Loading TI on pickup truck with Thule Xporter pro rack

We just bought a new truck and I'm looking for advise on how to get our TI onto the Thule Xporter pro rack. Here is an old link of someone using one on a similar truck. viewtopic.php?f=11&t=41973

This is our old setup with our old Yukon Denali

We have a trailer but can't use the trailer when we go to our other place down in Key West (no parking anywhere for trailers), or when we are pulling our camper unless we take two cars (which we don't really want to do), here is our trailer:


Here is our new GMC Sierra Denali with our new camper:


The Denali is a very short bed truck (5 1/2 feet). I was thinking about putting two eight foot PVC 1 1/4 tubes on the center of the racks mounted on 11 inch centers, then shoving wooden broom handles into the PVC tubing for added strength (thats what I did on my trailer). I may need to add a foam block to hold and steady the PVC piping over the cab (TBD).
Fortunately the racks are adjustable up and down so I could lower the rear rack when loading, slide the boat forward then raise the rack back up.

I didn't really have any issues loading using the old hitch T-bar with our old SUV, I'm hoping this will be easier (since I can stand on the tailgate to lift the bow).

Does anyone have any better ideas......

FE

I have a 07 Tundra Crewmax with a Thule Xsporter rack. I carry my TI on a trailer but have thought of ways to roof rack it for the same reasons you mentioned. IMO the main issue is that the bar spread on the Xsporter is too narrow to support the boat. If I were to transport the boat On the roof I would install another rack bar on the roof of the truck near the front. I'd then adjust the Xsporter height to be close to that of the roof mounted bar. Full disassembly of the boat will be required. Id slide the boat up from the back and put a set of kayak wheels on the back of the boat to minimize the stern scraping on the ground. A set of rollers on the rear Xsporter bar may make it a little easier also. Just my 2 cents.

Yea I just got the Xporter bars installed yesterday, and with the short bed Denali they are kind of close together. My original plan was to find a front mount T-bar mounted to the two front tow rings for the front of the truck, but it appears they don't exist unless I build it myself. So my fallback now is like you suggest, adding another roof rack over the cab.
My revised plan now is to mount two 1 1/4 parallel pvc pipes on 11 inch centers with wooden broom sticks shoved in them (same as I have on my trailer) and attach them to the Xporter bars with the supplied T-slots. I will likely only attach the pvc bars to the two Xporter bars and just leave the front of the PVC bars unattached (for easy removal).
My original plan was to mount a winch on the front T-bar then add removable two angled PVC pipes with fiberglass pultrusions up the center to hoist the boat up the ramp behind the truck. Now I need to re-think that. Will likely end up just muscling the bow up onto the rear bar just like I did with the last setup on our Yukon Denali with a standard rear receiver mounted T-bar. Actually lifting the bow of the TI up onto the Tbar was never hard to do since your only lifting half the weight (around 50 lbs), Lol I should know I've lifted my kayaks up on the roof that way if I had to guess a thousand times since 2007 when we bought our first Oasis (which was in my opinion much harder to get on the roof vs the TI).
I agree the only downside to car topping is each time you have to break the boat down completely (takes me about an hour vs just launching off the trailer which takes ten minutes.
Unfortunately car topping is our only option when we have our camper in tow of when we go to our Key West place.
Actually now I'm thanking my lucky stars, when I built the trailer a few yrs back I designed it in two pieces so I could also use it as a launch cart as well, now I can just break the trailer down and throw it into the back of the truck so once we tow the trailer to the campsite, I can throw the TI onto the trailer and launch from the trailer once we are at our destination ( won't know how much of a PIA that ends up being till I try it (lol).
The Thule Xporter is well made, and very sturdy, I think I made the right choice. Never owned a pickup before so I'm learning as I go.
FE

Please post your solution and results with pictures if possible. I'm going to be in the same boat as you when we get another camper in a year or so.

Btw I've had my Xsporter since 2007 and have been extremely happy with it.