So, I'm about to go on a trip and we wanted to bring the canoe. My new car doesn't have the side rails to put cross bars on, but after a little digging, I found out that it has built in holes ready for putting on a roof rack. I don't like paying a ton of money for stuff, so my question is: can I not just bolt a couple of 2x4s to the roof using washers to elevate it over the contours of my roof?
The plan in my head so far is to cut two pieces of wood that are a little over 3' long, and drill a hole through at the right spots, and use the holes on my car to bolt those suckers on.
I'm planning on putting the canoe on, then running ratchet straps through the inside of my car, so the canoe itself is strapped to my roof and not the Red Green ass roof rack. The boards are more for support so the canoe doesn't slip around.
Someone let me know if this is a bad idea.
Whatever you decide to do, you MUST tie the bow and stern of the canoe down to the frame of the vehicle. This will prevent wind from lifting the canoe and tearing out whatever you have holding the canoe down in the middle. Run rope from both ends of the canoe down the front/rear of the vehicle, and tie them off somehow to the frame. A (properly mounted!) hitch would work in the rear. Tighten and check the ropes for wear at every stop.
My dad had a set of universal racks for carrying his canoe. It didn't run straps through the occupant compartment, but I was so young I have no idea how it attached to the car. I just remember ropes running down in the front and rear.
I have also seen styrofoam guards that just clipped onto the gunwales of the canoe, and these rested directly on the roof of the car. But this method relied entirely on the bow/stern ropes to hold the canoe in place, so I wouldn't recommend these at high speed.