Overcab Ladder Rack

[CanoeRacer]

Hello. I'm super excited to have just gotten a '20 Ranger XLT. It's awesome!

Needed some feedback from the experts:

I have a 18'-6" canoe (longer than most, but light weight) and was looking at getting one of those exteneded over the cab ladder racks. That will be the main thing I haul. Also seems like you can get one of those for around $500 vs. some of the Yakima Bed Racks for double the price (I like the extended over the cab peiece for the third tiedown). While I'm sure there is a quality differance, I only need it for this purpose. I won't be taking it on and off (expect for the offseason).

Something like this:

https://www.discountramps.com/truck/racks/p/UPUT-RACK-HD/

My canoe is pretty fragile, so I like through through of having multiple tie downs, plus I'm always nervious of it coming off on the highway. I used to carry the canoe on a car, which wasn't very easy.

Looking through the forum, I couldnt' find any posts on these sytle of racks. Any thoughts, recommondations, etc.

Thanks all!

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[Gims04]

I can't give you much feed back personally but I am also in the market for a bed rack and was looking into the Thule and Yakima racks. I have two 12' kayaks and looking to carry them, my gear, and the family.

Thanks for sharing the link. I will do some research and will post anything I find out.

 

[Deleted member 1634]

I can't give you much feed back personally but I am also in the market for a bed rack and was looking into the Thule and Yakima racks. I have two 12' kayaks and looking to carry them, my gear, and the family.

Thanks for sharing the link. I will do some research and will post anything I find out.

For just kayaks, we had put them on the roof of the cab with Yakima racks. Now that we have a topper, the new plan is to put them on racks on there. But the racks on the cab worked perfectly fine. Our kayaks are both 14'.

 

[Gims04]

Hello. I'm super excited to have just gotten a '20 Ranger XLT. It's awesome!

Needed some feedback from the experts:

I have a 18'-6" canoe (longer than most, but light weight) and was looking at getting one of those exteneded over the cab ladder racks. That will be the main thing I haul. Also seems like you can get one of those for around $500 vs. some of the Yakima Bed Racks for double the price (I like the extended over the cab peiece for the third tiedown). While I'm sure there is a quality differance, I only need it for this purpose. I won't be taking it on and off (expect for the offseason).

Something like this:

https://www.discountramps.com/truck/racks/p/UPUT-RACK-HD/

My canoe is pretty fragile, so I like through through of having multiple tie downs, plus I'm always nervious of it coming off on the highway. I used to carry the canoe on a car, which wasn't very easy.

Looking through the forum, I couldnt' find any posts on these sytle of racks. Any thoughts, recommondations, etc.

Thanks all!

I know this probably doesn't help at all with your canoe and rack dilemma but after doing a bunch of internet searching I ended up with a Yakima system. The Yakima Overhaul HD rack and two kayak holders. It was indeed pricey but hopefully we can get many years of use and abuse out of it.

My reasoning for going with this system was the versatility of it. There are just so many configurations I can use for everything the family and I want to do.

Sorry i couldn't be of more help. I wish you the best of luck with your rack. Also, I would like to see what a light weight 19' canoe looks like if you are willing to share.

 

[CanoeRacer]

Thanks all for your help. I ended up buying one of the those Erikson ladder racks. Only challange now will be putting it up (weighs like 160 lbs). If it works out nice, I will let you know. I like the fact it provides four tie down points over 11 feet.

 

[CanoeRacer]

I ended up returing the ladder rack, the unversial just didn't fit well on the ranger. Just didn't seem stable. I'm going to do what was recommoned above: yakima on the cab and use a goal post on the hitch. Thanks all

 

[ldr01rl]

Universals are unstable because they're a one size fits all. That why I found my own and tweaked it. This photo hasn't been updated yet with the rack cut in length by 8"and the fairing added but I bet you get the jist

 

[Bsenecal]

For just kayaks, we had put them on the roof of the cab with Yakima racks. Now that we have a topper, the new plan is to put them on racks on there. But the racks on the cab worked perfectly fine. Our kayaks are both 14'.

How did you like the roof racks? I have been looking at bed mounted racks but am not a huge fan of the looks. Did you leave these roof racks installed all the time or install them when needed? Thank you.
Brian

 

[Deleted member 1634]

How did you like the roof racks? I have been looking at bed mounted racks but am not a huge fan of the looks. Did you leave these roof racks installed all the time or install them when needed? Thank you.
Brian

They worked well. Carried the load without issue and was sturdy and attached well enough for me to grab a rack and rock the whole truck more than wind ever would. We've actually upgraded to a topper (for added internal bed storage reasons) since that posting and have moved the racks to the top of that. And have also gotten lay-flat mounts from my father-in-law.

But for either of the mounting locations, we only have them on when needed. They add too much wind resistance, lowering the mileage by a couple mpg, and noise (though you can't hear them that much on the topper) since they whistle quite a bit above 35-40mph. And since they're really not that hard to put on and off. All-in-all, definitely would recommend this sort of setup.

 

[ldr01rl]

I cut 8" off the rack and added a piece of sheet metal to cut wind noise. Works better.

 

[Bsenecal]

They worked well. Carried the load without issue and was sturdy and attached well enough for me to grab a rack and rock the whole truck more than wind ever would. We've actually upgraded to a topper (for added internal bed storage reasons) since that posting and have moved the racks to the top of that. And have also gotten lay-flat mounts from my father-in-law.

But for either of the mounting locations, we only have them on when needed. They add too much wind resistance, lowering the mileage by a couple mpg, and noise (though you can't hear them that much on the topper) since they whistle quite a bit above 35-40mph. And since they're really not that hard to put on and off. All-in-all, definitely would recommend this sort of setup.

Thank you. Any issues with the attachment points rubbing the paint, or leaving wear marks?
Brian

 

[Deleted member 1634]

Thank you. Any issues with the attachment points rubbing the paint, or leaving wear marks?
Brian

There's rubber padding on the clips which hold to the door frame. If there's movement that means it's too loose and will fail eventually, so there shouldn't be any of that, which means there won't be any paint rubbing. The only marks I have are the sharpie lines I put to make sure I mounted them in the same spots every time. haha If the rubber falls off over time, I would replace it with something to keep it from being metal to metal contact though, cause that will probably cause issues.

For the topper setup, those pads are hard mounted with bolts, so they're not going anywhere. haha

 

[Whiskeybilt]

I cut 8" off the rack and added a piece of sheet metal to cut wind noise. Works better.

That rack looks great

 

[Jwhite921]

I cut 8" off the rack and added a piece of sheet metal to cut wind noise. Works better.

Looks awesome sir. What brand is this rack? I tried to google search it but seemed to find everything other than this one online.

 

[ldr01rl]

Gosh, I don't remember. It was beefy tho. It was off an S-10 long box. Realistically you can find any rack and adapt to the Ranger. Look in the usual seller sites for a cheap one. You gotta have help fabricating it to your liking. If you don't you're gonna scratch paint.

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