tips re: roof loading>

[5lab]

looks like i'll be doing a ~600 mile road trip on the weekend with surfboards and/or kayaks on the lid of me car. any tips for driving like this? never done it before.. i got a soft rack that should hopefully hold the boards nice n tight. guess we'll find out eh

[Howard]

Make sure they're tied down WELL. I mean SOLID.

My dad and I were transporting a matress to the dump and even though it was tied down very well, I had to hold the front side so it didn't bend upwards cos of the draft. That could have been a bit dangerous. Lol

[Rave]

Don't put anything on top of the surfboard, otherwise they can lose their rocker.

Rich :¬)

[[GSV]Myocardial]

If you were going so you could arrive in the week and you knew where u were staying (ie hotel) then it'd actually be cheaper to probably send it by post as the drag on the car is so great

But I'd advise getting either a nice long length of rope and tying it down very well, if you can't tie knots you better learn very quick

You might get away with it if you can get some racheted straps, makes tensioning things a little easier.

Don't pile stuff up too high, keep it to a minimum, and don't put things that are funny shapes up there, keep the shapes of things simple, a surfboard is a nice shape, but try tieing a football to the roof and you'd be screwed if you get me Don't have stuff protruding over the ends of your car, taking a pedestrians head off while turning a corner doesn't go down to well with me plod

And take the drive steady, try not to have to slam your brakes on, think about your stopping distance, make your ride smooth, add another 50-100 feet to you distance between you and the car infront, gives you so much more thinking time

[Atomic]

You might get away with it if you can get some racheted straps, makes tensioning things a little easier.

In reference to the kayaks, rachet straps aren't a good idea. You don't want anything more than hand tight really. Ratchet locks have the risk of bending and/or cracking a boat if over tightened, especially if you have a fibleglass or carbonfibre surf boat!

Stay away from rope, it doesn't offer enough grip and things might slide forwards/backwards.

Flat straps with a friction lock on the end are perfect.

Loop over the boat once and lock off, tying the free end around the roof rack ensures nothings gonna be flapping around in the wind.

I had both my kayaks (whitewater and surf boat) on top of my car secured in this method with 1.5" flat straps on a 300mile round trip and they were fine both journeys.

Can't help you on the surf boards, have you not got a local surf shop near you that you could ask in?

edit: put the kayaks upside down on the rack, they won't fill with water if it rains then

[Flibb]

A friend transports his windsurfing gear on a roof rack and decided to buy a thule sailboard carrier
http://www.boardshop.co.uk/product/l...acks/thule.jsp
Works a treat and fits most roof racks, he had it fitted to a halfords rack. The flat tape is very grippy and is difficult to over tention it.
Might be worth a look, halfords sell them as well

[5lab]

ah i've got a set of straps for attatching surfboards to the roof, so actually attatching them shouldnt be a problem (not actually used them before)...

thanks for the tips re: kyaks, and the general tips thou. i'll be sure to follow them. looks like i'll only be havnig 3 boards on my roof so shouldnt be too bad.

wouldnt be cheaper to post them. believe me - snapped boards are expensive to replace

i'll let you know how it goes - set off in about 2 hours

[Angus]

In reference to the kayaks, rachet straps aren't a good idea. You don't want anything more than hand tight really. Ratchet locks have the risk of bending and/or cracking a boat if over tightened, especially if you have a fibleglass or carbonfibre surf boat!

Stay away from rope, it doesn't offer enough grip and things might slide forwards/backwards.

Flat straps with a friction lock on the end are perfect.

Loop over the boat once and lock off, tying the free end around the roof rack ensures nothings gonna be flapping around in the wind.

I had both my kayaks (whitewater and surf boat) on top of my car secured in this method with 1.5" flat straps on a 300mile round trip and they were fine both journeys.

Can't help you on the surf boards, have you not got a local surf shop near you that you could ask in?

edit: put the kayaks upside down on the rack, they won't fill with water if it rains then

Ditto the stuff here.

Most kayaks have loops either end - take the loose ends of the ratchet straps, put them throught the loops and then tie to the roof rack.

Useful way of getting rid of miles of loose strap, and stops the boats from sliding backwards/forwards.

Before you do this though, tie a stopper knot in the strap - I don't trust ratchet straps THAT much

[5lab]

600 + miles without a hitch.

[Angus]

Ok if you don't care much about your paint I guess

Where did you go?

[Atomic]

3 Boats on that little fiesta? bet it wernt happy on the motorway!

[5lab]

paints fine, they were all bagged up , the straps have padding build into them to stop it getting scratched anyways

fiesta had no kit in it, and the boats dont weigh too much so it wasnt too bad.. my car on the other hand had 2 people, 3 boards (not the lightest of things), and 9 peoples camping/kayaking/living kit for a long weekend. needless to say it was a little slow off the mark

went to croyde bay, but the surf was crap so just spent most of the weekend dossin on the beach and eating cream teas

[Atomic]

The surf was crap on the north norfolk coast this weekend Didn't even bother going down to play in the soup it was that bad.

Looks like you all had a laugh anyway.

[5lab]

surf were crap everywhere last weekend, gonna be the same this one too