Hi all,
Picking up a 14 foot sup on Wednesday,have a 500k round trip. I only have board racks on the Prado, am planning to buy a rear rack so I have a greater spread over the the racks, in the meantime just wondering how 14 footers go on car roofs. Do you tie and extra rope to bullbar or tow bar to stiffen it up a bit All suggestions appreciated.

Select to expand quote

darbs said..
Hi all,
Picking up a 14 foot sup on Wednesday,have a 500k round trip. I only have board racks on the Prado, am planning to buy a rear rack so I have a greater spread over the the racks, in the meantime just wondering how 14 footers go on car roofs. Do you tie and extra rope to bullbar or tow bar to stiffen it up a bit All suggestions appreciated.

Hi darbs .Ive got a Mitsubishi challenger ..with roof racks ..deck down ..leave the fin out ..and two luggage straps on the front and rear .the $10 a set jobs at bunnings .( go the red ones)
has the small ..steel cleat.on one end ..then tie it off...
maybe go for 2 set s ..that will give you 4 straps .go the 2.5 metre.ones.

just cruz. It's windy way up there .should be fine ..I have three boards on sometimes ..big wind drag.one is easy.

Hi Darbs,
I regularly carry a 14' Naish on long trips as well as one or two other boards On a LandRover Discovery.

Have the racks as far apart as you can get them. You shouldn't need a third rack if you can get them well apart.

Make sure you have good quality tie downs, not cheap ****e from a junk store. I have been all over the place and never had a problem, make sure you regularly check the tie downs for tension.

Also do not make them too tight as you can place dents in the board.

ET.

Thanks Tardy and E.T,
Just havent seen any on top of cars up here only on trailers.I have good straps including Kanoe Straps,just was a bit worried as the racks are close as they bolt into the roof that why I was thinking the back bar which I might get anyway.So if regularly transported this way I want worry (as much) Thanks very much !

And this is a bit dependant upon the board you're picking up but think about what is the bet way to have it on the roof - facing forwards, backwards, deck up, deck down etc… The deck down is particularly relevant on dug out boards IMHO...


Tod

Put a rope or strap over the board an through the window or doors as roof racks can fail, just for peace of mind

As above if you can tie down on the front to back bars not just the cross bars. I never trust those things. (Have seen 2 boards come off over the years)

Thanks Guys,
Will take those tips on board so to speak. It's a 14 X 29 Naish Glide so nothing too radical and solid GS construction. Every man should have a least three boards so I tell the wife.

Thanks Guys,
Will take those tips on board so to speak. It's a 14 X 29 Naish Glide so nothing too radical and solid GS construction. Every man should have a least three boards so I tell the wife.

4

n + 1

Not really qualified to comment on tying boards down,
but,
my 18 YO daughter bought a 17' Naish back from Adelaide to Melbourne for me using my wife's Prado with standard Toyota roof stuff.
She felt the need to pull over left when trucks coming the other way grabbed the board, but you are worrying about nothing.

Thanks Nozza, It would appear to be not a problem compared to a 17 footer, can't wait to use it !

Select to expand quote

darbs said..
Thanks Nozza, It would appear to be not a problem compared to a 17 footer, can't wait to use it !

Darbs,

My 14'er is exactly what you are buying. I have two racks (rhino racks) spaced 5' apart. That's as far as they go.

I use Rhino or Thule tie downs and haven't had a problem. Make sure you check the straps every time you stop.

ET.

Thanks E.T,
My racks are only about a metre apart so I will go with a rear bar should make it about 5 foot, just can't get one before picking it up. How do you find the Glide, I didn't demo one but from the posts about them should suit me fine. Cheers

Select to expand quote

darbs said...
Thanks E.T,
My racks are only about a metre apart so I will go with a rear bar should make it about 5 foot, just can't get one before picking it up. How do you find the Glide, I didn't demo one but from the posts about them should suit me fine. Cheers

IMO.. Racks only about a meter apart is fine.. I wouldn't even worry about the rear rack.. I'd recommend using some kind of pads between the board and the racks.. Upside-down and nose forward.. and good tie-down straps (not the ratchet type) and not too tight.. If you can't wriggle/slide the strap a little forward and back on the rail of the board they're too tight.. and don't worry if you get a little wobble or bounce at high speeds.. in high winds.. and over big bumps in the road.. One last thing.. Twist the straps to prevent that annoying strap vibration or hum/buz..

If you're putting a GS Glide up there make sure your racks have been reinforced and you've done an extensive round of weight training before the weekend! They're not light, i've got one i know…! Awesome board though...

Like DJ said, get some rack pads (I've got some aero shaped pool noodle things from Clark Rubber that slide over the racks) and some decent tie-down straps – for safety i loop them around the roof rail and roof rack, just in case. If you're really worried just get a second set of straps and double everything up...

Thanks D.J.and Todzilla, Have soft racks to put under as a temporary measure and good straps. If the racks work ok I will be happy save buying an extra one. Very excited haven't board a new board for over a year .

It all comes down to how good the racks are bolted to the car , if you want to do really high speeds for a long time you can put a front strop over the board and through the car , your doors will still close.

Thanks Piros,
Racks are strong will see how she looks on the racks tomorrow , thanks again

When i moved from perth to sydney , i drove 4000km with a 14ft and two boards on top.

In my opinion two racks and some decent tie downs sufficient, the drag thou is the biggest issue, hence the config i put the boards at, plus some duct tape to keep the windsurf board bag noses "streamlined"

I had no issues of 5 days of travelling at around 105km/h (it was the most fuel/time efficient).

In my experience you don't need to go too Overboard with transporting boards , be smart, keep an eye on movement, learn some decent knots and check everything is sweet every now and then.

14 foot is pretty short really and with max spaced dual roof racks should be fine. If you end up driving through some super strong winds then you might need to re-assess the situation.

I've transported 21 foot ocean skis, outriggers and canoes on the standard roof racks at max spacing just fine and usually only do a front tie down if it's windy.

There was only one occasion when I was driving over the Westgate Bridge on a really windy day 50-70km winds with a 6.5m C2 when I got a bit stressed that the whole thing was going to rip the roof racks off and the canoe was going to end up 40m below in the Yarra. In hindsight I wouldn't go over the Westgate in such strong winds again because all my adrenaline was used up before the start of the race.

Thanks everyone,
Picked up the board, no probs at all coming home at all, didn't look that long on the truck either, now for a 17 footer

Select to expand quote

darbs said..
Thanks everyone,
Picked up the board, no probs at all coming home at all, didn't look that long on the truck either, now for a 17 footer

Good work Darbs. Now go out and enjoy it.

In my opinion it is one of the best all round boards you can buy.

ET.