Hi George,

I carry my 16' aluminium canoe (63 pounds) on my '87 Westy using a Thule roof
rack which I bought way back in 1988. The rack attaches to the "rain gutters"
and is tall enough to clear the pop-top easily. As a matter of fact, I position
the rack far enough towards the rear of the van, which enables me to pop the top
without removing the rack. Of course, I remove the canoe first!
The rack cost about $250 Canadian back then and was a special order. It must be
in a Thule catalogue somewhere.

Good Luck!

Roy Olynick
'87 Westfalia GL
(till death do us part)

----- Original Message -----
From: Brent Christensen <brent@VANAGON.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2000 1:25 PM
Subject: Fw: Roof Racks on Raingutters

> Please respond to George if you have some suggestions. (This was sent to me
> at http://www.vanagon.com and I don't have a good answer).  Thanks!
>
> Brent Christensen
> '89 GL Syncro Westy "Klaus"
> Santa Barbara, CA
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <Gamercer@aol.com>
> To: <info@vanagon.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2000 12:14 AM
> Subject: Roof Racks on Raingutters
>
>
> > I would like to be able to carry a 60 pound canoe on my Vanagon Camper.
> Both
> > Thule & Yakima claim to not have roof racks for campers.  They have them
> for
> > regular Vanagons.
> >
> > It seems to me they could make an extension that would keep the cross bar
> > above the rear part of the pop top roof while it is down and another cross
> > bar about the luggage carrier.   Both of these would be attached to the
> rain
> > gutters.
> >
> > The roof racks from Yakima and Thule for campers are attached to the roof
> top
> > and are not recommended for anything other than skis or bikes.
> >
> > Do any Vanagon Camper owners have roof racks attached to rain gutters for
> > carrying 60 to 100 pounds of weight?  Did they use a standard roof rack
> > setup, modify a standard roof rack setup or build their own design?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > George
> >
>