I needed a rack for my old '86 Corolla so I can start using my big Ride135... That boat's too big to fit inside my van, and the van's too tall to make it practical to haul on top. Also the van only gets 13mpg on the highway and the Corolla gets almost 38 ;)
Could've gone the crossbar route but I really wanted higher load capacity and versitility for the types of cargo, and I didn't want to spend more on a rack than I did on the car:rolleyes: I'm also really skiddish since I seriously deformed my first boat's hull on crossbars. The car is actually classified as antique too (and looks kinda cool in a retro way) so I didn't want to just strap the boat on pads and hope not to screw up the roof. Decided to just roll my own.
After alot of figuring and studying, I came up with a bunk setup since the Ride is something of a tri-hull design. I also figured the bunks would provide better lateral support and make it easy to load that beast. Here's what I came up with...
The rack and bunks. I dipped the down-supports and clamps in tool-dip to keep them tight. Had to make those large clamps since appearently no-one sells square-bend U-bolts with 1-1/4" widths :confused:
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
With the boat on top. Looks kinda funny since the car is 15.5' long and the boat is 13.75' with the motor mount :rolleyes: It's rock solid strapped down though. It's easy enough to load from the rear without the boat touching the trunk or roof. Also doesn't require tying the bow and stern to the bumpers but I probably will just in case if I take it on the interstate.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Detail of the bunks. The plastic ABS floats atop the 1/2 steel pipe on the insulation, provides a little cushion for the boat. Made the perches out of an old pickup truck leaf spring and found some of the other parts on the side of the road somewhere.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Pictures of building the frame are in my albums but there's not too much to it. Critical opinions would be greatly appreciated!
Could've gone the crossbar route but I really wanted higher load capacity and versitility for the types of cargo, and I didn't want to spend more on a rack than I did on the car:rolleyes: I'm also really skiddish since I seriously deformed my first boat's hull on crossbars. The car is actually classified as antique too (and looks kinda cool in a retro way) so I didn't want to just strap the boat on pads and hope not to screw up the roof. Decided to just roll my own.
After alot of figuring and studying, I came up with a bunk setup since the Ride is something of a tri-hull design. I also figured the bunks would provide better lateral support and make it easy to load that beast. Here's what I came up with...
The rack and bunks. I dipped the down-supports and clamps in tool-dip to keep them tight. Had to make those large clamps since appearently no-one sells square-bend U-bolts with 1-1/4" widths :confused:
With the boat on top. Looks kinda funny since the car is 15.5' long and the boat is 13.75' with the motor mount :rolleyes: It's rock solid strapped down though. It's easy enough to load from the rear without the boat touching the trunk or roof. Also doesn't require tying the bow and stern to the bumpers but I probably will just in case if I take it on the interstate.
Detail of the bunks. The plastic ABS floats atop the 1/2 steel pipe on the insulation, provides a little cushion for the boat. Made the perches out of an old pickup truck leaf spring and found some of the other parts on the side of the road somewhere.
Pictures of building the frame are in my albums but there's not too much to it. Critical opinions would be greatly appreciated!