Easy Homemade Canoe, Kayak, Ladder and Lumber Rack for Your Pickup Truck

And it's removable......

© 2011 by Tom King

This thing will carry canoes, kayaks, ladders and lumber as advertised. It will also haul pipe or posts and gives you something to tie bottles of welding gas or oxygen to so that it doesn't fall over.  Here's what you need to build it.

Materials:
4 pressure-treated 12 foot 2 by 6 boards
4 pressure-treated 8 foot 2 by 6 boards
Box of-3-1/2 inch long galvanized screws
8 half-inch carriage bolts, 4 inches long with nuts and lock washers
Carpet strips, 6 inches wide the width of the pickup bed
8 half inch lag bolts, 4 inches long
3/8 inch eye screws

Tools:
Sawhorses
2 spring clamps
Staple gun and 1-1/2 inch staples
Tape measure
Carpenter Speed Square
Pencil
Bungee cords
Drill and drill bits
Circular saw

Ratcheting tie-down straps, 12+ feet long

How to Make It

First measure the inside dimensions of the pickup bed.  Measure the narrowest distances of the length and width of the inside of the bed so that final assembly can be lifted in and out of the truck bed. If the bed has wheel wells in it, the lower side boards will be mounted above them.

Cut four 2 x 6s the length of the bed and four the width of the bed. measure the height from the bed of the pickup to the top of the cab. Add 12 inches and cut 4 boards that length to act as uprights. Assemble the ends first.

Lay out two legs and clamp a 2 x 6 cross member (width of the bed) so the top edges are 4 inches below the top of the legs. Drill half inch holes and bolt the cross members in place with the carriage bolts, nuts toward the inside of the frame. Note the cross members will be oriented toward the inside of the bed.

Clamp the second cross member in place at the bottom of the legs and bolt it in place. Repeat with the other legs to make two rectangles.

Set the legs up with the cross members toward the inside of the truck bed. Clamp the long side boards to the sides of the legs at the top, even with the cross members.  Drill a half inch hole through the side boards into the ends of the cross member. Be careful not to drill into the carriage bolts. Lag bolt the side boards to the sides of the legs. 

Lag bolt the second side board to the side of the legs so the bottom of the board is a half inch higher than the top of the wheel well. Repeat on the opposite side.

Add screws at every joint to stiffen the frame and strengthen the attachment. Wrap carpet strips across the top of the cross members to pad the frame when carrying things. Staple the carpet strips at the bottom to hold them in place.

Drill and attach eye screws to the front and back of the end frames at the top to act as tie-downs. When you need to use it, simply lift the frame into the back of the truck, attach bungee cords or ratcheting tie-downs between the eye bolts and the truck bed to hold the frame in place. 

Now, you're ready go. It allows you to carry long or bulky things without them sticking out the back or resting on the cab. When you're done with it, you can get a helper, drop the tailgate and lift it out.  

It takes only a couple of hours to cut out and assemble the pieces.

© 2011 by Tom King

Chris Wheaton sent me a photograph of the rack he built from these plans.  As you can see from the picture, the frame is sturdy and leaves plenty of room underneath for paddles, life jackets, camping and fishing gear.  Thanks for sending these along, Chris.

Tom

Very solid work by Chris Wheaton 

Note the hooks on the inside of the legs for fishing poles and paddles.

Chris wrote this comment about his version of this wooden canoe/ladder rack shown above.

This thing is rock solid, I could probably park my truck on top of this thing to be honest. And I added in some hooks and whatnot, we use this to hang our gear after a day of smallie fishing. I bring it deer hunting too as we hang deer from it, just slide it to the end of the tailgate.  Could not be happier with it and was 1/10 of the price of a ladder rack and serves so many purposes.  Thanks again! - Chris

Scott sent me the pictures below with this note, "Thanks for the great plans.  Built this over Memorial Day weekend.  Very happy with the results - though it is HEAVY!  That's okay, I'd rather err on the side of over-built anyhow." 

Here's what his project looks like:

Scott screwed some eyebolts into the frame for holding his bungees.

In a pinch you could nest a couple of kayaks up there too.

Very nice work there, Scott. Thanks for sharing.  It certainly is not a light frame, but if you're hauling boats, you want everything to be solid - especially if you'll be using this around kids, which is where this came from. You could haul a couple of boats, tents and a ton of gear for a youth campout with this rig and the boats help keep the water off your gear if it rains.

Love the pictures guys. Thanks for sending them.  - Tom

----------------

Got this idea from Michael P. Nobrega in Otter River, MA:

Hi Tom,

Thanks again for the truck rack design; I had lots of fun building it this weekend for my new F-150.
I made a few design modifications in order to make it portable for one man to handle.

My design is a knock-apart system and it requires no tools to install or remove the rack.
The rack system consists of six pieces which can be effortlessly assembled/disassembled.
The front and rear frames are one-piece rectangular assemblies while the four side rails detach easily.
I used 1/2" threaded bar through the uprights with a nylon locknut/washer on the outboard side and a wingnut/lock washer on the inboard side.
I added 2" PVC pipe to the top of the front and rear frames to make loading and unloading a breeze. Just bore the pipe and screw with 3-1/2" exterior decking screws.

This system carried several construction staging planks without making a squeak!

See photos attached.

Warmest regards,

Mike

 Notice the padding on the top rails. They are easy to make with a good sharp knife and some of those open cell foam "noodles" the kids play with in the pool - just cut a channel in one and slip it over the edge of the board.

You can see how the wingnuts let you to remove the long boards leaving just the two end frames to lift in and out. It's quick with the wingnuts. You can store the whole thing against a wall in the garage and assemble it in minutes when you need it.

Here's a closeup of the wingnuts.  A long drill, but doable with a long bit.

 Here's the lower long support member wingnutted (is that even a word) into place.
- Great idea, Mike!













Here's a version built by Kevin Leroy Froese that maintains stability by raising the lower lengthwise supports above the wheel wells. Looks great! Kevin is using the rack to carry his fishing boat.







This past week Keith Taylor sent me pictures and a really excellent video of his own version of this same canoe rack. Keith added some metal brackets to his truck to hold the up rights and built the whole thing with 2x4's and lag bolts. It allows him room to load up his ATV under the rack with canoes on top. He adds some width to the crossmembers so that the rack will carry two canoes side by side. The whole thing can be disassembled for storage and reassembled for carrying the boats. Here's the very watchable video Keith sent me of his very clever adaptation.  Enjoy...

Lovely work, Keith.

Tom