Carrying a canoe. Rear access and front tie points... Recommendations?? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Carrying a canoe. Rear access and front tie points... Recommendations??

MiWiAu

Active Member
Joined
August 23, 2016
Messages
69
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City, State
Milwaukee
Year, Model & Trim Level
2013 Explorer Sport
I'm looking to purchase a roof rack system that will allow me to carry an 18' Wenonah Champlain canoe. The catch is, I travel with my dog, so I need to be able to open the rear liftgate enough to open her crate door and let her out at rest stops.

Just by eyeballing it, it looks like the rear spoiler will cause clearance issues when opening the liftgate with just about any roof rack system. Does anybody have any suggestions/experience with long roof loads (canoe, kayak, SUP, ladders, lumber, etc), but retaining access through the rear? I'm trying to avoid having to untie and lift the canoe every time I want to open the rear liftgate. One thought was perhaps to purchase a roof basket to sit on the crossbars, then place the canoe on top of that, which could stand it off another 6-8".

Also, what about recommended tie points, particularly from the front? On my older F150, I put some webbing loops between the hood and fender, but the Explorer has a different design that does not look conducive to a webbing loop setup without sustaining paint damage. Have you guys used anything other than the tow loop in the front? Was hoping to have even left/right distribution. I have a tow package, so I can use the receiver for rear tie points.

Thanks!
 






Just keep in mind the weight limit shown in the Manual.
Note: The maximum recommended load is 100 pounds (45 kilograms),
evenly distributed on the crossbars.

FYI, if you ever plan to go to a 2016/17 Explorer that weight drops to 45 pounds if you have the moonroof. 100 pounds without.

Peter
 






Holy moly! Glad I have a 2013! 45lb seems awfully low. :(

My canoe is 55lb, so even after including any racks/baskets, I think I will be well under the 100lb limit.

I saw the load limit in my manual, but thanks for the heads up on the later models! Guess the MoCo doesn't expect people to do much exploring in their, uhh, Explorers. :/
 






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