Canoe/Kayak transportation question.?

Question

I'm probably the only person who doesn't know this.

I want to buy a kayak or canoe. If I do, what else would I need to buy (racks, mounts or extra gear) to be able to transport the kayak or canoe on my vehicle. I have a small Ford Ranger truck, which is a compact truck. So, I don't suppose it will simply fit in the back of the truck. What do you use to secure it to the truck for safe transport?

Answer 1

If you have a camper shell or cap on the back of the truck, you can get a Yakima or Thule rack that would be bolted to that.  If not, you can get a steel frame like this:

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I...

or you can put a Yakima or Thule rack on the cab, and another section on the back.   There are lots of options out there.  To see what might do the trick, go to the Yakima website, and go thru their "Fit My Car" questionnaire, and see what works:

http://www.yakima.com/Consumer/Step1.asp...

Write down or print out the options, and if you want to save money, start searching online for the parts used.  Your truck is pretty common, which is good - odds are you'll be able to pick up a used rack system for it.

Answer 2

You'll need roof racks and straps.

You should buy the racks from a Ford dealer for two reasons. 1) Your guranteed they'll fit. 2) They are, in Ireland anyway, very good quality.

You'll find straps anywhere on the interweb. Get nice thick ones with good grips. a single 5 meter one yill be plenty but you may prefer to use 2 shorter straps on the boat.

Tying down tips:

-Pas the straps through the boats grab loops. Even if they're not extremely tight the boat can't slip too far if the grab loops catch it.

-Don't rely on just the grips to keep the strap closed. Do a simple knot below it to prevent slipping.

Not too tricky but nice to get right.

Happy paddling.

Answer 3

I'm not 100% on this answer so just so you know, I'm usually pretty right but I'm always thinking into other peoples questions like I know everything!!! WELL THAT KNOWING EVERYTHING, I just know a little about everything, sometimes I play like I know!!! OK!!! GET YOURSELF READY FOR MY INFORMATIVE ANSWER!!! THE THINGS YOU NEED: Life jackets(more for the kayak) OARS!!! Oars are VERY important!!! As far as transporting them, You need racks on the top of your truck or on the back fender. They must have canoe/kayak racks like they have bike racks on the top or back of vehicles!!! I hope this made sense and helped! If not just goto a sporting goods store and they will be able to answer this question with a safe answer!!! So PLEASE, at least call a sporting good store because I am not sure if my advice is right! JUST BE SAFE!!! BUT I do have one really good peice of advice! DO NOT STAND UP IN THE CANOE!!!