C-Forum

I figure I'm not the first to encounter this problem so any suggestions would be appreciated. I recently purchased a tandem rigged Dagger Caption and want to transport it on Thule racks mounted on my truck cap. The problem is because of the boats rocker, the gunnel hits the roof of the cab. I can't use taller towers because of my garage door height. Any thoughts?

A few thoughts, but none of them necessarily easy:
1) go for the higher towers, remove the boat before entering the garage (assuming that is part of the problem... if the rack would hit you need higher garage walls / door;) )
2) move one of the mounts (or better yet add a 3rd to use with that boat) that allows you to keep the same height but not have the boat hit the cap / cab. Last vehicle I used this trick on was an old 4Runner, and I just used the old rain gutter style to add the most forward rack over the cab itself (the other two were on the plastic "cap" the '80's 4Runners had).

The other option, which would work but the world may roll their eyes, is to use kayak carriers, or something similar you make yourself to support the hull without oil canning the boat and transport it in the upright position. Not ideal, but if you have no other option....


Hopefully someone will chime in with a different brilliant thought.

Gunnel brackets or feet that fit on the bars raise the canoe by abouy an inch, and might be enough to help if it's close. I have a rear spoiler on a 4runner that gets in the way for rockered boats but clears when using the brackets/feet.
They also are nice for long canoes at highway speed when windy.

I put quick-n-easy brackets with a 2x4 on the camper shell and yakima racks on the cab. The one on the cab makes some wind noise when empty, but only takes a minute to remove. Get the long bars and gunnel brackets.

Buy a smaller vehicle.

Thanks to all for the ideas. Mike W., I'm thinking your recommendation may be the way to go.

Or get the taller towers and let some air out of your tires. I drove into a parking garage once and hit the "headache bar" ("clearance n feet m inches") with my boat - couldn't back up at that point - let 10 PSI out of my tires and cleared the concrete by 1/2". Drove very slowly and nervously out of there