Fellas,
Been thinkin' on rack trouble. Mine wuz jest fine when my front bumper wuz steel. Now its plastic, so I caint drill no eyebolts in it fer ropes.
Lance 'n hiz son didnt like the eyebolts cuz the ropes would rub the paint on the front of the hood. Sez if I'm gwine ta do it, ta use 3M maskin' tape ta protect the paint.....only 3M.
I done like they sez, but 3-4 months later it wuz mitey hard ta git that 3M tape off. After that I skipped the tape 'n didnt see no serious paint harm. Heck, I'd likely be too old ta paddle before the paint come off.
Anyway, new truck meant new rack. Lance's son-in-law Chris whipped out anuther one, this time he used 3/4" angle iron. I recommend 1". [If ya like I wuz, I figgered this wuz gwine ta be too heavy, but lo 'n behold it wuz liter'n wood.]
I didnt tie the front down last October. I put a truckers hitch in ropes frum front thwart ta back of bed 'n the other way round 'n used my new cinch down straps. The whole rack swayed a bit tho, but it done jest fine.
These racks iz jest like goal posts, cept I put some ole firehose on the 1.5" angle iron that made my Chevy size rack 'n some garden hose on the 3/4" angle iron fer the Toyota size rack. Bedliner has holes with little "pop out" plastic pieces that I figger I lost. Bout 6" frum the bottom of each goal post he'd put a 90 degree angle iron piece that run along the top of the bed....ta make it set still.
The whole thang set real still after he put a big "C" clamp on each of these bracin' pieces. He got the kind that dont rust much. I had ta put a piece a 1x1 wood under the top of the bed (inside the bed) so the C clamp would work rite. If ya dont have a bed line ya need some firehose on the bracin' pieces less ya dont mind scratchin' up the top of yer bed. Tighten 'em down good 'n they gwine ta bend the top of yer bed anyway.
My system, tied down front 'n back, with rubber bunge strap (he drilled a heap a holes in the bottom of the cross bar angle iron) and a front thwart ta rear rope (ta keep it frum sliding forward if I stopped fast) wuz all I needed. No trouble with 80mph 'n truckers. I canoe, two canoes, Yahoos.
On the Chevy I used two ropes frum front of the canoe(s) that went ta two separate eyebolts on each side of the front bumper. Now I'm ponderin' cuz the Toyota hood iz rounded so much the ropes kin slip off down in the wheel. I done that on the Silvermine Road 'n had ta git out 'n tussle with the rope 'n my front wheel in the rain. [Sez some more words the little pardners aint supposed ta hear.]
Lance's son sez he'll fix up a bar that attaches up under the front end 'n sticks out front far enuff so I kin tie a rope up high that wont have ta rub the paint. I figgered I'd look like Ole Elliott Ness lookin' fer a whiskey barn, so I thanked him anyway.
One idea wuz ta buy a pair of them ready made racks that come in sets a two fer car tops. That way I'd only need one angle iron goal post rack in the back of the bed, with a roof top rack in the front. That way the front of the canoe kin go forward further so..............
Hmmmm........my thinkin' train run plum off the track. Sorry.
regards,
bearridge
poster geezer fer oldtimers
