Subaru Crosstrek and XV Forums banner

How do you guys secure your kayak/canoe to your Crosstrek?

50K views 49 replies 30 participants last post by  TRAVISUBARU 
#1 ·
There is nothing in the rear bottom to tie to the end of the kayak. I only see one but it does not look sturdy. Any tips and If you guys post some pictures that would be helpful. Thanks.
 
#8 ·
You should have a tow hook next to your spare tire, use that for a tie down in the rear. Here's a picture of where it should go
View attachment 219466
I get what OP is saying. If you use the tow hook on the rear, what are you using for the front? I used another tow hook for the front on a long trip, but the boat was at an angle and I did not like it. DirkG has a picture, but I'm not sure how it's connected either. Certainly not the hood/bonnet.
 
#10 · (Edited)
loops and hitch.
Without the hitch was loops on the front and one loop on the back secured to the ring of the hatch lock (on the body obviously, not the door, it doesnt ruin the paint or door lip and its plenty secure)
One advantage of the loops is that they are high on the car so with short hulls the ropes wont wrap around bumpers or body.
Any single point that is offcenter is not that helpful as it tries to pull that end towards itself, certain plastic hulls suffer from that, specially if they are in full sun for awhile. It doesnt stop that end from moving towards the single attachment point and thanks to Murphy the crosswinds are never helpful... Still better than nothing though
Seen plenty of canoes oilcanning because the roofrack straps were tightened too much to make up for the ineffective anchoring at the ends (and had to repair a crack in the fiberglass of a canoe because the owner goes gorilla on the ratchet straps: ties the straps then tries the ends and they still wiggle so tigthens the strap more, and so on.... and on a long hull the middle straps arent far enough to stop it from wiggling).

If you carry very often a canoe or kayak(s) then its worth investigating the possibility of adding proper attachment points, including replicating the tow hook attachment on the other side of the bumper using aftermarket universal tow hook receivers, like Rennline stuff for example. Usually they can be welded on and have a bolted end plate added, in your case you wouldnt use it for towing so it could be done with lighter material but then, if it looks like a real tow hook receiver, there will be someone trying to actually use it for towing by mistake, so if u go that route do it properly. In many cases its possible to add simple brackets, specially in the front where with bumpers and grilles there are more options to pass through without modifying too much, and they wont be mistaken for towing points... I used to add them without too many problems in many cars I owned but lately I end placing the loops as last minute job and then they are good enough that I keep procrastinating putting in real attachment points

Ps: if possible try to have the end ropes going in opposite directions: like a V or Λ, that way they will resist movement when the hull tries to move forward or backwards without the roofrack doing all the work. If they are in the same direction // or \\ they are effective only for the movement that puts them in tension but not the other way. Loops work well for that because usually you have 2 or 3 different bolts along the fender to attach to with hood hinges being the closest place to the windshield to attach loops to.
 
#11 ·
Drove 700 miles with mine like this..ZERO issues. most of the time i dont have the basket under the boat and it lays flat on the bars with foam blocks on the bars. I rarely tie down the back at all. I will tie the front down if im driving on the hwy but i love taking back roads so my speeds dont exceed 70-75mph. havent had a problem yet. when i do tie the front down i use my SSD light bar. before that i had hood loops. my boat is 14ft long and i dont have any problems. smaller boats upside down on the roof bars you should be fine.
 

Attachments

#12 · (Edited)
The problem its all good until something happens and then its not good anymore, in between the two can pass 1 day or 10 years. Tiedowns at the ends are there to stop the hull from sliding forward and back (think braking suddenly) and to help the straps on the roofrack securing the boat. They also help in crosswinds, even with shorter boats as there isn't much distance between the bars. Its belt and suspenders but in several cases its needed to have both. Only the roofracks straps arent just insufficient in certain situations, they are bad for the hull if you have to tie them down too much. Thats without mentioning the ones that had the whole roofrack ripping off and flying away tied to the boat (and not crappy brands)...
Two end tiedowns are cheap insurance, if not for the driver for everyone else in the street (in principle I could care less of what other people do, I just dont want other people's stuff on my car)
Why getting into this, not sure the insurance companies wouldnt want their money back from the driver:
[video]http://www.ajc.com/videos/news/kayak-lands-on-i-75-causing-crash/vzBS5/[/video]
And if one would not care about the whole issue of ruining the boat, or damaging other people cars etc there is always the "insecure load" thing: if the poopoo see no end lines on a boat and want to drop responsibility on you they are gonna use that against you, be it because an accident happened or just because who stopped needs a whatever reason to drop a ticket to reach their cough...quota...cough
This was some years back, no end lines visible (granted they could have been attached to loops that got ripped off the deck but pics of the car didnt show them either):
Vehicle Motor vehicle Mode of transport Transport School bus

Tree Asphalt Vehicle
 
#16 ·
Once I hauled a 17' canoe for several hundred miles on on top of the Crosstrek. Front tie point was a vertical support access through the lower bumper trim.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Transport


Rear tie down was the rear hitch which also supported a "canoe loader", an adjustable T-bar that pivots.

