martin2007 wrote:
I've always driven previously-owned compact cars.
My present vehicle, a Mazda 3, needs to be replaced soon, and I'm thinking of replacing it with a used 4x4 pickup truck. I do lots of solo-ing, so I have to be totally self-sufficient with loading and unloading my boats. And of course I'm not getting younger. For those of you who drive pickups and paddle solo a lot, how do you set the vehicle up for easy on-and-off canoe-carrying? Would having a topper on the pickup be much of a factor in setting up a good carrying system? Input would be appreciated.
Martin, I have driven small pickups as canoe toters and travelling vehicles since 1984; a Toyota Hi-Lux longbed, mid-90’s Extra Cab, currently a 2wd 2013 Toyota Extra Cab. All have had caps, and racks wide enough to haul two canoes side by side.
The current truck has a Leer cap with factory posts that accept Thule towers and bars.
Leer uses Thule, ARE brand caps use Yakima racks. I was able to reuse the same towers, crossbars (gunwale stops/kayak cradles/etc) from an old CR-V, so if you have current racks or rack parts you can repurpose the cap manufacturer matters. Leer and Thule are like Honda Civic/Toyota Corolla, each makes a half dozen different nearly identical cap styles.
With 78” long crossbars two canoes fit easily on the Taco. Ground level to the top of crossbar is about 69”. I load my canoes from the back like a lot of folks, sliding them on the rear crossbar. A 4x4 will be X-amount taller, but sliding canoes on from the rear crossbar no harder. Belly lines or straps may need a step ladder with a 4X4; I can just barely reach the belly lines on my 2WD to tie a trucker’s hitch. YYMV
Cap height is an issue worth investigating, especially with an Extra cab (worse with a king cab) roof line, and a lot of small trucks are now available only in extra cab. Leer and ARE both make cap models flush with the cab roof, mid-rise caps, and high-rise caps. With a cab height cap racking a canoe with any sheerline rise may result in the canoe resting on the cab roof, or if extended past the windshield scraping the cab roof while being slid into place.
The mid-rise cap on the Toyota provides enough cab clearance to easily slid any of our canoes on and off, and the rear crossbar is close enough to the back of the cap to allow resting the canoe / while I walk around to the end on the ground and slide it in place. That rear crossbar location is essentially the same on all three different height caps.
The location of the front crossbar varies considerably from low rise to mid rise to high rise. Because of the different cap roofline shapes the front crossbar on cab-height cap is the furthest forward, giving it the longest crossbar spread, about 5 feet apart (on a small truck 6 foot bed).
The rack spread on my mid-rise Leer is 45 inches apart, which is sufficient. The rack spread on a high rise cap is shorter still and seemed unreasonably short for a 6 foot long cap.
Before buying the cap, to verify the cap height required, I put sawhorses in the empty truck bed and foam blocks on the cab roof, and racked a few different canoes to check the top-of-crossbar elevation needed while sliding canoes on and off. I know folks with cab height caps who have difficulties with some canoes. The mid rise give me enough head room to sit up in the back and read before bedtime.
Beyond boat toting I sleep in the truck bed while travelling to paddle, and on car camping trips. The simplicity of truck camping, travelling with a full bedroom and spacious back porch, everything set up dry and protected and ready to climb in, is incredibly convenient.
P5100019 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
The tarp is sun reflective for summer/desert use, and allows me to keep the cap windows open in the rain and back porch it, getting in and out dry and unshod. Shoes go in the hanging mini-hammock.
(BTW, climbing in and out of the truck bed with old man knees is made far more pleasant with some exercise foam padding glued to the tailgate.)
I lived in the back of the ’84 Hi-lux for 18 months and after three trucks set up as live-aboards I have my needs and wants dialed in.
Fully screened for air flow, carpeted side shelving for storage, including an 4’ open front shelf on one side and 6’ long locking box for paddles, sails and shotgun on the other.
Three inch thick foam pad, full blackout curtained windows, fully insulated truck bed and walls, tailgate and cap door weather stripped light-tight dust and bug proof, blue barrel cradle, nightstand at the head of the bed with reading light and fan and dozens of DIY tie down points inside the bed to hold gear in place on washboard or twisty mountain roads. Ice chest and 5 gallon water carboy accessible at the tailgate end.
Being able to bed down under the cap at a moment’s notice is a huge boon when travelling. On a multi-day drive being able to simply climb out of the aptly named bed in the morning and start making miles really helps. No gear to get out, set up, take down, put back. No wet tent to deal with in the morning
I have a trip coming up that is reachable 9 hours to the put in. Instead of leaving at 4am to get there by 1pm and hurriedly beat feet in to camp before it gets dark, I’m leaving well after rush hour the day before, driving somewhere close, and sleeping in the truck so I can be at the launch in the early morning windcalm. Even if motels were free I would still detest them.
I am convinced that a truck with a cap can be the ultimate canoeist vehicle. I was convinced of that in 1984, and sleeping in the plushy outfitted bed of the truck is as comfortable as home. But more convenient, everything I want is within arm’s reach.
Lots of truck and cap discussion here. Sorry some of the photos are blurry. freaking Photobucket strikes again.
http://www.canoetripping.net/forums/for ... ping-truck