Yes, I definitely remove the canoe before I raise the pop top. And I do have extra struts to help lift up the pop top. Hullavators are pretty darn heavy themselves. WIth just them on the pop top I need the strut assist to get it up (if they were further back I probably wouldn't. However, because I have them towards the center of the vehicle, that puts one of them towards the wrong end of the pop top.

My "rack" system on my Westy is a custom job. I attached a bunch of VersaTie strips to the top <http://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/category/VersaTie>

WIth the VersaTie, I also purchased a bunch of connectors that work with it.

<http://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/category/VersaTieConnectors>

The ones I have in particular are the Threaded Stud VT-2500. I drilled a couple of holes in the Hullavator bracket (the section that normally attaches to a roof rack) and positioned the bracket on to those studs. That unit is semi-permanently mounted to my Westy Top. The rest of the unit snaps on when I need to transport the canoe.

I use a couple of the tie-down rings on additional sections of the VersaTie track, which I use to  tie down the front (and rear) of my canoe so that braking and acceleration doesn't cause it to slip off the top of the van.

I can't get you pictures right now of this setup, but will in week or two (or rather I will take them in a couple of weeks and then post them after Labor Day. )

On Aug 9, 2011, at 1:28 PM, Rocket J Squirrel wrote:

> What's the method for mounting a Hullavator on a Westy? Big deal
> involving lots of specialty expensive Thule bits?
>
> Do you need to remove the watercraft before raising the top? I'm
> guessing "Uh, yeah. Duh!"