Greg Nolan
enthusiast
I agree with the above, and always use front and rear tie-downs whenever possible.
For a long time, our cars have had trailer hitches with convenient metal loops or holes for anchoring rear tie-downs.
The Subaru (2009 Outback) pictured in my post above above had sturdy, accessible, steel front towing loops I used to anchor the bow tie-down lines.
But while our current Outback (2018) has sturdy steel front towing loops, they are, as a practical matter, unusable for tying down loads on a roof rack . So I have been using the second kind of tie-down loops shown in the post above, for the past several years. They are easily placed under the hood, and easily stored when not in use. I was initially dubious about them, concerned that the car's hood might be distorted by using them, or that the hood/loop combination would not be strong enough. But the hood shows no distortion, and the combination is quite sturdy. And the loops are easily placed, and easily removed and stored in the car.
I recently travelled more than 400 miles, mostly on interstates, between Maine and New York, to deliver our 16’ OT Ideal to its new owner. To keep up with traffic, speeds on the interstate were generally above posted limits, wind was gusting around 40 mph, and there were frequent periods of torrential rain – not a pleasant trip. But the canoe was rock-steady the whole way, tied down as usual, including the under-hood tie-down loops, which performed very well.
But I don't think I would have travelled in those conditions with a birch bark on top of the car.
For a long time, our cars have had trailer hitches with convenient metal loops or holes for anchoring rear tie-downs.
The Subaru (2009 Outback) pictured in my post above above had sturdy, accessible, steel front towing loops I used to anchor the bow tie-down lines.
But while our current Outback (2018) has sturdy steel front towing loops, they are, as a practical matter, unusable for tying down loads on a roof rack . So I have been using the second kind of tie-down loops shown in the post above, for the past several years. They are easily placed under the hood, and easily stored when not in use. I was initially dubious about them, concerned that the car's hood might be distorted by using them, or that the hood/loop combination would not be strong enough. But the hood shows no distortion, and the combination is quite sturdy. And the loops are easily placed, and easily removed and stored in the car.
I recently travelled more than 400 miles, mostly on interstates, between Maine and New York, to deliver our 16’ OT Ideal to its new owner. To keep up with traffic, speeds on the interstate were generally above posted limits, wind was gusting around 40 mph, and there were frequent periods of torrential rain – not a pleasant trip. But the canoe was rock-steady the whole way, tied down as usual, including the under-hood tie-down loops, which performed very well.
But I don't think I would have travelled in those conditions with a birch bark on top of the car.
