though and deforms the plastic rear bumper which says to me that it is not doing a great job of holding it firmly. . . . What I am most concerned about here is that the strap might damage the lift gate seal, pull the lift gate enough to break the door seal and be annoying the whole 6 hour ride, or shift to the side and lose tension holding the canoe in place."

Looking at a photo of your vehicle, I'm not really seeing these problems. To make attachment to the undercarriage easier:

(1) Attach a large carabiner clip (heavy duty about 4" long) to a point on the frame where it's easy to grab without crawling under the vehicle. So at most a few inches in from the bumper. Leave it there permanently.

(2) Attach a short loop strap (maybe a foot long) to the canoe, which will also stay there permanently (so no hunting for it).

(3) Get a long strap with a cam buckle (not ratchet!) and S hooks at each end.

(4) Once the canoe is on the car, it will take literally 5 seconds to add the cam strap. Couldn't be simpler. Your main attachment points are always there; you just need to find your cam strap.

About deforming the bumper: This has not happened on any of my vehicles. The bow and stern straps don't need to be super tight---the two straps over the canoe are what mainly hold the canoe to your rack and those need to be nice and tight (though not enough to deform the canoe, of course. If your bumper is deformed, you may be overtightening the stern strap.

I don't see how the stern strap would even be touching the liftgate or how it could damage the seal. Can you explain more so we can visualize this?

Strap shifting to the side: If you only have one canoe on the roof ideally it's centered on the vehicle. But I carry my kayak on one side of the car to avoid the antenna and have no problems with that placement. You do need to place the strap on one side or the other of the ends of the canoe. I compensate for that by placing alternating sides on the bow and stern straps, so the pressure evens out. In any case, I've never had a strap shift to the side, even with only MODERATE tightening of the strap.

A1t2o: "It's a Chevy Traverse, so I suppose lift gate is would be more accurate. I do not have a hitch and have been considering adding one, just never got around to it. I've tied to the undercarriage in the past, it is just a pain though and deforms the plastic rear bumper which says to me that it is not doing a great job of holding it firmly. I don't need to crank down on it, just keep it from shifting around.


What I am most concerned about here is that the strap might damage the lift gate seal, pull the lift gate enough to break the door seal and be annoying the whole 6 hour ride, or shift to the side and lose tension holding the canoe in place.


Sorry if there was confusion there."

Yep I get that- been there with a deformed bumper before. Former SUV did that but no permanent damage- would always rebound.

IMO I don’t think you could damage those seals going through the hatch with a nylon strap. They’re just round rubbery/foam- all the strap will do is compress it- I If it stays in place that is. Shifting might damage it as it slides but that being said- I’ve done that many time without issue.

Maybe if you can tie on either side of the undercarriage somehow and form a triangle that will lessen the deformation on the plastic bumper as the load is spread?

Do you have any anchors in the rear of the traverse? Can you tie to that, lay the straps flat, then close the hatch? In that scenario most of the force is actually pushing up on the hatch against the hinges at the top and is spread between that upward push and the latch. But regardless even if it’s all on the latch -it’s not near enough force even to pop the latch or damage it.

I know the vehicle is dirty but nearly any bolt/screw will work. This is from the rear hatch/lift gate of my 2006 Freestyle.
The Traverse may look more difficult, I do not have one handy, but the round buttons in the hatch perimeter look like they cover bolts. Attachment to a frame is both unnecessary and near impossible as nearly all modern cars, crossovers, SUV's are unit body and have no frame.

cyclones30, a truck tailgate has several points to add loops to, top down the rubber snubber is screwed in, the latch post could anchor a loop as well as the tailgate support. I use none as the bed has lots of tie-downs. If I used a cap or tonneau cover those would be top of my list.

Quick bonus to preserve paint, a piece of inner tube from a bicycle slipped over the loop.


butthead

I like the inner tube idea. I may add that to the permanent ones on our truck and the tube style ones we use on other vehicles.

On some SUVs that don't have a good tie off point, we do use them in the rear hatch door. Those can be very deep and we sometimes tie another loop of rope onto the webbing to make it reach through.

yes they work just fine but because they're flat, they vibrate madly over 50 mph. I wrapped mine with paracord so they end up round not flat.

@ butthead - +1 more on the innertube tip!

Regarding flat straps vibrating at speed - if they are short loops, that shouldn't be an issue. If they are long enough to produce noticeable vibration, a twist in the strap will eliminate that. Good alternative zski.

I have a Toyota Rav4 with liftgate. I have used those under the bottom of the liftgate for 1000 mile trips, no movement, no damage. I just set them under the door, then close the liftgate, then pull them tight. The tension from the line going to the canoe is enough to hold them in place for the trip.