Vehicle Motor vehicle Car Transport Subaru


I experienced some brutal winds on that trip, heading from the Los Angeles area through the high desert to the Colorado River. What I didn't have and really needed was some brackets for keeping the canoe from twisting sideways on the crossbars in high crosswinds. I do have some Yakima canoe brackets made for round bars but they wouldn't fit the Thule aero bars I have on the Crosstrek and I'm not sure that Thule makes a comparable product for aero blade type crosss bars.
 
#20 · (Edited)
What I didn't have and really needed was some brackets for keeping the canoe from twisting sideways on the crossbars in high crosswinds.
If, for the bow and stern lines, you have two attachment points each at the car (so both ends have lines that look like a Λ ) the canoe will stay put even in the worse crosswinds. There is a lot of leverage on the brackets at the bars, the lines instead have less difficulties since they tie the ends. (mine is an 18ft cedarstrip and in very bad wind I can see one line tensioning and the other slacking a bit but it stays dead centre on the car)
Try to not wrap the lines around the bumpers, they dont like that, in any car, it tends to pull the plastic bumper up.
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Sport utility vehicle Subaru
 
#28 ·
#23 ·
Resurrecting this post. Just bought a new 2018 Crosstrek to replace an older Outback. To secure my 12’ kayak on the Outback, I used straps connected to the firewall and run on the sides of the hood. The Outback’s hood was steel, and was very heavy....didn’t worry about the force the front kayak tether put on the hood. Drove kayaks from Florida to NC multiple times, and never had an issue.

On my new Crosstrek, the hood is aluminum. I am concerned about using those straps and the force they would put on the lightweight aluminum hood. Has anyone had similar concerns, or worries? Do those Thule hoops work without messing the hood up?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#27 ·
this is what i wild use tomorrow.. i just got my XV couples days ago and going fishing.
i use this system with my JK wrangler for without any problem i hope it will be the same.
2" receiver with Rhinorack T-bar secured with 3x cam straps i hope this help you.
View attachment 279017
Where are you tying the lines at the front?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#31 ·
I'm not sure if it is appropriate to say this here, I guess the person in charge will let me know, but we are selling a new Thule Hullivator Pro 898. Thule Hullivator Pro 898 is designed to hydraulically lift a kayak to the roof of a car. You can look it up here: https://www.thule.com/en-us/us/sport-rack/kayak-roof-racks/thule-hullavator-pro-_-1685448

We are close to seventy years old and have a 75 pound, 14 foot+ Hobie SUP Tandem Kayak. After ten years of using it on our 2007 Toyota Corolla we found the hydraulics were getting weak and sent in a warranty claim on their lifetime warranty. After a couple months we didn't hear from Thule and bought a Malone kayak trailer, which I'm building now, thinking it would be easy to tow the trailer.

We sold the Corolla bought the 2018 Crosstrek four months ago. Oddly enough after a long time we suddenly received a complete, new Hulliavator under Thule warranty claim we made months ago. It is unopened, in the box and we have the documentation from Thule. We would like to sell it for $500. We live in the SF Bay Area. Let me know if you are interested in purchasing it.

Thanks,

Raleigh McLemore

What you should know. I don't know if the Hullivator will fit on Crosstrek crossbars. We had to buy crossbars for our Corolla that were designed for the Hullivator. The reason we filed a claim on the old Hullivator was that it began to weaken in its ability to lift the kayak from knee high to the roof of the car by simply pushing the hydraulic release...we have documentation of this as well.



What you should
 
#34 ·
I have a 2018 premium with eyesight, a CVT and I got the aero cross bars installed. I have seen a lot of good solutions but this is what I did for my canoe. I live in AZ so my trip to the lake involves interstates and going 75 MPH for at least part of the journey. I didn't like the idea of not having it tied down in the front/back and the under the hood/lift gate solutions looked like they would damage something, plus there is plastic trim in the way that I just didn't want to deal with. Using the tow hook crossed my mind but it is off center which I didn't like. Ultimately I bought a cheap front brush guard off of ebay with mounting brackets included and installed a tow hitch in the back. I did modify the brackets in front to get better clearance but overall only a couple of hours worth of work. To tie down on the front to the bar I got steel off road light brackets and modified them to accept quick links. In the back I attached to the receiver and because this is AZ and it's HOT I added extra storage for 2 coolers using Harbor Freight's el cheapo receiver mounted luggage carrier. The pool noodle covers the buckle just in case the strap loosens up so that it doesn't eat the paint.

In total I spent about $400 so certainly not the cheapest solution but I tried to keep it as versatile as possible. High speed was no problem, no vibrations and no slipping. Eyesight seemed to work properly with the straps in front but I disabled it for the trip anyways simply because I didn't need it to make a mistake and direct me off of a cliff. I figured orange straps right in front of the cameras could be misinterpreted as lines on the road. The trek was loaded and still did a great job up mountain roads and down the highway.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Automotive design Sports car

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Automotive tire Automotive design

Vehicle Car Transport Mode of transport Luxury vehicle
 
#38 ·
If you get one of these, don't need a roof rack. The ends stuff inside a center module. And with the modular design can go solo, dual, or even triple. Maybe even four or more, haha...

300396
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top