1999 Ford Explorer canoe rack for hitch

[bradford files]

I've been looking at some of the rear mount hitch canoe racks and am kinda confused about how they would work if you already have a hitch bike rack installed. Do any of them integrate into the hitch bike rack somehow. Also, I specifically have a 1999 Ford Explorer with a factory roof rack. What would i need up front and on top of the Ford Explorer roof rack to haul the canoe. If a hitch rack won't work then what other good options has anyone found?

[spaceballs]

Hey all you car rack manufacturers out there if you are reading this, which I heard you do, then you should consider bradford files suggestion. I don't think there is a canoe rack product that exists currently for connecting to a bike hitch rack right? But just think you could extend the post upright further, allowing for a crossbar to carry the rear of a canoe or kayak (similar to the Yakima Drydock canoe-kayak rack or Thule 997 GoalPost kayak-canoe carrier. The front of the boat would then be on the rooftop car rack or something...anyway could be cool.

Back to reality. I like to carry my bikes on a hitch bike rack and carry my canoe on top of my 2001 Ford Explorer car rack. You will have to first remove the incompatible Ford Explorer factory rack as the cross bars are no where near strong enough to handle the weight of a canoe when barreling down the road. I recommend the Yakima Control Towers roof rack system. It comes with four landing Pads (get the #1 Landing Pads for a 1999 Ford Explorer), and these snap right into the roof tracks that your factory rack was connected to. Then the four Control Towers snap right onto the Landing Pads and the included two crossbars connect to the Control Towers.

For the actual canoe carrier itself I went with the Yakima Gunwale Brackets canoe rack. This canoe carrier mounts right onto the Yakima Control Towers crossbars. Comes with securing straps too. I can then lift up the front of the canoe when it is upside down and place it on the rear Gunwale Brackets and then lift up the rear of the canoe and let the rack do nearly all the lifting. All I need to do is slide the canoe forward into place on the front Gunwale Brackets.