Hello Folks -
So we purchased our 2013 Outback and have been thoroughly impressed thus far (just shy of 1000 miles). The integrated roof rack system is a nice idea, and works well with our Yakima luggage box. Unfortunately, when we went to try putting our 15 ft Coleman Ram-X canoe on top, we ran into a little problem: the main structural support for the canoe, which is an aluminum beam located in the middle of the canoe, is raised up out of the canoe by about six inches. This meant that, when we put the canoe on top of the car, the main support sat right on top of the middle of the roof of the OB, with only part of the weight of the canoe being supported by the integrated rack.
Has anybody ran into this problem before and come up with a solution? I would prefer to avoid buying an aftermarket rack (although I have a Yakima Rack that I could convert over to the "railgrab" system). I had considered buying those foam pieces for car top canoe hauling sans roof rack, but my past experience with those was that they would scratch the **** out of the roof of the car. Is there any other way to raise up the canoe?
So we purchased our 2013 Outback and have been thoroughly impressed thus far (just shy of 1000 miles). The integrated roof rack system is a nice idea, and works well with our Yakima luggage box. Unfortunately, when we went to try putting our 15 ft Coleman Ram-X canoe on top, we ran into a little problem: the main structural support for the canoe, which is an aluminum beam located in the middle of the canoe, is raised up out of the canoe by about six inches. This meant that, when we put the canoe on top of the car, the main support sat right on top of the middle of the roof of the OB, with only part of the weight of the canoe being supported by the integrated rack.
Has anybody ran into this problem before and come up with a solution? I would prefer to avoid buying an aftermarket rack (although I have a Yakima Rack that I could convert over to the "railgrab" system). I had considered buying those foam pieces for car top canoe hauling sans roof rack, but my past experience with those was that they would scratch the **** out of the roof of the car. Is there any other way to raise up the canoe?